ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY January 21, 205 Page 42

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

What is it that compels Tim Burton to make Johnny Depp look so damn freaky all the time? To date, he's covered his favorite leading man's face in Kabuki makeup and scars (Edward Scissorhands) and turned him into a toothless transvestite (Ed Wood). Now, in his latest flick, a "reinterpretation" of Roald Dahl's confectionary children's classic, he tarts Depp up in a black Prince Valiant bob, Bono shades, and false teeth - all wrapped in a fey swagger of a glam-rock idol. Perhaps Burton just has a sweet tooth for making one of Hollywood's handsomest stars look as bizarre as possible.

"No, no," laughs Burton, "my point of reference for Johnny's Willy Wonka was those local TV game-show hosts. Each city had its own and they were all weird and off."

The rest of the film should be equally weird and off. For starters, Burton admits he's no fan of the 1971 Gene Wilder original. And while the basic story remains the same, including the cast of craven kids (led by Finding Neverland's Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket), the new Charlie isn't a musical. And to top things off, so to speak, the Oompa-Loompas get a face-lift. In Burton's film, the diminutive denizens of Wonka's factory stand a mere 30 inches tall and they're all played by the same actor.

Pretty strange, right? Depp says he wouldn't have it any other way.

"By now people know that when Tim and I get together, they should expect the unexpected."