{"id":286696,"date":"2021-06-29T19:23:20","date_gmt":"2021-06-29T16:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/the-secret-behind-gene-wilders-willy-wonka\/"},"modified":"2021-06-29T19:23:20","modified_gmt":"2021-06-29T16:23:20","slug":"the-secret-behind-gene-wilders-willy-wonka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-secret-behind-gene-wilders-willy-wonka\/","title":{"rendered":"#The Secret Behind Gene Wilder\u2019s Willy Wonka"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#The Secret Behind Gene Wilder\u2019s Willy Wonka<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\">\n                <\/aside>\n<p><!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 3.7.9--><em>Acting is an art form, and behind every iconic character is an artist expressing themselves. Welcome to\u00a0<strong>The Great Performances<\/strong>, a bi-weekly column exploring the art behind some of cinema\u2019s best roles. In this entry, we examine Gene Wilder\u2019s Golden Globe-nominated performance in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>As a horror movie fan, I have a deep <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>reciation for the infamously spooky tunnel sequence in <em><strong>Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory<\/strong><\/em> (1971). After Willy Wonka opens his factory to the winners of his global \u201cGolden Ticket\u201d contest, the group watches in horror as the gluttonous Augustus Gloop gets swallowed by a chocolate river. Wonka quickly ferries them onto a paddleboat to their next stop on the tour, but the quaint ride quickly turns into a nightmare. A garish light show bathes the tunnel in <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trip<\/a>py colors, and the guests are pummeled with shocking images projected on the walls. As the group demands to be let off, Wonka\u2013almost in a meditative state\u2013intones a surprisingly creepy poem, \u201cAre the fires of hell a glowing? Is the grisly reaper mowing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This moment of kindertrauma is one of the many reasons why Willy Wonka has become such an iconic character, especially among horror hounds. He\u2019s a diabolical figure existing in a children\u2019s wonderland which, on paper, is an incredible set-up to a horror movie. The sinister undercurrent in <strong>Gene Wilder<\/strong>\u2019s performance as Wonka sets the character apart in the pantheon of beloved family films. He isn\u2019t some grandfatherly figure, opening his heart to the children of the world. Wilder\u2019s Wonka has a noticeable distaste for the kids he invites into his candy utopia. He\u2019s indifferent to their safety and seems to actively relish in placing these exhaustingly entitled children in dangerous situations, like the aforementioned tunnel to hell. It\u2019s an unusual, if relatable, spin on a character from a children\u2019s book. Who among us hasn\u2019t wanted to see a spoiled brat get their comeuppance?<\/p>\n<p>This ominous quality that Wilder\u2019s Wonka outwardly expresses is our clue as to why his performance continues to fascinate us decades later. This tunnel sequence arguably gives audiences a glimpse at the character\u2019s true colors\u2013a madman taking pleasure in others\u2019 pain\u2013but it\u2019s only the image Wilder\u2019s Wonka wants the children to see. Because Wonka isn\u2019t the scary, bedeviling character pop culture history has turned him into. The menace he exudes was always part of his plan to test the moral merit of Charlie, the impoverished audience surrogate who eventually inherits his chocolate factory. The reason why we love Wilder\u2019s performance as Willy Wonka isn\u2019t that he is this strange, dark presence looming over a children\u2019s film. It\u2019s that throughout <em>Willy Wonka<\/em>, Wilder keeps a secret from the audience that makes us question his character\u2019s true intentions from scene to scene.<\/p>\n<p>We can intellectualize his actorly decisions, but Gene Wilder has a more blunt way of describing his method: good lying. <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/interviews\/interview-with-gene-wilder\">As he told Roger Ebert<\/a> in 1971 ahead of <em>Willy Wonka<\/em>\u2019s release, \u201cHere\u2019s what I mean by lying. We all grew up on <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">movies<\/a> with scenes where the actor is lying, and you know he\u2019s lying, but he wants to make sure you know it\u2019s a lie, and so he overacts and all but winks at you, and everybody in the world except for the girl he\u2019s talking to knows he\u2019s lying\u2026I want to do the opposite. To really lie, and fool the audience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This secret that Wilder holds\u2013that his quiet nefariousness is a lie\u2013creates a duality in his performance as Willy Wonka. On the surface, he appears to be this eccentric confectioner doling out harsh lessons on good manners, but it\u2019s only to mask his character\u2019s actual motivation: to find someone with a golden heart to match his highly sought-after golden tickets.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/interviews\/interview-with-gene-wilder-1979\">Ebert would later elaborate on Wilder\u2019s acting methods<\/a> in an interview for his 1979 film <em>The Frisco Kid<\/em>, \u201cHe didn\u2019t mean \u201cpretending\u201d in the first dictionary sense. He meant projecting the feeling that you were pretending. Letting the audience suspect that there was something else, something wonderful and mysterious, beneath the surface that the character was pretending to exhibit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-366029\" src=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gene-wilder-willy-wonka-candy.jpeg\" alt=\"Gene Wilder Willy Wonka Candy\" width=\"800\" height=\"442\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gene-wilder-willy-wonka-candy.jpeg 800w, https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gene-wilder-willy-wonka-candy-768x424.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Nothing personifies Wonka\u2019s duality and Wilder\u2019s propensity for pretending than his character\u2019s famously grand entrance. After much fanfare leading up to Wonka opening his factory doors, a crowd gathers outside to get their first glimpse of the candyman after years out of the public limelight. As the contest winners look on, Wonka appears, but he seems tired, weather-worn. With a cane in hand, he hobbles towards the front gates. As his gait slows, his cane catches in the cobblestone, propelling him forward. He begins to fall, but at the last moment, tucks and rolls into a graceful somersault, popping up with hands raised as the crowd goes wild. This decision, to trick the audience in their first meeting of his character, was the reason Wilder chose to do the film in the first place. It was also a gimmick of his own making. As Wilder wrote in his memoir <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/kissmelikestrang00wild\/page\/128\/mode\/2up?q=Charlie+and+the+Chocolate+Factory\"><em>Kiss Me Like A Stranger: My Search For Love And Art<\/em><\/a>, when asked by director Mel Stuart why he wanted to do this, Wilder told him, \u201cBecause from that time on, no one will know if I\u2019m lying or telling the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This introduction delightfully surprises the crowd, especially the children, but it also leaves them on guard. Children often have blind trust in adults, but here they are given a reason not to trust Wonka at all. If he could make them believe that he is frail, could he also make them believe that he is a monster? This duality creates an exciting energy in Wilder\u2019s character because as Charlie and Grandpa Joe grow increasingly wary of Wonka, the audience also senses that there are ulterior motives for his erratic actions. It\u2019s what helps give the film\u2013and the character\u2013an air of mystery, and danger. And that Wilder is able to perform it in a way that inspires both fear and awe is why audiences keep returning to <em>Willy Wonka<\/em> decades after it flopped at the box office.<\/p>\n<p>And boy did it flop. As <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/news\/ct-xpm-2005-07-14-0507140114-story.html\">Gene Siskel wrote in his review<\/a>, \u201cCompared to other films for young children, <em>Willy Wonka<\/em> rates barely acceptable. Adults will receive more entertainment by dropping their children off at the theater and driving around the block.\u201d The movie would barely turn a profit, making $4 million on a budget of $3 million, but it wasn\u2019t without its fan, with Siskel\u2019s critical contemporary Roger Ebert awarding <em>Wonka <\/em>four stars, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/willy-wonka-and-the-chocolate-factory-1971\">calling it<\/a> \u201ceverything that family movies usually claim to be, but aren\u2019t: Delightful, funny, scary, exciting, and, most of all, a genuine work of imagination. <em>Willy Wonka<\/em> is such a surely and wonderfully spun fantasy that it works on all kinds of minds, and it is fascinating because, like all classic fantasy, it is fascinated with itself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The movie would eventually find a cult following through holiday television broadcasts and on home video, but if there was someone not too thrilled about <em>Wonka<\/em>\u2019s second life, it was Gene Wilder. He felt that the role\u2019s popularity would cast a shadow over the rest of his career. <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fatherly.com\/news\/today-shattered-dreams-gene-wilder-hated-willy-wonka\/#:~:text=The%20author%20of%20Gene%20Wilder,Willy%20Wonka%20%26%20the%20Chocolate%20Factory.\">As Wilder biographer Brian Scott Mednick said<\/a>, \u201cHe gave an interview once where he said he did not want his gravestone to say, \u2018Here lies Willy Wonka,\u2019 yet ironically he did not have much choice about his legacy. When he died, all the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> outlets highlighted his role as Willy Wonka above everything else. Gene wanted to be most remembered for <em>Young Frankenstein.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His career has some epic highs (<em>The Producers<\/em>) and unsavory lows (<em>The World\u2019s Greatest Lover<\/em>), but Gene Wilder was an actor who\u2013in whatever project he was on\u2013found unique angles to approach his characters from, and <em>Willy Wonka<\/em> is no different. He could have easily played it safe, making Wonka the stuff of childhood fantasies, like some psychedelic Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy. But he smartly chose to askew the expectations of a children\u2019s book character by giving Wonka far more teeth than another actor may have.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Gene Wilder does deserve to be remembered for his hilarious work in <em>Young Frankenstein<\/em>, but <em>Willy Wonka<\/em> shows that regardless of the material, he had a preternatural way of making every character he played unique, subversive, and endlessly memorable.\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social Media category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/gene-wilder-willy-wonka\/#utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=gene-wilder-willy-wonka\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#The Secret Behind Gene Wilder\u2019s Willy Wonka&#8221; Acting is an art form, and behind every iconic character is an artist expressing themselves. Welcome to\u00a0The Great Performances, a bi-weekly column exploring the art behind some of cinema\u2019s best roles. In this entry, we examine Gene Wilder\u2019s Golden Globe-nominated performance in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":286697,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gene-wilder-willy-wonka-elevator.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[110668,15257,44892,82452],"class_list":["post-286696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-gene-wilder","tag-the-great-performances","tag-willy-wonka","tag-willy-wonka-and-the-chocolate-factory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}