Timothée Chalamet On Why He Took ‘Wonka’ Role & His Expectation For An “Uncynical Young Audience”

Timothée Chalamet is gearing up to showcase his multiple talents on Wonka, a prequel musical film based on the characters from Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

“To work on something that will have an uncynical young audience, that was just a big joy. That’s why I was drawn to it,” he told Vogue. “In a time and climate of intense political rhetoric, when there’s so much bad news all the time, this is hopefully going to be a piece of chocolate.”

Wonka, directed by Paul King, is expected to drop on Dec. 15 of this year in North America. The screenplay by King and Simon Farnaby includes a star-studded cast like Keegan-Michael Key, Rowan Atkinson, Sally Hawkins, Olivia Colman, Jim Carter, Matt Lucas, Natasha Rothwell, Tom Davis, Mathew Baynton and Simon Farnaby.

Hugh Grant is also part of the film and will be portraying an Oompa-Loompa. Additional cast includes Peter Joseph, Rich Fulcher, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Calah Lane, Colin O’Brien, Rahkee Thakrar, Ellie White, Murray McArthur and Tracy Ifeachor.

An extended trailer was previewed at CinemaCon in April of this year showcasing the beginnings of the chocolate maker. The original book by British author Roald Dahl which was first published in 1964 has inspired two films. In 1971, Gene Wilder took on the role of Willy Wonka in the Mel Stuart-directed film. Warner Bros. would produce a new version of the film that was released in 2005 with Johnny Depp as Wonka and Tim Burton directing.