It’s been 46 years since those crazy kids got into some trouble at a little candy factory, so how exactly have things been going for them? Here’s how everyone’s doing in the real world.
Peter Ostrum (Charlie Bucket)
Ostrum was just a middle school kid performing plays when he got the role of the classic 1971 film. He called it a whirlwind. “It was sort of like being an exchange student for five months,” he said about his time filming in Munich. He did enjoy working on the film, but realized that acting wasn’t for him. He even turned down a three-picture deal from the studio.
He even used to lie and say his brother was the one who performed the role. “Acting was fine,” he said, “but I wanted something more steady, and the key is to find something that you love doing, and that’s what my profession has given to me.”
So what was his true calling? Animal care, since he’s now a veterinarian.
Paris Themmen (Mike Teevee)
Themmen is still in the performance industry, just not in front of the screen. He now works as a casting director for commercials. After Wonka, Themmen worked on broadway before taking a break from acting at 14 to “just be a kid.” He went to NYU and got his BFA in theater.
After he graduated Themmen started traveling, going to at least 40 countries. He founded Access International, a travel company that sends backpackers on charter flights to Europe. He dabbled in real estate, retail, financial consulting and film production before settling down with his casting job. He even worked as a Disney Imagineer.
He’s had a few roles since the movie, such as a small part on Star Trek: Voyager and a ‘featured extra’ role in The Big Lebowski. (he’s in the bowling alley and the title sequence).
Julie Dawn Cole (Veruca Salt)
Cole did a little more acting after Willy Wonka, most notably appearing on Angel and the soap Emmerdale. She went on to be a fitness trainer, but now she’s a psychotherapist at a hospice for families and children suffering from illnesses and she really enjoys it.
She stays true to Veruca Salt, however. She wrote a book called I Want It Now! A Memoir of Life on Set of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in 2011, keeps up with several social media accounts and makes regular convention appearances.
Michael Bollner (Augustus Gloop)
His role as the chocolate-loving golden ticket-holder is the only acting credit Bollner has. He’s kept out of the spotlight and works as a tax accountant in Munich. “I’m still not skinny,” he told People magazine in 2005. “I love to eat anything with a lot of sugar.”
A big reason why he probably chose not to stay in the spotlight was that he never actually knew there was a spotlight to begin with. The film didn’t gain near as much momentum in Germany as it did in the US, so he was completely unaware of the popularity of the film until he was asked to come to a reunion in 1998.
