The beloved 1971 fantasy film classic, “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” turns 50 this year, and reminiscences are in full flower.
One of those flowers though got a little wilted after the cast recently reunited and relayed which of the children in the cast was a brat backstage.
Over the years, all accounts of the “Willy Wonka” shoot have been suitably fun and friendly. They say when “Cabaret” director, Bob Fosse, kept coming on the set to tell the “Wonka” crew to hurry up because his production was set to film in the same studio, even the often churlish Fosse couldn’t help but smile at the whimsical goings-on.
But — as told during a recent virtual cast reunion with Yahoo Entertainment — one of the child stars of the film did get the ire up of star Gene Wilder, who played the titular candy-making master.
As one would imagine, all the child stars of the film had the time of their lives, taken to Bavarian Germany to a set full of crazy colorful machines and slides and whatnot, while playing the lucky kids who get to tour the candy factory and sample a bunch goodies and generally have loads of fun away from their parents for a few weeks.
The virtual cast reunion included featured actors Peter Ostrum (Charlie Bucket), Julie Dawn Cole (Veruca Salt), Michael Bollner (Augustus Gloop), Paris Themmen (Mike Teevee) and Denise Nickerson (Violet Beauregarde), and all attested to the good time had while making the movie.
Given Gene Wilder’s history of wacky comedies, we’d all like to think he was as mischievous and unpredictable as Willy Wonka. Instead, Julie Dawn Cole revealed, “I think people kind of want us to tell you that he was like Willy Wonka off set, but he wasn’t. He was such a lovely, kind man, very unassuming.”
Co-lead, Peter Ostrum, added, “He was just down to earth, not pretentious, he was just a wonderful person to be around and to work with.”
Gene Wilder passed away in 2016 at the age of 83.
While all the kids loved Wilder, Wonka himself could get a little miffed at one of the kids.
Apparently Paris Themmen, who played the high-strung, toy gun-totting Mike Teevee, could get on Wilder’s nerves just as easily as his character did. It was known Wilder called him a “handful,” and Themmen doesn’t deny it.
“I can corroborate that,” said Themmen in the virtual reunion. “I was younger than the others. I was 11, they were 13, and was naturally just sort of more high spirited and rambunctious.”
Themmen then told of a later reunion with Wilder, at a fund-raising screening of Wilder’s 1976 hit, “Silver Streak” at the Avon Theatre in Stamford, CT.
“I sat at the back of the room and he gave his commentary, and then I went up to the front of the room afterwards with my poster in hand,” recalls Themmen. “I said, ‘Hi, Gene, how you doing? I’m Paris Themmen, I was Mike Teevee in Willy Wonka.’
“And he said, ‘Oh you were a brat!’ And I flashed all the way back 50 years, or 40 years at that time, and said, ‘Well, I’m 50-something now and maybe not as much of a brat.’ And he signed my poster, ‘To my favorite brat.’”
The original film, directed by Mel Stuart, was remade by Tim Burton in 2005 and got a deserved chilly reception. Nevertheless, there are plans for a prequel reboot that sounds promising.
It will feature the rising 25-year-old actor, Timothée Chalamet (“Call My by Your Name,” “Dune”) as a young Wonka, and be produced by Harry Potter producer David Heyman.
“One nice thing for them is they don’t have to do a direct comparison because it’s a prequel rather than a remake,” Themmen concluded. “So he doesn’t necessarily have to be as good as Gene was, which obviously is a hugely difficult thing to do. But talented actor. I don’t know if he has the wild eyes that Gene has, but he’s kind of got the hair. And a general look that’s kind of similar.”
Sure, the prequel will no doubt have a bigger budget and “better” special effects, but nothing can ever replace the fantastic, day-glo fun of the original “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”
If you somehow haven’t seen it yet (meaning you haven’t yet fully been a child), check it out on the new on 4k Blu-ray; or better yet, see it on the big screen via Fathom Events, August 15-18.
Lights, camera, action! Get the latest updates on movies and television from The Reel Buzz on Audacy.
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram