Hugh Grant Hilariously Recites Oompa Loompa Poem as He Presents at BAFTA Awards

"Oompa Loompa doompety dong, most of these films were, frankly, too long," Hugh Granted joked onstage at the 2024 BAFTA Awards

Hugh Grant in Wonka; Hugh Grant at the 73rd British Academy Film Awards
Hugh Grant. Photo:

Warner Bros. / Courtesy Everett Collection; Guy Levy/BAFTA via Getty 

Hugh Grant is still in Oompa Loompa mode!

When Grant, 63, appeared at the 2024 BAFTA Awards on Sunday to present the ceremony's award for best director, the Wonka actor shared a wry poem while channeling his Oompa Loompa character.

"Oompa Loompa doompety dee, now the best director category," Grant said onstage, much to the amusement of the awards ceremony's live audience. "Oompa Loompa doompety dong, most of these films were, frankly, too long," he added. "Ooompa Loompa doompety da, but for some reason the nominees are..."

Grant then presented the award to Oppenheimer filmmaker Christopher Nolan during a night that saw the movie win seven BAFTA awards out of 13 total nominations it received, most among all films at Sunday's awards show.

TIMOTHEE CHALAMET as Willy Wonka and HUGH GRANT as an Oompa Loompa in Wonka
Wonka.

Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

The Love Actually star was digitally shrunk to scale in order to play an Oompa Loompa opposite Timothée Chalamet in Wonka, which follows the adventures of a young Willy Wonka as he begins to sell chocolate for a living. The film presents Grant's character as an adversary of Wonka's who steals his chocolate as revenge for Wonka using ingredients found in Oompa Loompa territory.

Wonka has grossed $209.8 million at the domestic box office and more than $600 million worldwide since its release in December. Grant and Chalamet's press tour featured plenty of fun at Grant's expense, with Chalamet memorably singing the Oompa Loompa song — first featured in the 1971 musical film adaptation Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory that starred Gene Wilder — with Grant at the movie's premiere in Tokyo back in November.

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"I was a bit nervous of him. I don't like people who are too successful, and I thought his career had gone a bit too well," Grant told PEOPLE of working with Chalamet, 28, in December. "But I did warm to him. He gave me good gossip."

"I couldn't be on the set because I'm too big. But I was in a tent just nearby with my helmet on with all the cameras," he added of how the production arranged his motion-capture performance, which shrunk the Oompa Loompa character down to roughly 18 inches tall. "A highly complicated business."

After Wonka, Grant has roles lined up in the upcoming Netflix movie Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story and HBO's upcoming miniseries The Regime, per his IMDb page.

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