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Julie Dawn Cole and Paris Themmen State Their Experience Working on the Original Willy Wonka Movie
Stars of the 1971, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory are opening up about their experience shooting the film when they were just kids.
The Glasgow Willy Wonka experience fiasco will always be remembered in pop culture history. After the Timothee Chalamet-led Wonka reboot, it received a lot of acclaim and love from the fans. Due to the revived interest, a Willy Wonka-themed experience, which was supposed to be a dreamland, turned into a nightmare. Now, stars from the original Wonka movie are reacting to it.
Julia Dawn Cole and Paris Themmen rose to fame in the Gene Wilde starrer Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory in 1971. Two are reflecting their fond memories of playing the roles of Veruca Salt and Mike Teeve in the original Wonka movie.
Little did the actors know that the movie they starred in while they were just 10 and 12 would go on to become one of the most iconic movies and shape a generation. Themmen added, “The film was also not hugely popular at the time."
He continued, “It grew in popularity around the ’80s. They were showing it once a year on TV, and it started to get cult status.” And Paris even opened up about looking at things differently in hindsight and how they still can’t believe that they were a part of the movie.
Cole recalled her working experience on Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory, and revealed, “We were a bunch of kids on location in Germany, away from home, no cable TV, no Netflix or any of that.” She also says that she had a lot of fun filming the movie, hanging out on sets, and getting to play in a magical world.
But the experience of shooting this once-in-a-lifetime movie is still fresh for Julie Dawn Cole. She called, rushing back to set after their required academic work, to hear Roy Kinnear, who played Veruca Salt’s father’s role in the movie, talk about his stories about working with the Beatles in 1965’s Help!
She also revealed that veteran performer Jack Albertson, who appeared in the film as Charlie Bucket’s Grandpa Joe, entertained the kids with his old vaudeville routine. Megastar Wilder was “just Gene” to his young and growing co-stars.
While their experience shooting the movie was a golden one, not everyone can say that about their Willy Wonka experience. Earlier this year, somewhere in Glasgow, Scotland, fans of the franchise thought that they were receiving a golden ticket, which just turned out to be a farce.
They'd bought tickets to an unofficial "immersive" event called "Willy's Chocolate Experience," inspired by Roald Dahl's book and the numerous films that followed. The children’s expectation of a magical experience was limited to an empty warehouse, which provided nothing but a makeshift experience.
Parents sought refunds for their £35 tickets (about USD 45). Police were contacted, and the event was canceled midway through the first day. But not before angry parents shared images and videos on social media, which immediately went viral and garnered international media attention in the following days.
As cast members of the original movie, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, Julie and Paris have a deep connection with it; they also feel sadness for the kids.
But that harrowing fiasco also inspired a new musical parody about the event. Willy's Candy Spectacular: A Musical Parody has just begun its world premiere run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival on August 9. Julie Dawn Cole and Paris Themmen also star in the parody.
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