Timothée Chalamet Will Be Singing An Eye-Popping Number Of Songs In Wonka

When Timothée Chalamet finally makes his much-anticipated debut as the most famous chocolate maker of all time in Paul King's "Wonka," don't expect the young acting behemoth to go into the world of pure imagination lightly. No, Chalamet will instead be coming out gumballs blazing — singing more songs than both Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp combined, he says in a new profile piece for Vogue.  "The dream as an artist is to throw whatever the f*** you want at the wall, you know?" Chalamet explains. 

At 26, the "Dune" star has already amassed an incredible Hollywood resumé that includes acclaimed performances in widely-praised movies like 2017's "Call Me by Your Name," Felix van Groeningen's "Beautiful Boy," and Wes Anderson's "The French Dispatch." But he's yet to lead his own Hollywood musical, despite having award-winning experience as a theater actor (via Playbill). "I guess what I'm realizing is that one's personal life, one's adult life, can be quite boring and the artist's life can still be extraordinary," Chalamet tells Vogue. As for how many songs, exactly, he'll be singing in 2023's "Wonka," it's a number that the New York City native thinks is perfect for what King wants to do with the "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" prequel.

According to Timothée Chalamet, he is set to perform seven different musical numbers in "Wonka." And while many people have been calling for a darker and more sexualized take on Roald Dahl's character to come out of Chalamet, he says fans shouldn't hold their breath. "You know what's really funny about that is it's so misleading," Chalamet told Vogue. "This movie is so sincere, it's so joyous."

While there hasn't been much out there about Paul King's "Wonka" and Chalamet's expected performance, fans at CinemaCon 2022 were reportedly treated to a first look at the film back in April 2022, and it drew loads of praise. "Looks like a big, colorful, feel-good musical rooted in the relationship between Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) & his mom (Sally Hawkins)," wrote blogger Erik Davis on Twitter after seeing the "Wonka" tease at CinemaCon. "Will be a big holiday family movie, for sure." Chalamet has previously described the 2023 musical epic as being a perfect fit for him and where he is in his career. 

"It's not mining the darker emotions in life," he told Time in October 2021. "It's a celebration of being off-center and of being okay with the weirder parts of you that don't quite fit in."