The actor, who plays a young Willy Wonka in 'Wonka,' gave props to both Johnny Depp and Gene Wilder for their previous turns as the candymaker Timothée Chalamet set out to make Willy Wonka his own.

The famous fictional chocolatier has previously been portrayed onscreen by Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp Helen Murphy is a former news writer at PEOPLE. She left PEOPLE in 2020. Willy Wonka could ...

In 1971, Gene Wilder took on the role of Willy Wonka and Johnny Depp staged the beloved character in 2005. More recently, in 2023, Timothée Chalamet took on the leading role.

Timothee Chalamet follows in the footsteps of Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp to play Willy Wonka in a new prequel film that looks at how Roald Dahl’s fictional character came to love chocolate.