The teenage actor who played “The Unknown” character at an infamous Willy Wonka-themed experience has revealed herself.
A video of the mysterious figure appearing from behind a mirror to whimpering children has been watched millions of times.
Parents, children, and families were sold a "full Wonka" experience for £35 at the disastrous event in Glasgow last month.
But in reality, they turned up to a sparsely decorated warehouse, with some posters, a rainbow and a bouncy castle.
New details on the Willy Wonka Experience disaster
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) February 28, 2024
• Script was '15 pages of AI-generated gibberish'
• Made up a villain called The Unknown — 'an evil chocolate maker who lives in the walls'
• Event had no chocolate — kids were given a single jelly bean & a cup of lemonade pic.twitter.com/kxs1RcKVC8
Oompa Loompas were actors struggling to recite lines given to them the night before opening.
The Unknown, who does not appear at all in Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but stole the show in Glasgow, has now been unmasked as 16-year-old Felicia.
The teenager revealed her identity on TikTok on Sunday.
She told the BBC she was thrilled her first paid acting job went viral.
Felicia, from Glasgow, said: “It was so ridiculous it was actually funny.
"There weren't any rehearsals. I got there early to practise but it hadn't been set up.
"The actors came up later and it still hadn't been set up.
"We were all saying it was a mess and there hadn't been any organisation, but we were just hoping that together it wouldn't be that bad. But it was."
@felicia.wishes The Unknown Evil Chocolate Maker, reveal yourself! 🤪 #wonkaexperience #theunknown #willywonka #willywonkaexperience #willywonkatiktok #maskedman #therealunknown #theunknownactor #meme #feliciatheunknown #unknown #intotheunknown #fyp #foryoupage #whoistheunknown #unkowngirl #comedy
♬ original sound - fel👻
According to the script, reportedly generated by artificial intelligence, The Unknown was an evil rival chocolate maker who lived in walls.
Felicia was told to improvise on the day so waited behind a mirror for the “Will McDuff” characters, thought to be rip-off Willy Wonkas, to pass by with groups of children.
She added: "My character didn't make any sense without the Wonka explaining who I was, that I was The Unknown, an evil chocolate maker who lives in the walls.
"So I was just sitting behind the mirror trying to act creepy because that was the only direction I was given.
"It was definitely a mixed bag of reactions. Some people loved it, some people were terrified of it.
"But I think most people didn't really know what I was there for - which was the same for me."
Tempers flared and police were called to ‘Willy’s Chocolate Experience’ - in no way affiliated to the Timothee Chalamet film - as parents demanded refunds.
The organiser of the event Billy Coull, the director of the House of Illuminati, has since apologised said he was “deeply disappointed”.
They had advertised the experience using AI-scripted posters and adverts.
He told STV: “I’m so, so sorry to everybody for the sheer and utter disappointment.”
A House of Illuminati spokesperson said it had been “a very stressful and frustrating day for many and for that we are truly sorry”.
He said: “Unfortunately, at the last minute we were let down in many areas of our event and tried our best to continue on and push through and now realise we probably should have cancelled first thing this morning instead.
“We fully apologise for what has happened and will be giving full refunds to each and every person that purchased tickets.
“We planned a fabulous event and it just did not take shape as planned and for that we are truly sorry, we are devastated at how this has turned out and understand people’s anger and frustration that everyone has had, refunds have already started being issued and the rest should be over the coming days, again we are truly sorry to everyone.”
