I Want it Now! A Memoir of Life on the Set of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Interesting little bio by the former Veruca Salt with a run-through of her experiences filming the movie Willy Wonka & subsequent life & filmography.

Loads of photos that were luckily heavily captioned (though this tended to repeat a lot of the same material in the main text). Not a deep bio nor an analysis of acting or the film business, but a fun little confection just like the WW movie itself.

This is a delightful memoir from the actress that was Veruca Salt to be enjoyed by any fan of that unique work. Julie goes over the path in chidren's theatre that brought her to Wolper's production and the interactions of the Wonka children (Paris/Mike TeeVee was an imp, she had a rival for Ostrum/Charlie's affections, etc.). This includes the personal, thoughtful, and endearing side of Wilder and turning 13 isolated from family on a movie set. Cole relates the wonders of the sets and the whole process from a child's view and life after the film. This includes reunions for commentary tracks, her adult life inlcuding her marriage to Pete Phipps of The Glitter Band, later career as a fitness instructor and more.

I highly recommend this book for any fan of the classic Wonka movie! This is a quick little book about Julie Dawn Cole's life, interspersed with anecdotes about the filming and cast of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." There are also a ton of pictures, including lots of behind the scenes photos from filming. Ms. Cole is a very special lady, and I'm glad she decided to share her story. Sure, the book is not perfect, particularly in the Kindle format - there are a few grammatical errors & typos; the captioning on the photos is redundant, with the same stories being told just a page before or after; and I was actually interested to hear more details of her life after Willy Wonka rather than just the CliffsNotes version (she had show more quite a prolific acting/performing career, plus several other careers!) But I'm grateful for the memories that were shared, and I'm glad I took the time to read this book. show less

Interesting little bio by the former Veruca Salt with a run-through of her experiences filming the movie Willy Wonka & subsequent life & filmography.

Loads of photos that were luckily heavily captioned (though this tended to repeat a lot of the same material in the main text). Not a deep bio nor an analysis of acting or the film business, but a fun little confection just like the WW movie itself.

I was so surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I read it over a pretty long period of time because I had downloaded it to my Iphone - so it was the book that I read when all I had was my phone with me. I read it when I was in my son's room at night with no light - etc etc.

I really enjoyed the movie of Willy Wonka. It wasn't my favorite movie movie growing up - but I did love it and I remember it along with the Wizard of Oz as being a movie that I always loved seeing when it was shown as the movie of the week. I remember my imagination being really excited by the notion of of the chocolate factory and all the magic in it.

This book was a wonderful behind the scenes story. I love a friendly memior. This is not written by a person show more that is out to get anyone back years after the fact. It is a memoir by a person fondly remembering a time in her life.

The pictures are wonderful in the book and I was glad that reading it on my Iphone I had color.

Lots of fun - a breezy read that was thoroughly enjoyable. show less

This was a quick and pretty interesting read about "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" from actress Julie Dawn Cole's (Veruca Salt) perspective. I enjoyed her take on the set, filming, and other actors, both during the filming and in the decades since. Reading about her acting background as a child and how she was chosen for the part of Veruca was interesting too.

I am a huge fan of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory so this was a must read for me. Julie Dawn Cole, who played Veruca Salt in the movie, takes readers behind the scenes of the movie who captured the hearts of countless people. Julie talks about how her experiences with the movie changed her life and how her early life was like the life of Charlie Bucket.

It was great reading about all the things that happened behind the scenes and getting to see pictures from Julie Dawn Cole's personal collection. This is a great book about a magical movie and is a must read for any fan of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.