Hugh Grant Will Be Your Oompa Loompa, But He'll Hate Every Second Of It

By Kayleigh Donaldson | Celebrity | December 7, 2023 |

By Kayleigh Donaldson | Celebrity | December 7, 2023 |

Hugh Grant’s late career resurgence is extremely interesting and funny as all hell. The one-time rom-com regular has found a fun niche in his later years, hopping between biting character actor work and knowingly ridiculous comedies. This is the man who got a BAFTA nomination for playing the villain in Paddington 2 AND DESERVEDLY SO! Grant has always been charming and candid in a way that’s gotten him in trouble, but now he’s in his 60s and he has fully entered his ‘I do not care’ era of public relations. I love it.

Grant is an Oompa Loompa in Wonka, the musical chocolate factory tale with Timothée Chalamet donning the top hat to play Roald Dahl’s most beloved child torturer. For the part, Grant had to do a ton of motion-capture and he did not enjoy the process. And where better to discuss this than on the promotional tour for the movie itself? Why waste time?

When asked about his work in a press conference with various media outlets, including Metro, he said the experience was ‘drivel.’ Having multiple cameras surrounding his face was apparently like ‘a crown of thorns.’ ‘I couldn’t have hated the whole thing more,’ he added. ‘And frankly, what I did with my body was terrible, and it’s all been replaced with an animator.’ Asked if it was all worth it when he saw the film, he shrugged ‘Not really,’ while the other cast members laughed around him.

In fairness to Wonka, it’s not just this film he’s uninterested in. He said, ‘I slightly hate [making films], but I have lots of children and need money.’ He has five kids. Director Paul King, whom Grant worked with on Paddington 2, seemed very in on the joke and described the actor as ‘the funniest, most sarcastic sh*t I’ve ever met.’

I love this kind of saltiness and honesty from actors, although it is glaring that Grant is celebrated for sh*t-talking his own movie while poor Rachel Zegler makes the most anodyne comment about a fairytale and is harassed online as if she murdered all seven dwarfs in Snow White’s cottage. Still, I hope he brings this energy to all future promotional tours. Dance for your money, Hugh!