Why The Oompa-Loompa From Wonka Looks So Familiar
"Wonka" is shaping up to be quite the star-studded affair. The upcoming "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" prequel not only comes courtesy of "Paddington" and "Paddington 2" director Paul King, but it also stars Timothée Chalamet as a younger version of Willy Wonka himself. The character has, of course, been played previously on-screen by both Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp. Chalamet, for his part, seems intent on trying to imbue his version of the character with a whimsy closer to the kind Wilder brought to the role.
At least, that definitely seems to be the case based on the first "Wonka" trailer. The teaser, which gives viewers some insight into the film's plot for the first time, features brief appearances from a number of its noteworthy supporting stars, including Olivia Colman, Rowan Atkinson, Sally Hawkins, Keegan-Michael Key, and Jim Carter. As well-known as some of those actors are, though, the "Wonka" trailer saves its biggest surprise for its last scene, which centers around an orange-skinned Oompa-Loompa played by none other than Hugh Grant.
Odds are, viewers will recognize Grant even through his digitally-created Oompa-Loompa get-up. He isn't just one of the most recognizable movie stars of the past 30 years, but he's also currently experiencing a late-career renaissance that has brought him back into the public consciousness. Taking that into account, here are some of the movies viewers may have previously seen Grant in.
Hugh Grant achieved breakout success with Four Weddings and a Funeral
Hugh Grant started to receive attention for his work as an actor in the mid-to-late 1980s, but it was ultimately 1994's "Four Weddings and a Funeral" that made him a worldwide star. Grant leads the Mike Newell-directed hit as Charles, a mild-mannered man who realizes, over the course of several weddings (and a funeral), that he's unexpectedly fallen in love with Carrie (Andie McDowell), an American woman he crosses paths with by chance in the film's first act. Following its release, the movie went on to receive two Oscar nominations in 1995, including one for its screenplay and another for Best Picture.
It helped launch the careers of several of its key creatives, but none more notably than Grant. The breakout British rom-com gave the actor his first chance to truly inhabit the bumbling, lovestruck archetypal rom-com role that he'd go on to perfect and repeatedly play throughout his career. His performance features all of Grant's now-signature tricks and mannerisms — namely, his soft-spoken approach to dialogue. Even more importantly, the film helped establish Grant as one of the most charismatic leading men of his generation.
He hit it off with Julia Roberts in Notting Hill
The success of "Four Weddings and a Funeral" really opened the floodgates for Hugh Grant. In the years that followed that film's release, Grant went on to star in more high-profile romance movies than most of his peers ever have. However, while his run throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s resulted in several memorable titles, including "Nine Months" and "Sense and Sensibility," none have proven to be quite as iconic or beloved as "Notting Hill."
Directed by Roger Michell, the 1999 film reunited Grant with "Four Weddings and a Funeral" screenwriter Richard Curtis and cast him as William Thacker, a travel bookshop owner who strikes up an unlikely romance with a major movie star in Julia Roberts' Anna Scott. In addition to the obvious appeal of its fantasy-turned-reality premise, "Notting Hill" struck gold by pairing up two of the most charming stars of the '90s. Grant and Roberts' chemistry together not only ensured that the film was well-received when it was released but also enabled it to eventually become one of the most iconic rom-coms of all time.
No other film on this list weaponizes Grant's romantic charm quite as well as "Notting Hill" does, and no other movie gives him and his co-star better dialogue. For proof of that fact, look no further than Roberts' third-act appeal to Grant's William, which has become one of the most-quoted movie scenes of all time.
He danced his way into viewers' hearts in Love Actually
In 2003, Hugh Grant again reteamed with Richard Curtis for the latter's directorial debut, "Love Actually." The ensemble romantic comedy follows multiple disparate characters as they all experience different romantic connections in the days leading up to Christmas. As one of its primary figures, Grant stars in the film as David, a newly elected Prime Minister who finds himself falling head over heels in love with one of his assistants, Natalie (Martine McCutcheon). Like all of the movies that Grant has made with Curtis, "Love Actually" uses his role in it as an excuse to fully unleash not only his movie-star charisma but also his unrivaled sense of comedic timing.
While the film itself isn't as acclaimed or critically adored as "Notting Hill" or "Four Weddings and a Funeral," either, it does feature a handful of genuinely iconic movie moments. In Grant's case, his character's second-act celebratory dance through 10 Downing Street remains one of the most referenced and popular scenes of his entire career. That said, David in "Love Actually" isn't the only character that has given Grant the chance to perform some memorable dance moves on-screen.
He stole the show in Paddington 2
The mid-2000s and early 2010s were slightly quiet periods for Hugh Grant, whose mid-career success began to wane once Hollywood started to rely less on the kind of star vehicles that had turned him into such an in-demand actor. That all began to change, however, in the mid-2010s when Grant began working more and more with directors like Guy Ritchie ("The Man from U.N.C.L.E.") and Stephen Frears ("Florence Foster Jenkins"). His slow but steady return to prominence was then cemented when he starred as Phoenix Buchanan, a nefarious, melodramatic villain, in "Paddington 2."
Grant received loud and widespread acclaim for his performance in the 2018 comedy, which ranks high among the most celebrated movies of this century so far. While his entire turn in "Paddington 2" is something to behold, too, nothing that Grant does in the film makes quite as lasting of an impression as his final scene, which sees him put on a full-fledged musical number with all of his fellow prison inmates. Looking back at the movie, it's not hard to see why it made Grant a star again.
Now, five years later, Grant has reteamed with "Paddington 2" director Paul King for "Wonka." As of this writing, the full extent of his role in the new film remains to be seen, but the first "Wonka" trailer certainly suggests that King and Grant are both using it as an excuse to go to some truly screwball places on-screen again.
He played a roguish villain in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
In early 2023, Hugh Grant turned in another scene-stealing big-screen performance in "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves." Directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the well-reviewed fantasy blockbuster follows a band of talented outcasts as they try desperately to bring their enemies to justice and correct some of their own past mistakes. While the film features more than its fair share of heroic figures, though, Grant stars in it as Forge, the roguish mercenary whose decision to betray Chris Pine's Edgin and Michelle Rodriguez's Holga landed both characters in prison.
In a film that is funnier and cleverer than it has any right to be, Grant makes quite an impact as Forge. The actor brings his character's goofy sense of humor and surprisingly machiavellian behavior to life with the same level of cheeky charm, perfectly matching the lighter fantasy tone that "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" strives to maintain. His performance, in other words, proved that Grant can still be just as charismatic in a massive blockbuster as he can in smaller dramas and comedies like "Paddington 2" and "Florence Foster Jenkins."
It's fitting then that, thanks to "Dungeons & Dragons" and "Wonka," Grant is set to open and close 2023 with roles in two very different but equally noteworthy tentpole films. All that remains to be seen now is whether Grant actually ends up stealing as many scenes in "Wonka" as his last-minute appearance in the film's first trailer suggests.