Los Angeles, Sep 12 (IANS): Director Paul King, who will be directing the upcoming fantasy-drama film 'Wonka' starring Timothee Chalamet, has praised the actor's singing voice, though he said that despite some musical sequences, the film is not a musical.
“He’s got a beautiful singing voice. The person it reminded me of was Bing Crosby. There’s quite a range because it does go from a couple of bigger, showstopper-y sort of things, to moments of real, pure emotion, and he can do it all… I’m going to sound like a crazed fan (sic)," Paul told Total Film in an interview, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Nonetheless, the ‘Paddington’ director also made it his purpose to establish that while the film has songs in it, he doesn’t exactly consider it a musical.
“The Oompa Loompas sing a lot in the book, and Dahl always uses poetry,” Paulexplained.
“But I didn’t want it to just become a musical where people are singing dialogue to each other for no discernible reason. I felt like it was more like a movie with songs than a musical.”
This is not the first time that the director has sung praises of Timothee’s singing voice.
In an earlier interview with Rolling Stone, he told the outlet that the ‘Dune’ actor did not even have to audition for the part, and was picked immediately due to his voice.
“But because he’s Timothee Chalamet and his life is so absurd, his high school musical performances are on YouTube and have hundreds of thousands of views, so I knew from the start that Timmy Chalamet could sing and dance really well. And I knew that was in his arsenal, but I didn’t know how good he was," Paul said.
‘Wonka’ serves as a prequel to the ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ book by author Roald Dahl, and will tell the life and journey of the eccentric and over-the-top chocolate maker Willy Wonka, and how he became the big name in the candy world that he was in the book.
‘Wonka’ also stars Hugh Grant as an Ooompa Loompa, Olivia Colman, Keegan-Michael Key, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Colin O’Brien, Matt Lucas, Simon Farnaby, Natasha Rothwell and Rufus Jones among others.
The film will hit theaters on December 29, 2023.