Hugh Grant's Wonka casting as Oompa Loompa criticized by actor with dwarfism
An actor with dwarfism is not pleased with Hugh Grant's casting as an Oompa Loompa in the upcoming Wonka movie.
George Coppen, best known for The School for Good and Evil, Artemis Fowl, and the Willow series, said he believes an actor with dwarfism should have been offered the role in the Willy Wonka prequel starring Timothée Chalamet as the chocolatier. Many actors with dwarfism "feel like we are being pushed out of the industry we love," Coppen told BBC.
"A lot of people, myself included, argue that dwarfs should be offered everyday roles in dramas and soaps, but we aren't getting offered those roles," the British actor added. "One door is being closed but they have forgotten to open the next one."
The upcoming fantasy musical from director Paul King (Paddington, Paddington 2) will tell the origin story of Roald Dahl's famous candy-maker and how he came to meet the Oompa Loompas. In the trailer, Wonka meets Grant's Oompa Loompa in a glass jar and says, "So you're the funny little man who's been following me?" The Oompa Loompa says he's a "perfectly respectful size for an Oompa Loompa." The character is 20 inches tall while the average height for an adult with dwarfism is around 48 inches.
"They've enlarged his head so his head looks bigger," Coppen said of the first look. "[I thought] what the hell have you done to him?"
EW has reached out to Grant and King's reps for comment.
King recently told EW he did not seek to "reinvent" previous adaptations, such as Gene Wilder's classic 1971 version Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. "It felt like that '71 movie had come up with these incredibly enduring, iconic looks," he said. "What I wanted this movie to be was like a companion piece to that movie. If you imagine those people in that world 25 years earlier, that was my starting process. Eventually, he would grow into that person and that factory."
In theaters Dec. 15, Wonka also stars Calah Lane, Olivia Colman, Rowan Atkinson, Keegan-Michael Key, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, and Sally Hawkins. Watch the trailer embedded above.
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