‘The Unknown,’ Breakout Star of Viral Willy Wonka Disaster, Lands Gig at London Dungeon
When the internet spent the better part of a week in February roasting a Willy Wonka-themed family event in Glasgow gone wrong, there was a lot to laugh about: the mostly undecorated warehouse venue, the AI-generated advertising, the lack of chocolate, and, of course, the sad Oompa Loompa.
The local actors hired to improvise based off a garbled script (also written by AI) wound up dishing on the disaster in interviews, and some have since leveraged their viral fame: that Oompa Loompa (real name Kristy Paterson) is selling Cameo greetings, for example. But now it’s time for the most mysterious character of the piece to shine. That’s right: the performer who brought “The Unknown” to life is taking her talents to the London Dungeon, a haunted house tourist attraction where she’ll be scaring those who paid for the pleasure.
In case you need a refresher: The Unknown was meant to be the villain of “Willy’s Chocolate Experience,” an evil chocolate-maker who lived in the walls of Wonka’s candy factory and wanted to steal one of his confectionary inventions. Made up by an AI chatbot and surely not based on any detail of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or its film adaptations, the masked, cloaked figure became a symbol of the event’s sheer absurdity. It helped that the person emerging from behind a mirror to menace the kiddos really committed to the bit.
The Unknown proved so popular, in fact, spawning memes and fan art, that immersive theater professionals took notice. Merlin Entertainments announced in a press release on Wednesday that the actress, a 16-year-old named Felicia, would receive training at the popular tourist destination London Dungeon before making a guest appearance to delight thrill-seekers there on April 7.
A spokesperson for the London Dungeon (a franchise that has locations across the U.K. and Europe) says that Felicia, who had booked the Wonka gig as her very first acting job, is “a natural when it comes to the art of the scare” and promised she’d be all the more terrifying in her next role. “If you think the mysterious character of The Unknown was unnerving, you haven’t seen anything yet,” they said.
Felicia, of course, was excited by the opportunity to participate in a higher-quality production. “I cannot wait to meet and learn from the expert team at the London Dungeon, as I’d love to be doing their job full time one day,” she says, per Merlin Entertainments’ announcement, noting that she has often visited Dungeon attractions as a guest.
Felicia also shared the news on her TikTok account, where she first unmasked herself earlier this month in a clip that has more than 2 million views. She told her followers she would “take you guys along with me” as she prepared for the role. In other videos, she has answered questions about the Wonka debacle and advertised her Cameo account, where she records messages in her iconic costume.
Thankfully, the London Dungeon act will have the rehearsals and resources Willy’s Chocolate Experience sorely lacked — outraged parents called the police and demanded refunds once the pop-up was shut down. Even better, tickets are a fair amount cheaper than those sold for the Glasgow fiasco — and there’s even a discount for children brave enough to face The Unknown. As for Felicia’s budding career, it just proves there’s more than one way to break into showbiz.
