Rusty Goffe stepped back into Wonka’s chocolate factory 55 years later and heard a voice he never expected to hear again.
“I did shed a tear when I first heard it, because I loved the man so much,” the original WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY Oompa-Loompa performer told Variety of hearing Gene Wilder’s voice recreated with artificial intelligence.
Goffe, 77, returned to the candy-colored world for Netflix’s WONKA’S THE GOLDEN TICKET, which began streaming Sept. 23. The nine-episode competition puts 12 contestants and their chosen partners through games, tests and temptations inside a sprawling chocolate factory set.
The reunion came with an extra family wrinkle. Goffe’s 33-year-old son, actor Ben Goffe, joined him as an Oompa-Loompa, allowing a role that opened the elder performer’s screen career in 1971 to become a father-and-son experience. Ben had grown up with the original movie through his father.
The game offers a cash prize calculated at roughly $3 million. Netflix released the first episodes together, with a two-part finale scheduled for Sept. 30, giving families a short wait to see which contestant leaves with the golden prize.
“He is Mr. Wonka. He is Willy Wonka. Gene Wilder is Willy Wonka,” Goffe said in the new interview.
Related: Gene Wilder’s WILLY WONKA Returns to Screens
Netflix and producer Eureka Productions worked with voice-AI company ElevenLabs to recreate Wilder, who died in 2016 at age 83. The production received consent from his estate, and Netflix said the show pays tribute to the 1971 movie rather than placing a digital likeness of Wilder on screen.
“We are delighted that WONKA’S THE GOLDEN TICKET celebrates the warmth and imagination that he brought to the role, introducing that magic to a new generation while honoring the fans who have cherished it for decades,” Wilder’s wife, Karen B. Wilder, said on behalf of his estate.
The estate’s blessing gives this use an important layer of consent, but it does not erase the wider questions surrounding AI performances by people who are no longer here to direct a new interpretation. NBC News reported that some viewers welcomed the tribute while others argued the job should have gone to a living actor.
Movieguide® covered the debate when Netflix first released the trailer, noting both the family’s approval and the divided audience response. Goffe’s memories add something technology cannot manufacture: the testimony of a colleague who knew Wilder as a person, not merely as a recognizable voice.
“He was a gentle, fantastic character, very funny, very, very kind,” Goffe recalled. After his first emotional reaction, he imagined what Wilder would tell him: get back out there and do the job.
The assignment carried a sweet sense of completion for Goffe. He said WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY started his career, while WONKA’S THE GOLDEN TICKET has now brought it to a close.
“It was one of the best moments of my life to do WONKA again,” he said.
That human gratitude is the strongest part of the story. New tools may reproduce a familiar sound, but kindness, loyalty and the memories shared between coworkers remain stubbornly real.
Read Next: The Original WILLY WONKA Cast Reunites, Reflects on Gene Wilder’s Iconic Performance
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