Los Angeles, Jul 15 (IANS): ‘Wonka’ director Paul King said that actor Timothee Chalamet, who will now be playing the role of the wild chocolate maker Willy Wonka in the film, got the role of the iconic character from Roald Dahl’s novel without an audition simply because of his viral YouTube videos from high school.

Earlier, actors such as Donald Glover, Ezra Miller and Ryan Gosling were touted to play Willy Wonka, though it was Timothee Chalamet who ultimately got the offer to play the lead in director Paul King’s spin-off prequel film.

King said, quoted by 'Variety', "It was a straight offer because he’s great and he was the only person in my mind who could do it. 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 stanning for Timmy Chalamet that he could sing and dance really well".

King further mentioned, “I knew that was in his arsenal, but I didn’t know how good he was. When I spoke to him he was quite keen. He’d done tap dancing in high school and he was like, ‘I’d quite like to show people I can do that.’”

The director further said that ‘Wonka’ “is a proper musical that feels like a really fun hat off to the golden age of MGM musicals.” But despite its fun tone, the movie will pack a somewhat darker tone because Willy Wonka’s own world is just as cruel and mean as Charlie’s own.

‘Wonka’ will open in theatres on December 15, 2023.