Philip Wiegratz

The Chocolate Boy

Philip Wiegratz had no intention of becoming an actor when he went along with a friend to a casting call in his hometown of Magdeburg. It was 2004, and his only previous experience was a couple of school plays. But the camera picked up something in his look that fit the twisted vision of Tim Burton.

Chance decided his career.

When filming Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 2005, he had to move to London and learn English quickly. His character required a constant physical transformation through latex prosthetics that gave him that of a gluttonous kid. The film earned more than $470 million worldwide.

But global fame did not change his plans in Germany. When he returned to his home country, he joined local productions eager to make the most of his natural screen magnetism. Before turning fifteen, he was already a familiar face in German movie theaters.

National Success and Maturity

In 2006, he played Fred in Die Wilden Hühner. This youth film series became a box office hit across the European market and kept him working on three consecutive installments through 2009. German audiences enjoyed watching his physical growth on screen year after year.

And the gamble paid off.

His move into more adult roles was swift. In 2012, he appeared in Lore, a film set at the end of World War II where raw visual realism replaced the fantasy of the big studios. The project won the Audience Award at the Locarno Film Festival and allowed Wiegratz to explore dramatic roles far from children's comedy.

The Code Switch

His last notable screen role came in 2013 with Rubinrot. In this adaptation of a fantasy novel, he played Gordon Gelderman, but his interest in acting was already fading. Wiegratz never felt the need to chase Hollywood at any cost.

There was no big official announcement or dramatic farewell.

He decided to step away from the spotlight to focus on technical training. So he traded scripts for software development and computer engineering. He settled in Magdeburg to work as a developer specializing in SAP environments.

His last credit in an international film database is for a short film shot in 2013.