During a recent press event to promote his role as an Oompa Loompa in “Wonka,” Hugh Grant all but spat on the floor when asked to describe his experience working on the highly anticipated film, which tells the origin story of the eccentric chocolatier first made famous by Gene Wilder in 1971, with Timothée Chalamet picking up the title role in the prequel that premieres in theaters on December 15.
Speaking to Metro.co.uk and several other outlets, Grant admitted to taking the role because he has lots of children and needed the money, expressing a great deal of frustration and general dissatisfaction with the “apparatuses” and animation used to make his character come to life on screen.
Calling the process “drivel,” Grant went in even harder on his descriptors, saying that working on the film was “like a crown of thorns” and “very uncomfortable,” which people are having some fun with on social media, pointing out that actors usually wait until many years after a film’s release to trash talk it, where Grant is letting it rip before the thing has even been released.
Factoring in other comments Grant has made leading up to the release of “Wonka” — such as in a recent interview with Access Hollywood, where he casually says that Chalamet reminds him of his mother — one can see that he knows what he’s doing here, and that his signature crabby charm is all part of the fun. In the clip below, he jokes about bringing misery to all of his sets whenever he possibly can, and that he’s in the “freak show stage” of his career.