Turns out those embarrassing YouTube videos from your younger years might actually have a purpose after all. At least, they did for Wonka star Timothée Chalamet, who snagged the coveted titular role of the legendary chocolatier without an audition simply because of his viral YouTube videos from high school.
As noted by Variety, Wonka director Paul King revealed that he offered the role to Chalamet sans any formal audition after seeing the videos of his teenage musical performances. “It was a straight offer because he’s great and he was the only person in my mind who could do it,” King shared. “But because he’s Timothée Chalamet and his life is so absurd, his high school musical performances are on YouTube and have hundreds of thousands of views. So I knew from stanning for Timmy Chalamet that he could sing and dance really well.” (We're all Timmy stans inside.)
If you're not familiar with the videos King is referencing, just type "Timothée Chalamet high school" or “Timothée Chalamet rap” into your YouTube search bar and you'll be treated to countless performances from the young star during his days at NYC's LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. These include scenes from school musicals like Sweet Charity and the notorious video of him rapping as “Timmy Tim.” (Yes, that's the one where we wears the pink Nicki Minaj wig.)
Related: Here’s 7 Unhinged Details About Timothée Chalamet's Wonka
According to King, Chalamet was absolutely game to show off his musical talents in the forthcoming film. "I knew that was in his arsenal, but I didn’t know how good he was. When I spoke to him he was quite keen," the director explained. "He’d done tap dancing in high school and he was like, ‘I’d quite like to show people I can do that.’”
Wait, tap dancing? We can't wait to see that. Chalamet has big shoes to fill while singing, dancing and making chocolate as Willy Wonka, as the '70s Gene Wilder version of the character is canon for many fans. But watching any of his high school performances will prove that he's up for the challenge. Chalamet and his dancing shoes hit the big screen in Wonka on December 15, 2023.
