Timothée Chalamet Previews His Wonka Singing Voice With A 'Pure Imagination' Parody On SNL
Negotiations to end Hollywood's actors strike really came down to the wire for Timothée Chalamet, who hosted this week's episode of "Saturday Night Live." Since the strike also covers promotional work for films, Chalamet hasn't been able to talk publicly about his upcoming movies — which include the chocolate fantasy "Wonka" and the wormy epic "Dune: Part Two" — since mid-July. The strike finally came to end on Thursday, which was too late to have any full sketches based around Chalamet's movie roles, but not too late for the young star to celebrate in his opening monologue.
Chalamet made up for lost time by transforming his "SNL" monologue into a song called "Shameless Self-Promotion," a parody of the classic tune "Pure Imagination" sung by Gene Wilder in 1971's "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory." Director Paul King's prequel "Wonka" will also be a musical, with Chalamet himself singing a total of seven songs across its runtime — some from the original movie, and some brand new. Obviously fans are curious to see if the rapper formerly known as Lil Timmy Tim can lead a big-screen musical, and Chalamet was happy for the opportunity to show off his pipes. You can check out his opening monologue/opening number above.
Face of a baby, lungs of a man
Lil Timmy Tim might be dabbling in ballads right now, but that doesn't mean he's forgotten his rapping roots. The second half of the monologue was dedicated to a rap titled "Baby Face," shared with baby-faced "Saturday Night Live" cast members Marcello Hernandez, Punkie Johnson, and Kenan Thompson.
But Chalamet didn't confine his singing to the start of the show. This is the actor's second appearance on "SNL," and the first time around featured a sketch in which Chalamet played a farmboy who has a beloved tiny horse, and sings a tribute to said Tiny Horse. This time around, Tiny Horse returned as Giant Horse in an epic sci-fi tale that naturally required a reprise of the song, and Chalamet also showed off his incredible dance moves in an impersonation of pop star/sleep paralysis demon Troye Sivan.
"Saturday Night Live" returns next Saturday, November 18, at 11:30pm ET/8:30pm PT on NBC, with host Jason Momoa and musical guest Tate McRae.