Timothée Chalamet is the latest in a line of actors to take on the role of Willy Wonka.
The original “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” film, which starred Gene Wilder and was released in 1971, sought to bring Roald Dahl’s 1964 book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” to life.
Then in 2005, a remake featuring the book's original name took to the big screen, starring Johnny Depp as the whacky chocolatier who surprises five lucky winners with golden tickets.
Now, Chalamet is giving Willy a story of his own, portraying the candyman in "Wonka," which serves a prequel to the original 1971 film — or, in Chalamet's words, a "companion piece."
Here's a look into the history of Willy Wonka, and the actors who played him.
Gene Wilder in 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factor' (1971)
Wilder set the tone for any future renditions as the first actor to bring Willy to life on screen. He starred in the 1971 movie "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" alongside Peter Ostrum, who played Charlie Bucket, and Jack Albertson, who portrayed Grandpa Joe.
In a 2002 interview with Larry King, Wilder said he was approached by director Mel Stewart about the role. He agreed on one condition.
“I said, 'I'd like to do it if I can come out and all the crowd quiets down and I’m using a cane ... and I walk slowly and you can hear a pin drop. And my cane gets stuck in a brick and I fall over on my face and do a forward somersault and jump up and they all start to applaud,’” Wilder said. “Mel Stewart said, ‘What do you want to do that for?’ I said, ‘Because no one will know from that point on whether I’m lying or telling the truth.’”
Speaking at the 92Y in 2013, Wilder he said the movie took about a year to "catch on," but took off once it got the attention and he was still stopped at the time about his role as Willy.
Wilder also provided his strong reaction to the 2005 remake starring Johnny Depp and directed by Tim Burton. "I think it's an insult," he said. He called director Burton "a talented man," but said, "I don't care for him for doing stuff like he did."
Wilder died in August 2016 at age 83 as a result of complications from Alzheimer’s disease.
Johnny Depp in 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Depp put a slightly darker spin on the character in director Tim Burton's 2005 version of the tale, which also starred Freddie Highmore as Charlie and David Kelly as Grandpa Joe.
Depp said in an interview with Hollywood.com posted to YouTube, that he watched and "loved" the movie growing up.
"I felt a deep sense of responsibility to Dahl, to Roald Dahl, and his intent," Depp said. "So, that was really important to me."
But, as anyone who has seen the 2005 movie knows, Depp went in a different direction with his version, a choice he touched on in an interview with Brad Balfour for PopEntertainmentMedia.
"I knew that I would have to take it somewhere far away from Gene Wilder and the area that he had stomped. Having that amazing material by Dahl and taking that and trying to interpret what he might have liked to seen in terms of cinema. What kind of character would he have liked? There’s such dark and light in that story in such a subversive kind of undertone and a twisted perverted kind of side to the character that I ran into the direction that seemed right to me," he said.
Timothée Chalamet in 'Wonka' (2023)
"Wonka," directed by Paul King, is meant to be set about 25 years before the 1971 movie.
“This is how Willy Wonka would have been before he’s sort of this mysterious, crazed figure in the chocolate factory. This is a young, hopeful, ambitious, head-full-of-dreams Willy Wonka who won’t take no for an answer,” Chalamet, 27, tells TODAY.com.
Chalamet explains that this younger model of the wild character isn't based on Wilder nor Depp's portrayals because “the story’s different.”
“It’s an original take,” he says. “There isn’t the factory, there aren’t the golden tickets, but those themes are kind of snuck in there.”
When speaking to TODAY.com about his inspiration behind the movie's namesake, King says he combined both Wilder's version and the original from Dahl's novel.
“I grew up with the book and that is very near and dear to my heart,” King says. “But because I am the age I am, the Gene Wilder movie was the movie that was on TV, so I think in my childhood imagination, I sort of merged the two and that just felt like who Willy Wonka was.”
