(Submitted photo)

Simeon Purkey stars as the title character in Thoroughly Modern Productions’ “Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka,” based on the children’s book. The famed musical about a group of children who win a golden ticket to visit Wonka’s chocolate factory runs at the Tower Theatre Aug. 18 through 27. In 2014, Purkey won a role in “Sweeney Todd,” where he met David DaCosta, founder and artistic director of TMP, and director of “Willy Wonka.” Since playing the chef in “Little Mermaid” last year, his focus has been on comedy.

Q: How did you get your start in theater?

A: The first show I did, this girl I was interested in wanted me to do a show with her. … I’d never done anything (before), and it was fun. … I did a little bit of theater in college but that wasn’t my emphasis. I really took a break during grad school; I studied linguistics in my undergrad and in my master’s degree, and then really got started back into it here. … “Sweeney Todd” was my introduction to the theater scene here.

Q: How familiar with “Willy Wonka” were you when you auditioned?

A: Back when (TMP) had auditions for the season … they originally planned to do “Cinderella,” but the touring company came too close, so they switched to “Willy Wonka” instead. … I grew up in a more conservative household and we didn’t watch a lot of TV or movies. … I couldn’t watch it because it was “too scary,” that was the reason why. … I knew about Willy Wonka, I’d seen a couple of scenes, but I’d never seen the whole movie. I was like, “Man, I should watch this movie,” just from a marketing standpoint, because I’m helping with marketing. … I tell you, it is so funny, so incredibly funny. I’d been introduced to Gene Wilder last year, when I watched “Young Frankenstein” for the first time.

Q: Is there more pressure on you when you watch Gene Wilder’s performance?

A: Yeah, definitely. So I watched Gene Wilder’s, and then I watched Johnny Depp’s (“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”). … What I’m trying to do — obviously, I’m not impersonating Gene Wilder, or Johnny Depp — is to take the authentic performance of Gene Wilder with some of the mystery of Johnny Depp, and infuse the two.

Q: What is this version of the story like?

A: The script that we’re using, it’s a modern interpretation. It’s the same iconic story, same characters, set in modern times. Mike Teevea is carrying around his Gameboy the entire script. He’s upset there’s no cell reception in the factory. Everything’s just a little bit of a modern twist on it, which I think is good, because what it does is highlight what these characters you fell in love with when you watched the movie, how we still find people like that in today’s world.

Q: Does your linguistics education feed into acting?

A: It does. When I look at a script for the first time, I look at structural relationships. … There are some things that don’t change in any language. They’re always used. Functions of language — things like repetition, contrast, comparison, cause and effect, problem/solution, summary statement. … And in English, what kinds of words are used? Willy Wonka uses almost all adjectives. Everything is “delicious,” everything is “scrumptious.” … So you’ve made this observation. Now what does that mean for the character? Who is Willy Wonka then? In the script, Willy Wonka is one of the only people who constantly uses adjectives throughout the story. … He uses a really colorful paintbrush to paint what he sees.

—David Jasper, The Bulletin