Timothee Chalamet on Wonka - a movie part-filmed in Dorset

"Come with me, and you'll be in a world of pure imagination," invites Willy Wonka in the beloved 1971 film Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory, and Gene Wilder's portrayal of the titular chocolatier captured the hearts of generations of children.

The story of Roald Dahl's character and his wondrous chocolates has become a mainstay for many families who've fallen in love with his zany eccentricity and imaginative, magical treats.

But now, Wonka, from Paddington and Paddington 2 director Paul King and starring Timothee Chalamet in the title role, is taking a look at the younger Willy Wonka, telling the story of how a young man with nothing but a dream built an extraordinary chocolate factory.

"I was enamoured by Paul's work prior, both Paddington films, and I was daunted by the idea of playing Willy Wonka, because it's a beloved character," says Chalamet, 27, who dons the top hat and tailcoat of Wonka for the film.

"But within five pages of reading the script, I saw how clever Paul's take was on the story of how Willy became the Wonka we know."

A scene from the film Wonka (Image: Jaap Buittendijk/ 2023 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc)

Chalamet, known for films like Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird, Dune and Little Women, brings his characteristic charm to the eccentric character, perfectly embodying Wonka's unrelenting optimism as he arrives in a strange new city to chase his chocolatier dreams.

"I think Timothee's an extraordinary actor," says King, 45, who co-wrote the film with Horrible Histories' Simon Farnaby.

"I first saw him in Call Me By Your Name and I was just blown away by how brilliantly he managed to dig deep into the well of human emotion.

"And then I saw him in Lady Bird later that year, and he was equally brilliant, completely different, completely mesmerising and hilarious, and I realised how special he was.

"He felt like such a great choice for (Wonka) because he's magnetic, and completely charming and captivating, and has a sort of strange, otherworldly quality that you want your Willy Wonka to have."

When we meet the young Willy Wonka in the film, he has set off to a new city to chase his dreams of opening his own chocolate shop.

"This is really the companion piece to the Gene Wilder film, the idea of who he would have been as a young Willy Wonka," Chalamet explains.

"When characters are so beloved, people are very protective of them - people are immediately sceptical, rightfully - but when the story and the script is as clever as what Simon and Paul came up with, then the story feels warranted."

Young Willy is brimming with ideas and youthful optimism, but sadly, this makes him a target for nasty people doing nasty business.

Soon after his arrival, he falls foul of Mrs Scrubbit and Bleacher - played by Olivia Colman and Tom Davis respectively - con artists who run a dodgy hotel.

"I love playing a baddie! I do really enjoy it," says Academy Award-winning The Favourite star Olivia Colman, 49.

"Paul King, I wanted to work with, I love him, and I loved the first two Paddingtons. And I love Wonka - the Gene Wilder Wonka was the Wonka of my childhood.

"And I love Timothee Chalamet, along with the rest of the world.

"I think it's a stroke of genius having him as Wonka because he is magical and childlike."

Timothee Chalamet as Willy Wonka and Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa (Image: Warner Bros Pictures)

Along the way, Willy makes some lovely friends - including little Noodle, played by Calah Lane, a young girl who's also been taken advantage of by Mrs Scrubbit and Bleacher - and he even crosses paths with an Oompa-Loompa, played by Hugh Grant, who isn't quite friend or foe, more a thorn in his side.

"I definitely thought the key was to keep the sort of negativity and anger, the curmudgeonly old bastard element of the Oompa-Loompa - this is my speciality!" says Love Actually and Paddington 2 star Grant, 63.

"The Oompa-Loompa in this film is propelled by those things, but also by a sort of sadness and a kind of loneliness. He's been ostracised, chucked out of his homeland and his home tribe for letting them down."

"He's on a mission to try and win back their favours," Grant adds, which he aims to achieve by getting his hands on some of Wonka's wonderful chocolates.

However, Wonka also makes an enemy of the so-called chocolate cartel, which includes prominent chocolatiers Slugworth, Prodnose and Fickelgruber, played by Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas and Mathew Baynton. These are truly horrible men who want to stop Wonka at all costs from opening a shop with his marvellous creations in the town square, lest it interfere with the chocolate monopoly the dastardly trio control.

Peep Show star Joseph, 59, says Slugworth and his cronies are "just unremittingly evil with no side of humanity - and it's a joy!"

"There's a sort of unbridled pleasure that you can have with that, like nothing can really be too big when you're playing a villain in a film with a kind of heightened comic tone like this," adds Baynton, 43, also known for Horrible Histories and Ghosts.

Chalamet, too, certainly found a freedom in letting go and having fun while filming Wonka, with all of its delightful characters, songs and dance routines, though he says this was a tricky adjustment at first.

"It was learning to let go - the tone of this movie was so generous, it was almost like, the first couple days, feeling like, 'OK, we can have fun?'," he says.

"Paul is a rare director. These movies are so generous and heart-warming, but they're also of a really high technical level."

As for his favourite message from the heart-warming film, Chalamet can't pick just one.

"'Every good thing in this world started with a dream'," he suggests.

"I also like, in the song Pure Imagination, 'Want to change the world? There's nothing to it'.

"This optimistic, positive attitude the young Willy has, where he won't take no for an answer and refuses to give up on his dreams."

Wonka comes to UK cinemas on Friday December 8.