What does a performer need in order to inhabit the role of Yung Wonka, a.k.a. Twink Wonka, a.k.a. Twonka? You need dance skills, a certain razz-ma-tazz, and most importantly (according to Wonka director Paul King), you need statistics. King told Rolling Stone that he offered Timothée Chalamet the titular role in Wonka on the strength of his teen rap skills. “It was a straight offer,” King said. “[H]e was the only person in my mind who could do it … his life is so absurd, his high-school musical performances are on YouTube and have hundreds of thousands of views. So I knew from stanning for Timmy Chalamet that he could sing and dance really well.” King says Chalamet was eager to show the world what he and TikTok already knew. “When I spoke to him he was quite keen,” King said. “He’d done tap dancing in high school and he was like, ‘I’d quite like to show people I can do that.’” But will the MGM musical throwback that is Wonka have room for Timmy T’s most popular dance move, the chop?
