The actor hired to play Wonka at the widely panned Willy's Chocolate Experience event in Glasgow, Scotland, has shared more details about the calamitous ordeal that attendees went through.
Comedian and actor Paul Connell spoke about the Willy Wonka event, titled Willy's Chocolate Experience, during an interview with British news outlet The Independent. He confirmed ticket-holders had a less than golden experience at the attraction, as it featured an AI-generated script, an "Unknown" villain, and no chocolate.
"I got a phone call on Thursday basically saying, 'Congratulations, you are going to play Willy Wonka. We will send you over the script, and dress rehearsal is tomorrow,'" Connell recalled of the moment he received the acting gig. "The script was 15 pages of AI-generated gibberish of me just monologuing these mad things.
"The bit that got me was where I had to say, 'There is a man we don't know his name. We know him as the Unknown. This Unknown is an evil chocolate maker who lives in the walls,'" he added about a fictitious figure at the event. "It was terrifying for the kids. Is he an evil man who makes chocolate, or is the chocolate itself evil?"
Visitors of the experience and online spectators called out the entirely made-up character, who never appeared in any of the Roald Dahl books or the film adaptations, as one of the more "traumatising" aspects of the whole experience, with some people crying from the horror of it all, and others crying tears of laughter.
This Willy Wonka story is incredible. What's going on here? What part of the film was this hahahahaha. pic.twitter.com/A66AxwYVhN
— Ben (@bene25_) February 28, 2024
Like that’s kind of traumatising I’m scared
— T.R. Thousand (@Trthousand) February 28, 2024
Aw man you can hear the tears starting
— حوRین (@stay_away_losrs) February 28, 2024
took some creative liberties here
— christine (@ctine__) February 28, 2024
Wonka and The Unknown are gonna be the Barbie and Ken of couples costumes this Halloween
— noah (@NoahBrzek) February 28, 2024
them kids at night after remembering this pic.twitter.com/rccQACVddz
— ☆ (@realonx1) February 28, 2024
the children at the Glasgow Willy Wonka experience drinking their quarter can of limeade after seeing The Unknown come out from behind the mirror pic.twitter.com/WjZwThJkmu
— david (@dvd_brwn) February 28, 2024
Connell said he thought the script might make more sense at the dress rehearsal, but he turned up at the location to find a near-empty warehouse with a few plastic props. He optimistically hoped it would transform into an immersive set before visitors arrived, but instead people had to step into a world of pure imagination (literally).
The Wonka actor referred to himself as "Timothée Charlatan," not Chalamet, in a TikTok video about the fiasco. He also revealed that instead of carrying a hatful of dreams, he had a half-pocket full of beans as the were instructed to hand out rationed sweets but no chocolate despite being branded as a "chocolate experience."
"We were told on the experience to hand out a jelly bean. One jelly bean per child," Connell shared. "That was what the children got. No chocolate. There was no chocolate to be had at this chocolate factory, which I really think they missed the trick because if there's ever an event to sell chocolate, I'd say it was this one, but no, they went with a single jelly bean and a quarter of a glass of lemonade."
House of Illuminati hosted the £35-a-ticket (roughly $45) Willy Wonka experience, which the group advertised as a "journey filled with wonderous creations and enchanting surprises at every turn." In reality, however, it was reportedly a five-minute walk-through with a single bouncy castle, a rainbow arch, and a bunch of cafeteria tables scattered about an abandoned warehouse.
According to the BBC, House of Illuminati cancelled the event midway through its opening day due to customer complaints, leading many of its scorned attendees to call the police and demand their money back. The organisation later issued a statement on Facebook alerting attendees that refunds were being processsed.
Willy's Chocolate Experience organiser and director of House of Illuminati, Billy Coull, told STV News: "I'm really shocked that the event had fallen short of the expectations of people on paper. My vision of the artistic rendition of a well known book didn't come to fruition. For that I am absolutely truly, and utterly sorry."
Cover image credit: House of Illuminati.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X/Twitter @AdeleAnkers.
