Jeremy Allen White says no, he is still not related to look-a-like Gene Wilder
By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN
(CNN) — Hold on to your chocolate bars, people.
In a new installment of Buzzfeed’s “Puppy Interview” released on Thursday, “The Bear” star Jeremy Allen White took the opportunity to remind us all that no, he is still not related to “Willy Wonka” icon Gene Wilder, despite their uncanny resemblance.
“I’m not related to Gene Wilder,” White said. “I think a lot of people think I am.”
White’s “Iron Claw” co-stars Zac Efron and Harris Dickinson were also part of the interview, and seemed to agree that White and the late Wilder look a lot alike.
“That’s hilarious, I can kind of see it,” Efron said. (Same, Zac. Same.)
The Emmy-nominated White has previously addressed the comparison, which started to percolate on social media last year and bubbled up again this summer after the trailer for the new “Wonka” film, starring Timothée Chalamet in the titular role, was released.
Gene Wilder famously portrayed the screen role of the zany chocolatier in the 1971 film “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,” which was based on the 1964 children’s book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl.
White told InStyle in August 2022 that he was aware of the memes that compared the two, saying, “Everyone’s decided I look a lot like Gene Wilder, which I agree.” He added that he thought the discourse “was weird and funny.”
In November, he spoke on the matter yet again when he told GQ in an interview that he agrees the resemblance is crazy, and expressed his appreciation for it, saying, “I will take a comparison any day.”
So, we know White isn’t related to Wilder, but Dickinson went a step further in Thursday’s interview when he jokingly asked White, “Are you… Gene Wilder?”
With a laugh, White said, “I am actually Gene Wilder.”
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