‘Willy Wonka’ Stars Have Fond Memories of Being on the Set (Where Are They Now?)
While Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory gave people a sugar rush over 50 years ago, the love for the franchise just keeps growing with the recent film adaptation Wonka. Julie Dawn Cole and Paris Themmen played Veruca Salt and Mike Teevee in the ’71 film and are now sharing their memories from working with the great Gene Wilder and being on the set.
Themmen said, “The film was also not hugely popular at the time. It grew in popularity around the ’80s. They were showing it once a year on TV and it started to get cult status. So, now we can look back and go, ‘Wow, I was working with all these great people. Look at how much talent is all in that one place.’ But at the time, we didn’t have that perspective. It’s only in hindsight that we really can recognize that in many ways we were really lucky to be in this wonderful film.”
Everett Collection
Cole added, “We were a bunch of kids on location in Germany, away from home, no cable TV, no Netflix or any of that. So, we had a lot of fun hanging out. Obviously, the sets were amazing and wonderful, but we were also there to do a job. You know, we had to be professional. But it was a lot of fun.” Both former child stars said that the set was all practical and it felt like they were making a new kind of Disneyland. They also shared that while Wilder was a big star, he was very down-to-earth and “just Gene” to them.
Everett Collection
Likely every kid watching the movie wants to visit the fantastical world, and families in Glasgow, Scotland, thought they were purchasing tickets to a similar immersive experience earlier this year. “Willy’s Chocolate Experience” promised performances, larger-than-life sets and, of course, lots of candy. When people showed up to the experience, it was a huge letdown and was shut down on opening day after people posted their negative experiences online and even called the police.
Remind At the time, Cole and Themmen were in Boston with former costar Peter Ostrum at a chocolate expo. Cole added, “So, we spoke about it a lot. We were talking about it going, ‘Oh my god, this is terrible!’ You know, the pictures and the stuff on the news! This sad little Oompa Loompa and all these disappointed people in this empty warehouse. And I felt really sad because we are very protective of Willy Wonka. We don’t want anybody’s bubble to be burst, and it was such a shame. I wanted to say, ‘It wasn’t me! It wasn’t anything to do with me!’”
The disaster inspired Willy’s Candy Spectacular: A Musical Parody, which began this month in Edinburgh and will feature Cole and Themmen plus Kirsty Paterson, who was a worker at the event. Director Richard Kraft said, “We’re not doing a musical about Willy Wonka and we’re not doing a literal thing about what took place in Glasgow. It became the inspiration. I think of it as the Fyre Fest of Fudge.”
Where Are The Other Kids Now?
While we caught up with Cole and Themmen, it begs the question, where are the other stars now? Wilder passed away in 2016, Jack Albertson (Grandpa Joe) died in 1981 and Denise Nickerson (Violet Beauregarde) died in 2019. Ostrum (who played Charlie Bucket) quit acting after the movie and became a veterinarian. He is now retired and still does some fan conventions. Michael Bollner (Augustus Gloop) went on to become a tax lawyer in Germany.
Kid Stuff
June 2018
Unleash your inner child by reliving your favorite kids TV shows, cartoons, toys and more!
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