Timothée Chalamet’s Wonka vocal coach says ‘he has a lot of music in him’

Looks like Chalamet is acing his Wonka vocal practices.

Timothée Chalamet underwent quite the challenge trying to fit into Gene Wilder’s shoes, as the latest actor performing iconic songs like “Pure Imagination” as Willy Wonka. His vocal coach confirmed that he had cracked it. Eric Vetro donned the coach hat to hone Chalamet’s skill for his titular role in Wonka, which hit theaters Friday, and admired his vocal talents throughout the process.

In a conversation with People, the 67-year-old coach explains, “The thing about him is that he’s very, very naturally musical. He has a lot of music in him,” adding, “But what’s really special about him, he’s such a brilliant actor that he brings that side of his talent into the singing. So, he’s really singing as a character and bringing those songs alive.”

Vetro lauds the 27-year-old actor’s performance, stating, “Someone can sound really good singing. Someone can also act a song really well. But he puts it together really, really well,” adding, “It almost becomes mesmerizing, because you forget it’s Timothée Chalamet, and you just start going along with him as the character. I think that’s what people are going to be really, really impressed by.”

Paul King, the director of Wonka, admitted in a recent interview with Rolling Stone that he cast Chalamet as Charlie, the iconic character who originated in author Roald Dahl’s 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, without an audition after he watched a few of his online videos of his high school musical performances. He said, “It was a straight offer because he’s great and he was the only person in my mind who could do it,” adding, “But because he’s Timothée Chalamet and his life is so absurd, his high school musical performances are on YouTube and have hundreds of thousands of views.”

He continued, “So I knew from stanning for Timmy Chalamet that he could sing and dance really well,” adding, “And I knew that was in his arsenal, but I didn’t know how good he was. When I spoke to him he was quite keen. He’d done tap dancing in high school and he was like, ‘I’d quite like to show people I can do that.'”

Vetro admits that it was “awesome” working with the “Dune 2” actor, so much so that they met for another work project, for the actor’s role as Bob Dylan in the upcoming biopic A Complete Unknown. He explains, “It’s kind of astonishing because going from the Wonka character to Bob Dylan, it’s a completely different character, completely different voice, everything — and he does it,” adding, “He could turn on a dime. He’s so talented that he is able to just switch into one role or the other really quickly.”

A Complete Unknown, as confirmed, will center around Dylan’s controversial transition to the electric guitar in the ’60s and his road to becoming a folk music legend. Earlier this year, director James Mangold revealed to Collider that Chalamet would do all his own singing as Dylan, per People.

Vetro says in relation to the character, “When that movie finally comes out, people are going to be shocked because you’re going to think you’re hearing Bob Dylan sing,” adding, “Once again, he just has this uncanny ability to not impersonate, but really breathe life into it. He’s embodying Bob Dylan and what he was like at that age.” He continues teasing, “It’s like what Renée Zellweger did with Judy Garland.” The musical professional who worked with Zellweger on 2019’s Judy and received a shoutout during her speech after she won the 2020 Oscar for Best Actress for the role.