Honestly, when people talk about Tim Burton’s 2005 reimagining of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the conversation usually starts and ends with Johnny Depp’s polarizing, dental-veneer-heavy take on Willy Wonka. Or maybe they mention the Oompa Loompas all having the same face. But if you’re looking for the actual comedic soul of that movie, you have to look at the parents. Specifically, you have to look at Adam Godley.
He played Mr. Teavee.
He wasn't just a background extra with a couple of lines. Godley turned the character of Mike Teavee’s father into a masterclass in suppressed British awkwardness and suburban exhaustion. It is, quite frankly, one of the most underrated performances in a high-budget fantasy film.
The Man Behind the High-Waisted Pants
You’ve seen Adam Godley before, even if you didn't realize it. He’s one of those "Oh, that guy!" actors who seems to be in everything. He was the Archbishop in The Great, the voice of Pogo the chimpanzee in The Umbrella Academy, and Elliot Schwartz in Breaking Bad. The man has range.
But in Adam Godley's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory era, he was doing something different.
While the other parents in the film are caricatures of greed or over-indulgence, Godley’s Mr. Teavee is a portrait of a man who has completely checked out. He is a high school geography teacher from Denver who is clearly terrified of his own son. Mike is a miniature tech-terrorist, and Godley plays the "beaten down dad" role with such precision that it’s almost painful to watch.
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He brings a specific, gangly physicality to the role. Godley is 6'1" and remarkably thin, which Burton used to full effect. Standing next to the pint-sized, aggressive Mike Teavee (played by Jordan Fry), Godley looks like a human question mark. He’s constantly hunching, trying to take up less space, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else—preferably somewhere with a quiet map and a glass of water.
Why This Version of Mr. Teavee Hits Different
In the original 1971 film, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Mike Teavee was accompanied by his mother, Mrs. Teavee. She was a high-strung, cocktail-drinking caricature of 1960s Americana.
Burton flipped the script for the 2005 version.
By casting Godley, the movie shifted the dynamic. Instead of a "helicopter parent" who enables the child, we got a father who is basically a hostage. There’s a specific scene where they’re in the Television Chocolate Room, and Mike is explaining the physics of teleportation. Godley’s face in the background is a work of art. It’s a mix of "I don't understand my child" and "I stopped trying to understand him in 1998."
He doesn't have the big, flashy musical numbers. He doesn't fall into a chocolate river. But his dry delivery—like when he tries to explain to Mike that "it's just a bar of chocolate"—is the perfect foil to the madness of Wonka’s factory.
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A Career Built on Nuance
If you think his performance was just luck, you haven't seen his stage work. Adam Godley is a titan in the theater world. We're talking multiple Tony and Olivier Award nominations.
- The Lehman Trilogy: He played Mayer Lehman on Broadway and in the West End.
- Anything Goes: He was Lord Evelyn Oakleigh (and he was hilarious).
- Rain Man: He played Raymond Babbitt, the role made famous by Dustin Hoffman.
When an actor with that kind of pedigree takes on a role like Mr. Teavee, they don't just "show up." They build a backstory. You can feel the years of grading papers and dealing with Mike’s tantrums in every sigh Godley exhales.
The "Shrunken Mike" Incident
The climax of the Teavee storyline involves Mike being digitized and sent through the air into a tiny television set. While the special effects are the focus, Godley’s reaction is what grounds it.
He’s not screaming in horror like a typical movie parent. He’s concerned, sure, but there’s a flicker of "well, at least he’s quiet now" behind his eyes. When he eventually has to pick up his tiny, 6-inch son and put him in his pocket, Godley plays it with the same weary resignation of a man picking up a dropped pen.
It’s that groundedness that makes the movie work. Without the parents reacting to the absurdity, the factory is just a bunch of CGI sets. Godley makes the stakes feel real, even when those stakes involve a child being stretched like taffy in the "Toffee Puller."
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Is the 2005 Movie Actually Better?
Look, the 1971 version is a classic. Gene Wilder is untouchable. But the 2005 film captures the meanness of Roald Dahl’s book much better. Dahl didn't write sweet stories; he wrote cautionary tales about awful children and the parents who failed them.
Adam Godley's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory contribution is vital because he represents the "passive" failure. He’s the parent who let the screen raise the child. In 2026, looking back at a movie made in 2005, that theme feels even more relevant than it did twenty years ago. We’re all Mr. Teavee now, staring at our kids who are staring at screens, wondering how things got so small.
How to Appreciate Godley’s Performance Today
If you’re going to rewatch the film, do yourself a favor: ignore Wonka for a second. Watch the parents.
- Look at the posture: Notice how Godley uses his height to look uncomfortable.
- Listen to the tone: He uses a specific "teacher voice" that suggests he’s always about to give a lecture but knows no one is listening.
- Check the eyes: He spends most of the movie looking slightly to the left of whatever is happening, as if he's searching for an exit sign.
What to Watch Next
If you’ve rediscovered your love for Godley through the lens of Wonka, you should definitely check out his more recent work. His performance in The Great as the Archbishop is essentially Mr. Teavee if he were a religious zealot in 18th-century Russia. It’s brilliant, it’s weird, and it’s uniquely Adam Godley.
To really see what this man can do, track down clips of him in The Lehman Trilogy. The way he shifts between characters with just a change in shoulder height or a slight vocal inflection is why he’s considered an "actor's actor." He brings that same level of craft to a movie about a chocolate factory, and that’s why we’re still talking about it.
Next time you see a bar of Wonka chocolate, remember the man in the high-waisted slacks who just wanted his son to turn off the TV. That's the real hero of the story. Or at least, the most relatable one.
Actionable Insight: If you want to dive deeper into the making of the film, look for the "Making of" featurettes on the Blu-ray. They actually show the physical rigs used to make Godley look even more awkward during the "stretching" scenes. It's a fascinating look at how practical effects and acting talent collide.