Donald Glover has opened up about rumours speculating that he’s going to play Willy Wonka in a new movie.
The multi-talented star has become hot Hollywood property in recent years, starring in blockbusters Solo: A Star Wars Story and Spider-Man: Homecoming, as well as his award-winning TV series Atlanta.
He’s also voicing Simba in the upcoming live-action Lion King remake and recently won a Grammy as his rap alter ego Childish Gambino.
On top of all that, movie insiders report that Glover is in talks to star as the famous Roald Dahl character, previously portrayed onscreen by Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp.
“It kind of terrified me as a child a little bit,” Glover told Entertainment Tonight of 1971 movie Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. “It was a really scary movie to me. I mean, I watched it a lot but I was kind of terrified by it. I mean, you know, it’s a classic.
“I don’t know, there have been a lot of Willy Wonkas,” he added of him potentially taking on the role. “I would have to think about it on some level. But it’s cool that people are thinking about me.”
When pushed for details about how he’d reinterpret the character he laughed: “No I haven’t thought about it at all, I’ll leave that to Twitter.”
The Hollywood rumour mill went into overdrive last week (ends10Jun18), when it was reported that Glover, Ryan Gosling and Ezra Miller were all in the running to play the famous chocolate factory owner in Warner Bros.’ planned Willy Wonka movie.
Paddington director Paul King and writer Simon Rich are both attached to the project, though further details are being kept under wraps.
