People Are Calling Out Hugh Grant For His Role In "Wonka", But This Has Happened At Least 4 Times Before

"I guess, Hugh Grant, you're now identifying as a little person".

Now Barbenheimer is over with, Wonka – starring Timothée Chalamet as the titular chocolatier – has arguably shifted to become 2023's most anticipated film release.

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The movie – which also stars Olivia Colman, Rowan Atkinson, Keegan-Michael Key, and Sally Hawkins – is set to open in cinemas on 15 December. The plot tells the backstory of Willy Wonka before the opening of his famous chocolate factory.

Another well known actor who has also made his way into the film is none other than British icon and grumpy red carpet interviewee, Hugh Grant.

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Hugh features right at the end of the recently released Wonka trailer as an Oompa-Loompa. In fact, his appearance is one of the "most replayed" parts of the trailer, according to YouTube.

You can watch Hugh in the trailer here... He pops up at 02:05.

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Hugh's casting as an Oompa-Loompa has angered members of the little people community, including Jackass performer Jason Acuña (also known as known "Wee Man") and actor George Coppen, who is best known for appearing in Netflix's The School for Good and Evil.

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Jackass star Wee Man criticizes the casting of Hugh Grant in Wonka

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As seen in a recent viral TikTok, Jason, who has dwarfism, criticised Hugh for "now identifying as a little person".

Similarly, George recently made comments to the BBC about doors being closed for little people in the entertainment industry, with regards to Wonka. "A lot of actors [with dwarfism] feel like we are being pushed out of the industry we love", he told the outlet.

George Coppen/Warner Bros. Pictures

"A lot of people, myself included, argue that dwarfs should be offered everyday roles in dramas and soaps, but we aren't getting offered those roles", he added. Of Hugh's reveal in the trailer, George said, "They've enlarged his head so his head looks bigger. [I thought] what the hell have you done to him?"

Of course, this isn't the first time someone who is not a little person has played a little person. Here are four times actors who aren't little people played characters that were..

1. Isabelle Fuhrman in Orphan

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Isabelle, who is also known for her roles in The Hunger Games and The Novice, played an adult woman posing as a nine-year-old girl in the 2009 horror film. The film's big reveal is that Isabelle's character, Esther, has a rare form of hypopituitarism that stunted her growth and caused her to develop proportional dwarfism. Isabelle won a Dublin Film Critics' Circle Award and Fright Meter Award for her work on the film, which was co-produced by Leonardo DiCaprio.

2. John Rhys-Davies in The Lord of the Rings movies

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John, who is actually 6'1 in height (1.85 m), famously played the role of Gimli in all three of the movies, despite being the tallest member of the main cast. He was lauded for his portrayal, but according to his stunt and size double Brett Beattie, a lot of the character we see on screen is actually him. Brett, who is 4'10, allegedly spent 189 days, or 2,300 hours, as Gimli. Indeed, John has been quoted as saying "whenever there's anything dangerous... I sent my stunt double to do it."

3. Pretty much anyone in The Hobbit films

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George admitted to the BBC that it was James Nesbitt's casting as Bofur in The Hobbit trilogy that got him thinking about how there are relatively few parts for little people actors. In truth, none of the actors who appear as dwarves in any of the films have the condition. These include Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, William Kircher, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Mark Hadlow, Graham McTavish, Dean O'Gorman, Peter Hambleton, Aidan Turner, Jed Brophy, John Callen, and Adam Brown.

4. John Lithgow in Shrek

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Screen legend, John, played the iconic antagonist in the original Shrek movie, whose stature is often referred to as short throughout the movie, and is used as a constant source of "entertainment". Arguably, if there was a live-action version of Shrek, this mis-casting miiiight be more pertinent, but it's still a voice role that could've gone to an actor who is a little person! 

Additional thumbnail credit: Vincent Sandoval/Getty Images

Did we miss anyone out? What are your thoughts on this topic? Sound off in the comments below!