Hugh Grant and Timothee Chalamet.Photo:Julien Hekimian/WireImage
Julien Hekimian/WireImage
Hugh Grantwas at first skeptical about meeting costarTimothée Chalamet.
“I was a bit nervous of him. I don’t like people who are too successful, and I thought his career had gone a bit too well,” Grant, 63, jokes to PEOPLE of hisWonkacostar Chalamet, 27.
“But I did warm to him,” he adds. “He gave me good gossip.”
Timothee Chalamet and Hugh Grant on Nov. 27, 2023.Jeff Spicer/Getty
Jeff Spicer/Getty
Director Paul Kingsays he wanted “as much chemistry between” Chalamet and Grant “as possible” while filming, even if they couldn’t be face to face.
“They have a kind of banter through the movie and they’re sort of slowly becoming a double act as the movie goes on, and that’s something I think is very hard to do if you’re never in the same room together,” says King.
Timothee Chalamet and Hugh Grant in “Wonka”.Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
“And the way they both like to perform is they like to try lots of different takes and try different things in those takes, and I was entirely 100% supportive of their desire to get some chemistry going,” adds the director, who also worked with Grant on2017’sPaddington 2.
Explains King, “Timmy would have Hugh’s voice in his head and he could hear him, but he would be acting to a bit of tape or a tennis ball on a stick or whatever the kind of best way of giving him the right eye line was.”
According to Chalamet, it was “truly a joy getting to work on this stuff.”
Hugh Grant, director Paul King and Timothee Chalamet.Olivier Borde/Warner Bros
Olivier Borde/Warner Bros
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
And as for his first impression of rom-com mainstay Grant: “Before I met Hugh, I thought he was wonderfully talented and handsome and very good-looking. Then after I met him, my impression crumbled,” he says with a laugh. Grant jokes back, “This broken bitter old man.”
Wonkais in theaters Dec. 15.
source: people.com
