The actor opened up to ET about his thoughts on what it would be like to step into the shoes of the iconic chocolatier.
Donald Glover already stepped into the shoes of a pop culture icon when he starred as Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Now, the acclaimed actor is rumored to be up for the role of Willy Wonka in a possible remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Speaking with ET's Courtney Tezeno at the For Your Consideration event for his FX series Atlanta on Friday, the Golden Globe winner opened up about his childhood appreciation for the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
"It kind of terrified me as a child a little bit," Glover admitted. "It was a really scary movie to me. I mean, I watched it a lot but I was kind of terrified by it. I mean, you know, it's a classic."
When Willy Wonka first hit the big screen in 1971, Gene Wilder embodied the iconic chocolatier and brought with him a chaotic friendliness and unhinged malice that set little kids on edge for years to follow.
When Johnny Depp played Wonka in Tim Burton's 2005 adaptation of the classic children's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, he upped the creepiness factor a few notches.
But for Glover, if he got the opportunity to play Wonka, he says he'd want to put a different sort of spin on the eccentric candy maker, but he's not sure what that would be yet.
"There's been a lot of Willy Wonkas, so I would have to think about it on some level," Glover said. "But it's cool that people are thinking about me."
As for suggestions on how to interpret the character, Glover joked, "I'll leave that to Twitter."
Donald Glover has been on a career-defining hot streak in recent months with his acclaimed performance as Lando Calrissian, his position as creator and star of Atlanta and his musical success under his rap alter-ego Childish Gambino -- including the internet-breaking music video for his song "This Is America."
Recently, the star stopped to talk with ET about his next exciting project -- voicing Simba in the live-action remake of The Lion King, alongside Beyonce, and the actor admitted that working opposite the music megastar has been "a little intimidating."
Check out the video below to hear more.
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