Hugh Grant has been in his ‘angry era’ for a while now, and we think that’s fair enough.
Hugh’s past grievances have included an “excruciating” Love Actually scene, a movie he’d “happily shred” from his credits and being “cross” over Emma Thompson *checks notes* acting opposite him in Sense and Sensibility.
He’s now added one more item to that list – and the film’s not even out yet.
Hugh is starring in Wonka; the fantastical origin tale of Willy Wonka, the character at the centre of classic Roald Dahl novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
There have been two film adaptations of the novel, but the latest Paul King-directed instalment is set to focus on ‘How Willy Became Wonka’.
We know, we didn’t make up the tag line.
Anyway, as it turns out, Willy (Timothée Chalamet) became Wonka with the help of a stellar cast (Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman, Sally Hawkins, and more) and an Oompa-Loompa; here, Hugh Grant.
Director Paul faced and addressed criticism for casting Hugh in the role, and it seems that if the role had gone to someone else, Hugh wouldn’t have minded.
Speaking to various news outlet ahead of the Wonka premiere, Hugh said the role was “drivel” to play.
He added that his motion-capture set up (which involved multiple cameras pointing at his face) was “like a crown of thorns, very uncomfortable.”
Continuing, he admitted that he wasn’t the easiest to work with; “I made a big fuss about it, I couldn’t have hated the whole thing more.”
Hugh then added that he wasn’t even sure whether to “’act with my body or not, and I never received a satisfactory answer.
“And frankly, what I did with my body was terrible, and it’s all been replaced with an animator.”
He also added that he “slightly hates [making films]”, but that he has “lots of children and needs money.”
It’s clear that director Paul was aware of Hugh’s spiky disposition when casting Hugh; when speaking about his decision, he said he wanted someone that matched the “cruel” nature of the Oompa Loompas in the novel.
“’So I was really just thinking about that character; somebody who could be a real s**t, and then — ah! Hugh!”
Despite lacklustre reactions to early trailers of the flick, Timothée has earned rave reviews for his performance in Wonka.
Wonka will be released in cinemas on 8 December.