Timothée Chalamet and Hugh Grant spotted in Oxford as Wonka filming continues

As you may have heard, Timothée Chalamet and Hugh Grant were back in Oxford last week to continue filming the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory prequel Wonka.

Many of us were excited by the prospect of catching a glimpse of A-listers on the way to lectures. However, once all the fake snow and props were set up and filming started, things became much less fun.

@alexrobinsn Hugh had no idea what was going on #hughgrant #wonka #oxford #oxforduniversity #filmtok ♬ original sound – Alex

The production team setting out fake snow in the bod.

Let’s make one thing clear: despite the rumours, Warner Brothers had full permission to film in Oxford. Despite this, Oxford never sent us one email notifying us about the library closures, road closures, and general pandemonium of filming a movie with a star-studded cast at your school.

@alicelock___ I’ve got skewl 🤧#timotheechalamet #wonka #oxforduniversity ♬ original sound – LADbible

Eager fans of Timmy and Hugh clogged the streets and the libraries (some even traveled just for the filming!)

Fans in the bod looking out at the filming

I will admit, the first day of filming, I was caught up in the excitement. I went to meet a friend in The Bod for some studying and “Timmy hunting” and was told I could not enter since filming was about to begin.

Needless to say, the group of us attempting to enter the library did not take that news well. Some had left their belongings in the library and had just gone outside for a break, and one passionate woman shouted “You can’t do this!” at a security guard.

Luckily, I thought creatively and entered The Bod through the Gladstone Link. I even saw Timothée himself, although I couldn’t take a picture with a production assistant standing next to me, guarding the window. This was the exact view I had:

Actors preparing to film

The following day, they began filming in Radcliffe square, and things grew worse. Blocking off the area around the Rad Cam meant blocking off major walking routes, and everyone was talking about how they arrived at tutes and lectures late due to having to take unexpected detours.

Even worse, they cut off access to the Rad Cam and the Bod while they were filming. I went to the Rad Cam that day to work (no filming spotting ambitions this time), and was blocked from even entering the roads around it.

These disruptions impacted the studies of some students. Rebecca Gardner, a student studying Chinese, couldn’t access “specific sources” for an upcoming essay that she “could only access on computers in the bod”. She was forced to “delay finishing it until the last minute” due to the filming which “messed with [her] work schedule”.

Oyinda, a student at Brasenose, encountered even more hassle since the college borders Radcliffe square. She said that “lots of people had to wait in Plodge at 9.30 in the morning with a security guard and weren’t allowed to leave until they stopped filming”. This cause students to be “late for tutes and lectures”. They “weren’t getting any kind of compensation” for the disruption, even though they should be able to leave their accommodation “whenever”, since they pay for it.

Oxford never notified students of the filming by email. There was announcements of a filming project on the Bodleian Library website, but we were never even given an email notice of streets being closed and libraries being blocked.

At Oxford, even two days of library disruptions can wreck havoc on a student’s academic life. Sorry Timothée and Hugh, even though it was fun to see you, “it’s not funny I’ve got school!”

The University of Oxford was contacted for comment.

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