• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • FFS PRODUCTIONS
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Actor with dwarfism slams the new Wonka film for casting Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa

Home> Entertainment> Film

Updated 07:08 28 Jul 2023 GMT+1Published 22:49 26 Jul 2023 GMT+1

Actor with dwarfism slams the new Wonka film for casting Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa

George Coppen fears actors like him are 'being pushed out of the industry we love'.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

The new film about Willy Wonka is being harshly criticised before it's even been released.

The trailer for Wonka, which stars Timothée Chalamet as the enigmatic and eccentric owner of the legendary chocolate brand, dropped two weeks ago and everyone got pretty excited.

There has been a lot of hype leading up to the film considering it's a fresh take on the character who is beloved around the world.

However, one person was upset when they saw a different role in the teaser.

Advert

Hugh Grant has been cast as an Oompa Loompa in the upcoming flick and you get to see a brief interaction between him and Wonka in the trailer.

His character is based on a fictional being that is described as 20 inches tall, according to Warner Bros.

Grant's Oompa Loompa appears in a glass jar and Chalamet's Wonka asks whether he's the 'funny little man who’s been following me?'

The short, orange character replies: “I will have you know that I am a perfectly respectful size for an Oompa-Loompa.”

But an actor with dwarfism has hit out at the decision give Hugh Grant the role.

George Coppen told the BBC that the film should have cast performers like him.

“A lot of actors [with dwarfism] feel like we are being pushed out of the industry we love," he said.

"A lot of people, myself included, argue that dwarfs should be offered everyday roles in dramas and soaps, but we aren’t getting offered those roles.

"One door is being closed but they have forgotten to open the next one.”

Coppen has appeared in projects like Willow, Artemis Fowl and The School for Good and Evil.

Warner Bros.

The BBC reports that the 26-year-old is following in the footsteps of his father, Willie Coppen, who got into acting when he saw a casting call for actors to play Ewoks in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

George has also hit out at the way Grant's body has been altered in Wonka.

"They've enlarged his head so his head looks bigger. [I thought] what the hell have you done to him?" George said to the BBC.

In the past film iterations of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Oompa Loompas have been played by actors with dwarfism.

George wants to know what has suddenly changed with this latest one.

Wonka is a prequel to Dahl's legendary story and reveals how the iconic chocolate maker came to be.

The film is due to be released on December 13 this year.

LADbible has reached out to Warner Bros. for comment.

Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros.

Topics: TV and Film

Stewart Perrie
Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Senior Journalist at LADbible. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign. He is in charge of the LADbible Australia editorial content and social presence.

X

@stewartperrie

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Danny Dyer becomes old school football agent in first trailer for new film One Last Deal
  • New Dumbledore John Lithgow slams JK Rowling despite being in upcoming series
  • Natasha Lyonne opened up on time she was 'as good as dead' as actor admits to relapsing after years of sobriety
  • Superman fans make iconic discovery after former actor brands new film 'woke'

Choose your content:

Just now
4 hours ago
  • Sony
    Just now

    North Korean hack revealed plans for 23 Jump Street MIB film Channing Tatum said had 'best script ever'

    The first two films alongside Jonah Hill were critical and commercial successes, but a third is very unlikely

    Entertainment
  • Jeremy Clarkson/Instagram
    4 hours ago

    Jeremy Clarkson announces new season of The Grand Tour with major change

    The Grand Tour is coming back after a two-year hiatus - with Clarkson releasing a video to confirm it

    Entertainment
  • Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for SiriusXM
    4 hours ago

    Chris Hemsworth has sobering update about how Alzheimer's discovery has affected him

    The Marvel star made the admission in his 2022 series Limitless

    Entertainment
  • Instagram/brooklynpeltzbeckham
    4 hours ago

    Brooklyn Beckham 'covers up' tattoo dedicated to dad David after family feud

    The 'tattoo alteration' is the latest development in the Beckham family feud

    Entertainment