Guest Blog: 'I Didn't Realise the Power of This Character': Gareth Snook on the Responsibility of Playing Willy Wonka in CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

When Roald Dahl’s story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory first came out it must have blown people’s minds – this man, this character, Willy Wonka. Who is he? It’s not a question that one can answer easily, believe me, I’ve tried to answer it.

As an actor you try to build a backstory to help with the development of the character, which I’ve been doing in my own head, but you can’t really comprehend the man. I’m continually trying to find out who he is, even now as we’re touring the country with the new musical adaptation.

I certainly felt pressure to live up to what people expected of the character of Willy Wonka, from the pre-existing examples (Gene Wilder, Johnny Depp). In the rehearsal room I quickly discovered how I wanted to approach the character for our purposes onstage, and I realised he’s an everyman. He obviously guides the Golden Ticket winners and their families through the factory, but he also must guide the audience on the journey, and create a relationship with them, building a level of trust.

However, I hadn’t quite realised during the rehearsal process just how important the audience was going to play in this production, particularly with my character, until we started touring. A lot of what I do is directed at them as if they are an additional golden ticket winner alongside the families on stage, so I get to bounce off of them. It really was a process of discovery throughout the previews, seeing how the audiences would react to him.

I’ve had some great reactions during the tour so far – sometimes I hear kids shouting things out, which I had never anticipated. People really want Wonka on their side, and they want to be on his side. I didn’t realise the power this character had until the audiences were in. I remember in one curtain call a teenager in the front row got on their feet and shouted ‘Wonka, call me!’ I was like, wow! You don’t quite realise the responsibility you’ve got with this character and how powerful he is in the imagination of the audience, because he is that iconic!

As well as the audience, I love playing off the cast. We've got four incredible young actors rotating the part of Charlie in this production, and each one is completely different. The essence of the character is the same – they say the same words and stand in the same positions - but in terms of themselves they are all very different, which is exciting to share the stage with, particularly when we go up in the glass elevator, which happens to be one of my favourite scenes.

I am continuing to discover things all the time with the role, it’s always evolving. My dear friend Caro Newling (theatrical producer) said to me, “you will never stop playing with this character, you will never stop changing.” There are just so many different ways to approach him. The director, James Brining, was in yesterday and sent me a few notes to try changing the delivery of certain lines so I’m looking forward to also trying that out. It continues to be great fun and keeps me on my toes.

I still have my original script from rehearsals which has got everything written in it. Sometimes I go back and read over it because I think it’s so worthwhile – seeing things written down and remembering what your original thoughts were and what the thoughts of the director were at the time. It’s great to see how far we’ve come.

For me, the fascinating thing about Willy Wonka is that he’s got so many aspects to his character – he’s intriguing, he’s unpredictable, and sometimes uncompromising, but also very compassionate and lovable, which is a side people don’t often associate with him.

Everyone thinks they know him, and find him a little bit terrifying, but if you look closely at the novel and our adaptation, it’s the children who are the true monsters… and the bad parenting. He does warn them all and they don’t listen, but that’s not to say that Wonka doesn’t also revel in their misfortune.

Charlie & The Chocolate Factory is on a nationwide tour until February 2024

Photo Credit: Johan Persson

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