Wonka star Calah Lane may only be 14 but this Texas-born actress is gong places, with her big break in the family-friendly holiday classic out in cinemas now. Calah, who has also appeared in This Is Us, stars alongside Timothee Chalaet and Olivia Colman in the film – which tells the origin story of Willy Wonka (Chalamet), of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fame – as Noodle, an orphaned tween who lives with the cruel Mrs Scrubbit (Colman).
Working alongside Olivia and Timothee was a dream come true for the teen, but she says it was Olivia's kindness off screen that she will take away with her.
"[Olivia is] really fun, she's really nice," Calah tells HELLO!
"They would say, 'Action,' she would be so mean, but then after they say, 'Cut,' she'd be like, 'Oh my gosh, so sorry, are you okay?' And I'd be like, 'No, it's okay, it's fine!' She's a super nice person. I love her so much."
Timothee and Calah's relationship on screen is central to the film, with the elder Willy taking Noodle under his wing, yet although the pair didn't screentest and instead met for the first time on Zoom, they "became best friends instantly".
© WB"He is so much fun to work with, a very nice person," Calah shares. "He wasn't there with his mom and dad or anything so we took him in and we had Thanksgiving with him and all of that. "I also really love how he acts. He's really good at acting and I love how he got into the Willy Wonka character. I remember seeing him walk back and forth and swing his cane and just become that Willy Wonka character."
Working alongside a cast of this caliber may be intimidating for some, but Calah used the opportunity to build her own craft – "I just sit and watch and observe them" –and find a chosen family.
© WB"I grew internally being there with all of them. I grew as an actress, watching how they work and watching how they ask questions. Because I was only 12, I wasn't thinking about all the things that they were thinking about,' she says, "so I would just watch them. And I really got a lot more confident watching them acting."
"We became a whole Wonka family," Calah continues. "At first I was like, 'What if they're gonna treat me like a little kid?' Because I was the youngest on set, and we don't want to be treated like a little kid. It makes us feel like a small little person. But they definitely did not do that. They comforted me and we became a big Wonka family; I really enjoyed being on set with all of them."
© Gareth CattermoleFor the film's release, Calah will be spending her paycheck to see the film with her best friends in theaters, and she is leaving the next steps up to God.
"I'm a really creative person and I like storytelling." says Calah. "Acting's always been a part of my life, but I like to write and I also want to direct so it's just everything about show business I just absolutely adore. I'm definitely thanking God for this opportunity."
