‘Wonka’ Hugh Grant’s Oompa-Loompa Role Criticized by Dwarfism Actor! ‘We should be playing them’

Last Updated on 08/12/2023 by てんしょく飯

An actor with dwarfism criticized Hugh Grant’s role as the dwarf Oompa-Loompas in the film “Wonka” starring Timothée Chalamet.

Wonka,” scheduled for simultaneous release in Japan and the U.S. on December 15, is a film about the past of Willy Wonka, best known as the main character in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Along with Wonka, played by the very popular young actor Timothée Chalamet, the Oompa-Loompas of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” fame are also set to appear in the film, with popular actor Hugh Grant playing the Oompa-Loompa.

However, not everyone is looking forward to seeing him as an Oompa-Loompa. George Coppen, an actor with dwarfism who saw the trailer for “Wonka,” in which Hugh also appears, spoke negatively about Hugh’s casting, saying in an interview with the BBC on July 26, “The role of the Oompa-Loompas should have been left to an actor with dwarfism.

In the past, Coppen has appeared in films as an Ewok in “Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi” and as Cupid in “The School for Good and Evil.

Coppen said, “Many (dwarfism) actors feel like they are being pushed out of the film industry they love. Many people, myself included, argue that even with dwarfism, we should be offered everyday roles, but we haven’t been offered those roles,” revealing the alienation that actors with dwarfism face. Coppen, who said he only saw Hugh Grant’s bloated head in the trailer, said, “Hugh Grant What did you do to Hugh Grant?” Coppen criticized Hugh Grant’s bloated head in the trailer.

Incidentally, Deep Roy, who played a massive one-man Oompa-Loompa in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” was 132 cm tall. In 1971, many actors with dwarfism were used in the movie “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,” which was adapted from the same book, and played the role of Oompa-Loompas. Because of these past achievements, it must have been a great shock for the dwarfism actors to have their expectations betrayed.

Wonka” US trailer will be released simultaneously in Japan and the U.S. on December 15.