Hugh Grant channeled his inner Oompa Loompa at the BAFTA Awards on Sunday night, where the “Wonka” actor was on hand to present the award for best director.
After taking the stage, Grant dryly recited a spoken-word version of his character’s song: “Oompa Loompa doompety dee/ now the best director category. Oompa Loompa doompety dong/ Most of these films were frankly too long. Oompa Loompa doompety dah/ But for some reason the nominees are…”
Grant then revealed the nominees: Andrew Haigh for “All of Us Strangers,” Justine Triet for “Anatomy of a Fall,” Alexander Payne for “The Holdovers,” Bradley Cooper for “Maestro,” Christopher Nolan for “Oppenheimer” and Jonathan Glazer for “The Zone of Interest.”
The award ended up going to Nolan, who used his speech to recognize the organizations who have “fought long and hard to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world.”
“In accepting this I do just want to acknowledge their efforts and point out they show the necessity and potential of efforts for peace,” he added.
Grant played an Oompa Loompa in Paul King’s “Wonka,” which starred Timothée Chalamet in an origin story of the zany chocolatier. In order to convince Grant to accept the role, King said he wrote the “Love Actually” actor a letter to tell him he was great at playing “washed-up old hams.”
“It was really just thinking about that character – someone who can be a real shit,” King told Empire Magazine. “And I went, ‘Ah, Hugh [Grant]!’ Because he’s the funniest, most sarcastic shit that I’ve ever met!”
“Oppenheimer” ended up dominating the BAFTA Awards, taking home seven wins in total, including best film and lead actor for Cillian Murphy.
