“My gut feeling is that Willy Wonka wasn’t his favorite role”.
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“It’s kind of like losing a parent”.
Since news broke that Gene Wilder had died Sunday at the age of 83, numerous comedian’s costars and collaborators have offered their condolences and shared their favorite memories of Wilder. “You never knew what to expect from Gene”.
After he died, a family member released a statement sharing that Wilder didn’t want his Alzheimer’s diagnosis to be revealed, so that “countless young children that would smile or call out to him ‘there’s Willy Wonka, ‘ would not have to be then exposed to an adult referencing illness”.
Corden shared: “I sent him an email, asking if he’d come and do a bit and he sent me an email back where he, in the history of people saying no to things, it couldn’t have been nicer”.
“He was so quirky”, said Ostrum. Ostrum hadn’t seen Wilder since the film ended production, but he was still devastated. He never let on how he was going to read a line or convey an expression.
And Rusty Goffe, who played one of Wonka’s Oompa Loompas, wrote that Wilder was “one of the nicest if not THE nicest actor I have ever worked with”.
Wilder first met his soon to be collaborator Mel Brookes in 1963 and the pair went on the make the classic comedy films “The Producers, ‘ ‘Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein'”.
Wilder was a reserved figure on the Wonka set, but he was always accessible as well. He joked that he was exhausted of seeing him run around. Now, several of the actors from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory are speaking out about the man who brought the eccentric candy genius to life.
Despite having a good experience making the movie, Ostrum never acted in another film.
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“To have made one film and to be associated with Jack (Albertson, who played Charlie’s grandfather) and Gene, I feel like I really found the golden ticket”, he said.
