All of the Actors Who Have Played Willy Wonka

From Gene Wilder to Timothée Chalamet, take a look back at all of the actors who played the iconic character

As fans get a first glimpse of Timothée Chalamet's Willy Wonka, take a look back at the other actors who have stepped into the iconic role.

Dating back to 1971, with Gene Wilder's inaugural performance in the first film adaptation of Roald Dahl's 1964 children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, four different actors have taken on the role on both the stage and screen.

While it turns out Dahl himself was not such a fan of the original adaptation, generations of fans felt otherwise, making it a beloved classic. In 2005 the film was remade with Johnny Depp in the role of Willy Wonka. In 2016, the story got the Broadway treatment and was adapted for the stage with Christian Borle starring as the chocolatier, and in 2023, fans will see Chalamet don the iconic top hat and purple coat in Wonka.

"Obviously, he's walking in the footsteps of some truly phenomenal performers who played the role before, so the bar was set very high," Wonka director Paul King recently told PEOPLE of Chalamet. "I think what's so remarkable about his performance is not only that he is funny and mischievous and quite mysterious, as well — just like the Willy Wonka that people will know — but also, he brings such heart to the role and he's a brilliant actor."

"He's incredibly emotionally intelligent and can bring a great deal of emotional truth to the role," King added.

From Wilder to Chalamet here's a closer look at all of the Willy Wonka actors throughout the years.

Timothée Chalamet

Chalamet, 27, steps into the eccentric chocolate-maker's shoes in Wonka, which is set to hit theaters on December 15, 2023. The film, which is inspired by the 1964 children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, is an origin story for the character taking place before the events of the '70s film.

And while Chalamet is known for his acting talent, fans may be surprised to see him taking on singing and dancing in this role as well.

"It's really a tour de force for him there," King, 44, shared with PEOPLE of his performance, adding, "He was rehearsing for months ... honing skills, which was a pleasure to watch."

While speaking to Vogue UK for his September 2022 cover story, Chalamet called the film “so joyous."

Per the outlet, filming the movie, which includes seven musical numbers, created an “escape” for the actor.

"I hate to say it, but the dream as an artist is to throw whatever the f--- you want at the wall, you know?" Chalamet said. "And I guess what I'm realizing is that one's personal life, one's adult life, can be quite boring and the artist's life can still be extraordinary."

Chalamet is joined in the film by Sally Hawkins, who plays Wonka’s mother, Keegan-Michael Key, Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman, Jim Carter, Matt Lucas, Calah Lane and Natasha Rothwell. (And yes, that was Hugh Grant you saw as an Oompa Loompa.)

Crispin Glover

In a bit of a departure from the other iterations of the role, Crispin Glover’s Wonka in 2007’s Epic Movie was not so much for children. The parody film, which stars other actors including Kal Penn, Jennifer Coolidge, Darrell Hammond and Carmen Electra, pokes fun at epic films like The Da Vinci Code, The Pirates of the Caribbean saga and of course, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. 

Glover’s version is a bit more sinister — taking body parts from the four unlucky visitors to use in his candy — but that signature Wonka costume is unmissable.

Johnny Depp

More than 30 years after the original film premiered, Johnny Depp stepped into the role of Willy Wonka in Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 2005. The movie also starred other notable actors such as Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket, Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Bucket and AnnaSophia Robb as Violet.

On the Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2012, he described his inspiration for the performance as "I imagined what George Bush would be like … incredibly stoned. And thus was born my version of Willy Wonka."

In Roger Ebert's review of the film, he said that while the film was "mostly delightful," Depp's performance did not impress him.

"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory succeeds in spite of Johnny Depp's performance, which should have been the high point of the movie," he wrote. "Depp, an actor of considerable gifts, has never been afraid to take a chance, but this time he takes the wrong one. His Willy Wonka is an enigma in an otherwise mostly delightful movie from Tim Burton, where the visual invention is a wonderment."

This film also had musical numbers, composed by Danny Elfman, who told Entertainment Weekly he was not tied to the nostalgia from the first film. "Those songs in the original [Charlie and the Chocolate Factory] are iconic, but I didn’t care ... You either forget about it or you pay homage to it. We decided early on that we weren’t going to pay homage to the original."

The film grossed more than $475 million at the worldwide box office, Entertainment Weekly reported.

Christian Borle

In 2017, Roald Dahl’s tale got the Broadway treatment when a musical adaptation opened on the Great White Way. Christian Borle played the role of Willy Wonka though Charlie and the Chocolate Factory would run for less than a year.

Of his “Wonka suit” worn in the show, Borle told Vogue: “As we were doing fittings, I said, ‘I’d really like for him to be put together and actually quite elegant and veer away from any cartoonishness,’”

He continued, “The only thing that I’m not getting, which I’m disappointed about, is a cane that shoots fire—apparently that’s a safety issue or something.”

Three young actors shared the role of Charlie Bucket alongside Borle: Jake Ryan Flynn, Ryan Sell and Ryan Foust.

Gene Wilder

1971’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was the first time fans of the Roald Dahl classic saw the fantastical world come to life. Gene Wilder played the role of Willy Wonka in a performance that cemented him as an icon and earned him a Golden Globe nomination for best motion picture actor.

Despite the love the film has received from fans throughout the years, it turns out Dahl was not a fan himself. In fact, he would not allow the movie to be remade during his lifetime or for the rights to be sold to make a sequel. 15 years after his death in 1990, his estate signed off on Burton’s project.

And in a twist, once the film was remade with Depp stepping into his famous top hat — it was Wilder who voiced his dislike of that film.

"It's just some people sitting around thinking, 'How can we make some more money?' Why else would you remake Willy Wonka? I don't see the point of going back and doing it all over again," he said in 2013 at a 92Y event, per Entertainment Weekly.

He added: "Right now, the only thing that does take some of the edge off this for me is that Willy Wonka's name isn't in the title.”

Wilder starred in the 1971 film alongside Peter Ostrum, Jack Albertson, Julie Dawn Cole, Denise Nickerson and others.

The beloved actor died in 2016.

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