Hugh Grant, 63, didn’t enjoy playing an Oompa Loompa in the new Wonka film. The actor admitted he “hated” the job in the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory prequel due to the many cameras and other tricks used for production to capture the character, in a press conference with Metro.co.uk this week.
“It was like a crown of thorns, very uncomfortable,’ he said about having multiple cameras in his face and other apparatuses to help the animators create the scenes. “I made a big fuss about it. I couldn’t have hated the whole thing more.”
Hugh also admitted he wasn’t sure if he had to “act with my body or not, and I never received a satisfactory answer.” He added, “And frankly, what I did with my body was terrible, and it’s all been replaced with an animator.”
When he was asked if the final product was worth it, he replied, “not really,” making other cast members at the conference laugh alongside him. He also commented on the dancing and said, “It should be fun, but that was done by the animator.”
“It’s very confusing, with CGI now, you can’t tell what’s going on,” he continued, recalling his father turning to him during Paddington 2 to ask, “Is that a real bear?” As far as why he decided to make the film, Hugh joked, “I slightly hate [making films] but I have lots of children and need money.” The cheeky star also admitted it wasn’t all bad and he did have “quite fun, messing around and trying new lines.”
In addition to Hugh, other familiar faces that star in Wonka include Timothee Chalamet, who plays the title character, Rowan Atkinson, Sally Hawkins, and Olivia Coleman. Director Paul King reportedly previously talked about casting for the film and said that he thought Hugh would be a perfect Oompa Loompa. He reportedly called the Love Actually star “the funniest, most sarcastic s**t I’ve ever met” and said that in the books, the Oompa Loompas were “incredibly sarcastic and judgemental and cruel,” so he “was really just thinking about that character; somebody who could be a real s**t, and then — ah! Hugh!”