Dwayne Johnson has revealed that he was once considered by Tim Burton to play Willy Wonka in his adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Willy Wonka is a beloved character, brought to life so memorably by Gene Wilder in 1971s Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory.
Based on the Roald Dahl children’s book, the story was adapted once again – although less successfully – by Tim Burton in 2005. The Burton remake starred Johnny Depp as Wonka but apparently, another star was also considered for the part.
Taking to his Instagram, Dwayne Johnson had some rather surprising news to share with fans when celebrating the 1971 film which is one of his favourite movies:
“Some cool history – back in the early 2000’s, iconic director, Tim Burton had considered me to play Willy Wonka is his remake, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I remember thinking “HOLY SHIT, IM IN” But that was many years ago when I was just starting out in Hollywood with no foundation of global box office strength or any real acting experience to even pull it off.
“The role, of course went to Johnny Depp, who at that time was the biggest star in the world. The rest was history. And down the road I went. The fact that Tim even considered me (albeit I’m sure he considered for all of 7 seconds:) sure meant a helluva lot to me as I was just breaking in to the business with no idea what the future had in store. I’ll always raise a glass 🥃 to the dreams that don’t come true, because sometimes they’re the best thing that never happened. #BigBrownBaldTattooedWonka”
Johnson certainly would have been an interesting choice for Wonka. How seriously Burton was considering him remains to be seen but perhaps The Rock would have brought something to the table that would have changed opinions of Burton’s movie.
Photo Credit: MovieWeb