When Rusty Goffe, one of just two surviving Oompa Loompas from the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, stepped onto the set of Netflix’s 2026 reality series Wonka: The Golden Ticket, one major detail immediately stood out: the chocolate river no longer smelled dreadful.
In Mel Stuart’s 1971 adaptation of Roald Dahl’s fantastical children’s story, the river flowing through Wonka’s factory mesmerised audiences. This time, however, the recreated attraction was far more pleasant — and genuinely chocolate-scented.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail, Goffe, now 77 and still working as an actor, recalled the reality behind the original prop. “Fifty-five years ago, it was simply dirty water. The crew would throw cigarette ends and scraps of old scripts into it, before adding real sugar and cream,” he said.
“After several days beneath the hot studio lights, it began to smell terrible. On the new show, it was actually a lovely chocolate river.”
More than half a century after the film launched his career, Goffe is leading a fresh group of Oompa Loompas in the Netflix competition series. Twelve pairs of contestants, each arriving with a golden ticket, enter a huge recreation of Wonka’s factory in pursuit of a £2.25million prize designed to make them financially secure for life.
Goffe, who has dwarfism and is 4ft 2in tall, is not the only familiar face from the original production to be connected with the new series. The 1971 movie was made on a relatively modest £2.2million budget and achieved only moderate box-office success.
Back for another bite: British actor Rusty Goffe, 77, returns as an Oompa Loompa in Netflix’s new reality series Wonka: The Golden Ticket, 55 years after appearing in the original film
Goffe says his life was transformed when he joined Willy Wonka’s workforce. He was 22 and had never appeared in a film when this photograph was taken on the 1971 set. Netflix executives later persuaded him to put on the green wig again for the reality show inspired by Roald Dahl’s story
Looks delicious, smelled awful: Rusty Goffe says the original Chocolate River became a dumping ground for crew members, while the real cream and sugar quickly turned foul beneath the hot studio lights
The voice of Gene Wilder, the American acting legend who played Willy Wonka in the 1971 film and died aged 83 in 2016, has also returned. With approval from Wilder’s estate, artificial intelligence has been used to recreate his voice for the new programme.
Some fans of the original movie who have watched the reality show since its release two weeks ago have described the computer-generated narration as slightly “creepy”. The series was filmed on a state-of-the-art, 88,000-square-foot set near Brisbane.
So how did Goffe react when he heard a version of Wilder’s voice for the first time in years?
“I thought he was actually there — I thought he’d turned up!” Goffe joked. Rather than being unsettled, he said the experience felt “magical, just magical”.
Wearing an updated version of his familiar dungarees, along with the distinctive green hairpiece and orange makeup, transported him back in time and made the years seem to disappear.
Of the original Oompa Loompa cast, only Goffe and Albert Wilkinson, who was born in Lancashire and is now 88, are still alive.
With Gene Wilder and the ten Oompa Loompas — known among themselves as “Oomphs” — in the 1971 film. Wilder died in 2016 aged 83, but an AI recreation of his voice narrates the new Netflix series, prompting some viewers to call it “creepy”
“I could sense the other Oompa Loompas beside me. It felt as though the entire team had returned.”
“Gene Wilder, Roy Kinnear — who played Veruca Salt’s father — and all the others felt as if they were sitting on our shoulders, telling us: ‘This is the next generation of Wonka.’”
Goffe admits he was “as green as the wig” when he arrived in Munich, Germany, to begin filming in 1970.
“I was 22 when we made the first film, and it was my first movie ever. I had no idea what I was supposed to do, but the director and the other Oompa Loompas guided me. We called ourselves ‘Oomphs’. And, of course, Roy Kinnear was there too — he was a lovely man.”
What was Wilder really like? The famously soft-spoken star’s portrayal of candy man Wonka ended up being the role he was most famous for.
Goffe says: ‘I loved him. He was a funny man yet serious. He knew what he wanted – but he was gentle. That’s all I can say.’
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The actor, who was born in Herne Bay, Kent in 1948, and now lives in Leighton Buzzard with his wife Sarah, says landing the part in the classic film – still considered the best version of Dahl’s book – changed his life forever.
His illustrious roll-call of films includes Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Willow and five Harry Potter movies…but, Goffe adds: ‘Nothing beats Wonka’.
Unless it’s the version which starred Johnny Depp – and featured just one Oompa Loompa – in 2005. ‘Don’t even mention Tim Burton!’.
Father-and-son: Netflix also snapped up Rusty’s son Ben, 33, pictured left, to join the latest incarnation of the Oompa Loompas
Reimagined: While the original film featured ten actors of short stature, the Netflix version includes a much more diverse cast of characters, including 6ft 8′ Australian actor Mitchell Marion
There were ten Oompa Loompas in the original film, all of short stature, with nine now in the line-up – and this time around, they come in all shapes and sizes, including 6ft 8′ Mitchell Marion, the ‘tallest Oompa that’s ever Loompa’d.’
Alongside a more ambrosial chocolate river, modern advances meant that the famous Oompa Loompa get-up was a little easier to deal with.
‘In 1971, there was a makeup artist called Klaus assigned to the Oompa Loompas. Every five minutes he would scream “More powder boys! There’s a break…put more orange powder on”. By the end of the day, you had to literally scrape it off.’
He adds: ‘And this time the wigs fitted. 55 years ago, they thought every dwarf had the same sized head. This time the green wigs fitted like a glove.’
Goffe didn’t like the footwear though. ‘We had to dance in heavy boots, not just the flat ballet pumps we had 55 years ago.’
Goffe says mixing things up was a ‘great idea’. ‘I loved it. When the first movie came out, people were saying “Oh, I wish I was an Oompa Loompa” and this show proves that anyone can be…if you’ve got orange makeup and green hair.’
And Goffe also brought one of his two sons, Ben, 33, along for the ride, with father-and-son based on Australia’s Gold Coast for filming over six weeks last autumn.
Ben explains: ‘An email came from my agent, they were trying to get hold of Dad to ask if he’d like to revisit Willy Wonka after 55 years. And then asked if I wanted to be part of it too.’
Rusty’s son Ben, left, has followed his dad onto stage and screen – with regular appearances in panto, musicals and films
There was one strict rule written into their contracts though, says Ben, who, along with brother Jack, has followed his father into stage and screen.
‘With the contestants, we weren’t allowed to talk to them. The producers wanted to keep them in the world of Willy Wonka. We were sworn to secrecy
Was Ben, who’s about to join the cast of Barnum, the musical about ringmaster P T Barnum and will be playing Buttons in panto in Dartford this Christmas, always going to follow his parents to the stage? His mum, Sarah, was a dance teacher and is now an international dance examiner.
‘I started at their theatre school when I was three. Even now, if I’m at the Royal Shakespeare Company or at the National Theatre, they will still give me notes.
‘My mum will still say “Oh, you started that bit of choreography on the wrong note, on the wrong foot”, or Dad will say “Try that line a little bit different”. And 95% of the time, they’re always right.’
Despite the days of filming Down Under being gruelling – the pair had just two days of respite in six weeks, both father-and-son are keen as mustard for a second series.
Indeed, Rusty baulks at the idea that he might have sung ‘Oompa, Loompa, doompa-dee-do’ for the last time: ‘Just in case Netflix, or anyone else, asks, please do make it clear I have not retired…’
Wonka: The Golden Ticket is on Netflix now