Christian Borle Speaks About Building His Own Willy Wonka

In an exclusive interview with ET, Christian Borle discussed the nascent rehearsal process for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, coming to Broadway in March. At this stage, Borle and director Jack O'Brien are working to find the proper balance between the story everyone knows and the story being brought to the stage.

"Everyone has some familiarity with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," Borle says. "There are certain things people are craving to see, but we also want to surprise them. To make this endeavor worth doing, we have to do something new with it."

The whole production is feeling a slight pressure due to the recent death of Gene Wilder. Not only did the actor leave a striking legacy on the film world, his role as Wonka was indeed one of his most iconic. "I still carry [Wilder's] performance and his persona as a gentle giant in my subconscious," Borle explains. "It's impossible to get rid of him completely." He continues, however saying that there is a certain freedom in the actor's passing. "If he didn't like it, then I think I would be crushed. And so now I can imagine he would have liked it."

As far as Borle's own journey into the chocolate factory is concerned, he says the persona is still in the works. "I have an idea of what I am going to do, but I don't know if it's going to work. It's a bit of a tight rope walk at the moment."

Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory stars two-time Tony Award winner Christian Borle (Willy Wonka), who will be joined by a cast of 35 that includes Tony Award winnerJohn Rubinstein as Grandpa Joe (Pippin), Emily Padgett as Mrs. Bucket (Side Show), Kathy Fitzgerald as Mrs. Gloop (9 to 5), F. Michael Haynie as Augustus Gloop (Wicked), Ben Crawford as Mr. Salt (Shrek), Emma Pfaeffle as Veruca Salt (Finding Neverland), Alan H. Green as Mr. Beauregard (School of Rock), Trista Dollison as Violet Beauregard (A Bronx Tale), Jackie Hoffman as Mrs. Teavee (On The Town), Michael Wartella as Mike Teavee (Tuck Everlasting) and introducing Jake Ryan Flynn, Ryan Foust and Ryan Sell making their Broadway debuts as Charlie Bucket, with Yesenia Ayala (Broadway Debut), Darius Barnes (Cinderella), Colin Bradbury (Come Fly Away), Jared Bradshaw (Jersey Boys),Ryan Breslin (Newsies), Kristy Cates (Finding Neverland), Madeleine Doherty (The Producers), Paloma Garcia-Lee (Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812), Stephanie Gibson (Cinderella), Talya Groves (Motown), Cory Lingner (On The Town), Elliott Mattox (Broadway Debut), Monette McKay (Memphis), Kyle Taylor Parker (Kinky Boots), Paul Slade Smith (Finding Neverland), Katie Webber (Wicked), Stephen Carrasco (Fiddler on the Roof), Robin Masella (Cats), Kristin Piro (An American In Paris), Amy Quanbeck (Broadway Debut), Michael Williams (On The Town), and Mikey Winslow (On The Town).

In Roald Dahl's beloved classic, originally published in 1964, Willy Wonka's famous chocolate factory is opening at last! But only five lucky children will be allowed inside. And the winners are: Augustus Gloop, an enormously fat boy whose hobby is eating; Veruca Salt, a spoiled-rotten brat whose parents are wrapped around her little finger; Violet Beauregarde, a dim-witted gum-chewer with the fastest jaws around; Mike Teavee, a toy pistol-toting gangster-in-training who is obsessed with television; and Charlie Bucket, Our Hero, a boy who is honest and kind, brave and true, and good and ready for the wildest time of his life!

Read Leigh Scheps interview here.