Gene Wilder Had One Condition To Play Willy Wonka

While Johnny Depp and Timothée Chalamet tried with varying degrees of success, neither actor was able to step out from the shadow of the late, great Gene Wilder when playing Willy Wonka. That's not a knock on their performances, but rather a testament to how iconic Wilder's role in Mel Stuart's "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" remains to this day. It's also a role that the actor took very seriously, though he wouldn't have accepted the gig if one of his demands wasn't met.

Wilder put a lot of thought into playing Wonka, providing input on everything from his character's costume to elevating scenes. Regarding the latter, he told the 92nd Street Y, New York that he agreed to play Wonka on the condition that the chocolate factory owner performed some impressive gymnastics during his introductory scene, as opposed to the original plan, which portrayed him as slow and frail. Here's what he had to say:

"If I play that part, I want to come out with a cane, and that something is wrong with my leg, and come down the stairs slowly, and then have the cane stick into one of the bricks that are down there, and then get up, start to fall over, then roll around, and then they all laugh, and they applaud."

At first glance, the scene can be interpreted as Wonka trying to entertain the kids with some goofy antics, but that explanation is too simple. Wilder had other intentions in mind for demanding that it be added to the script, and he wasn't willing to accept alternative ideas.

Wilder didn't just read the script for "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and enjoy it. The actor got inside the mischievous mind of his character and came up with ways to mess with the audience in an effort to keep them guessing about Wonka's motivations throughout the film. The aforementioned scene was his way of fooling us all, as he explained in that conversation:

"The director said, 'What do you want to do that for?' I said, 'Because from that time on no one will know whether I'm lying or telling the truth.' He said, 'You mean if I say no, you won't do the picture?' I said, 'I'm afraid that's the truth.'"

Fortunately, the decision paid off. Not only did Mel Stuart love the scene after it was filmed, but "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" is now widely regarded as one of Gene Wilder's best movies – a bona fide classic. And of course, the fact Stuart didn't refuse Wilder's ultimatum shows that there was never any doubt about him being the right actor for the job.