Did Wonka's Timothée Chalamet Ask Johnny Depp for Advice _ E! News

Transcript

00:00 Recently you spoke about how you used to watch Johnny Depp's Wonka growing up as a child.

00:04 When you got the role, did you reach out to him to get any advice?

00:07 No.

00:08 No, Timothee Chalamet didn't get advice from Johnny Depp before playing Willy Wonka

00:14 while on the red carpet at the UK premiere of Wonka on November 29th.

00:18 The actor tells E! News' Aaron Lim Rhodes it was actually Gene Wilder's performance

00:23 in the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory that left him inspired.

00:29 I love the Gene Wilder version.

00:31 The Gene Wilder version I saw first, technically, because my mom,

00:34 because that's the one I grew up on and probably you grew up on.

00:37 But Timothee still tips his hat to how Johnny played the character

00:41 in 2005's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

00:44 Then that came out when I was, the other version came out when I was about 10 or 11 years old.

00:48 And I just thought it was very bold.

00:50 Next up, it's Timothee's turn in the upcoming musical film Wonka,

00:54 which traces the backstory of the Chocolate Mogul.

00:57 And the actor has his teenage singing and dancing alter ego,

01:02 little Timmy Tim, to thank for this golden ticket.

01:05 Paul, your director, essentially said that we have Timmy Tim to thank for you getting this role.

01:10 So I need to know who in your life gets to see Timmy Tim the most?

01:15 No one. Are you serious? I get locked away deep into a corner of the digital footprint

01:22 and a deep, dark part of my mind.

01:26 Back in July, director Paul King revealed that Timothee didn't even have to audition to play Wonka.

01:31 He told Rolling Stone, "It was a straight offer because he's great

01:35 and he was the only person in my mind who could do it.

01:39 He's Timothee Chalamet and his life is so absurd.

01:41 His high school musical performances are on YouTube and have hundreds of thousands of views."

01:46 Paul continued, "So I knew from standing for Timmy Chalamet that he could sing and dance really well.

01:52 And I knew that was in his arsenal, but I didn't know how good he was.

01:56 When I spoke to him, he was quite keen.

01:58 He'd done tap dancing in high school and he was like, 'I'd quite like to show people I can do that.'"

02:03 Fans will get to see Timothee in his tap dancing glory when Wonka hits theaters December 15th.

02:10 "I'm excited to see Timothee in theaters.

02:12 I'm excited to see him in theaters.

02:14 I'm excited to see him in theaters.

02:16 I'm excited to see him in theaters."

02:18 [music]

02:22 you