Here’s What The Children From Willy Wonka Look Like Now

Annasophia Robb (Violet Beauregarde)

Like Nickerson, Annasophia Robb was also an child actress when she landed the role of Violet in the 2005 remake, appearing on an episode of Nickelodeon’s Drake & Josh and in the TV movie An American Girl Holiday as the famed Samantha, one of the first dolls in the American Girl lineup. Robb earned a Young Artist Award nomination for the role.

After Charlie, Robb destroyed the tear ducts of everyone everywhere in the devastating Bridge to Terabithia, followed by roles in Sleepwalking with Charlize Theron and Race to Witch Mountain with Dwayne Johnson and future Hunger Games villain Alexander Ludwig. She also landed the role of real-life surfer Bethany Hamilton in the teen-oriented biopic Soul Surfer and appeared alongside Steve Carrell in The Way Way Back.

One of Robb’s biggest career breakout moments came when she was cast as the lead in The CW’s Sex and the City prequel. As the younger version of Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw, Robb redefined ’80s fashion and fun, but, sadly, the series was canceled after just two seasons. Robb most recently starred on PBS’ Mercy Street, which was also canceled after two seasons. She’s still keeping busy, though, as a student at New York University while still balancing auditions and acting roles.

Michael Bollner (Augustus Gloop)

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is the only credit Michael Bollner has to his name, with the child actor portraying the gluttonous Augustus Gloop. (He has since also appeared as himself in a TV show called Bizarre Transmissions from the Bermuda Triangle.) Bollner has kept himself out of the spotlight, but he did tell People in 2005 that he was working as a tax accountant in his native Munich. “I’m still not skinny,” he told the magazine. “I love to eat anything with a lot of sugar.”

One thing that’s probably made it easy for Bollner to live a normal life was that he never really knew he was famous. Costar Paris Themmen said in a Reddit AMA that Bollner actually had no idea how popular the film was until he was approached in 1998 for a reunion—it never gained the momentum in Germany that it did in the United States.

Philip Wiegratz (Augustus Gloop)

Like Bollner, Philip Wiegratz, who plays Augustus in the remake, is from Germany—but unlike Bollner, he has continued his acting career in his native country. Wiegratz had to learn English and wear a fat suit for the part, which Jordan Fry, who played Mike Teavee, said felt “foamy” and “weird.” “He actually lost weight in it because it was really hot, but he was probably glad that he had that suit on when we were filming at the gates of the factory,” mused Fry. “It was supposed to be warm and look cold, but it was cold and looked cold.”

While Charlie was Wiegratz’s only English language film to date, his notable German roles include the historical drama Lore and the fantasy movie Ruby Red.