Actor Talks About Hilariously Awful Viral Willy Wonka Experience In Scotland

The entire world is fascinated by the jaw-droppingly awful Willy Wonka experience that was held this month in Glasgow, Scotland. And now, one of the dudes who got the gig to play Willy Wonka himself is talking about his experience.

If you weren't familiar with this story, what happened, according to BBC News, was that a group called House of Illuminati based out of London decided to put on an "immersive" Willy Wonka experience for kids in the Scottish city of Glasgow and charged as much as £35 ($45) a pop for tickets.

Here's the problem: the event was a complete debacle and horrified most of the kids. Plus, it wasn't "immersive" by any metric with random props and an AI-generated script.

That script included a completely made-up villain called "The Unknown," a chocolate-maker who lives in the walls.

Don't believe me? Well, here it is:

I mean… this place makes that overpriced Disney World Star Wars hotel that shut down after two years look like Westworld.

So, what was it like to be on the inside of this hilariously awful production? Well, one of the actors hired to play the role of Willy Wonka provided some insights.

Actor Paul Connell hopped on TikTok to give some behind-the-scenes tidbits in a series of videos about the debacle. What was the first red flag that this thing may not be the greatest? According to Connell, it was that he was cast as Willy Wonka in the first place.

"Anyone who looks at me and thinks Willy Wonka and not Oompa Loompa is out of their mind," he said. "I give off major Oompa Loompa energy, but not a good Oompa Loompa; one that's at the back for all the musical numbers."

Well, Paul maybe it's just that was because they had already reached their Oompa Loompa quota.

Connell said that he was given the part on Thursday and told to learn the script by Friday. That script, he said, was essentially a 15-page monologue comprised of "AI-generated gibberish."

That's how they wound up with that evil chocolate maker villain which, as Connell pointed out, doesn't make any sense at all.

"What is an ‘evil chocolate maker’ for a start?" he asked. "Does he make evil chocolate? Or is he an evil man who makes chocolate? And what do you mean he lives in the walls?!"

Oddly enough, Connell also said that the kids who partook in the experience didn't even leave with chocolate. Instead, they got what every parent wants to see their kid get after dropping almost $50 for them to go through an experience like this: one jellybean and a quarter-cup of store-brand lemonade.

Mmm… that's good eatin'!

This whole fiasco was like a kid's version of Fyre Festival. Over promising and under at an unprecedented level. 

What I can't wait for is the documentary (and if I had the scratch, I'd buy the film rights if someone hasn't already) about this that will give us the real inside scoop… and hopefully explain what the hell is the deal with The Unknown.