An actor at a grim Willy Wonka-themed event says he felt like he was losing his mind 3 hours into the gig: 'I didn't know where I ended and Wonka began'

"There were three Willy Wonkas but I was the most unlucky because I went first and stayed for three and a half hours doing it through either commitment or stupidity," actor Paul Connell (not pictured) told The Independent.

Silver Screen Collection via Getty Images; Stuart Sinclair

• Actor and stand-up comedian, Paul Connell was hired to play Willy Wonka at an event in Scotland.
• The Wonka-themed event was reviled by attendees for its low production value.
• Connell said he thought he was losing his mind after playing Wonka over three hours straight. 

An actor who played Willy Wonka at a chocolate-factory-themed event in Scotland says he had such a bad time at the gig he felt like he was losing his mind.

Paul Connell, 31, told The Independent in a Thursday report that he worked at the House of Illuminati's "Willy's Chocolate Experience."

The event, which organizers say is entirely unrelated to the Warner Bros. film franchise, has been panned by some attendees.

Several visitors took photos of the venue and complained about the event's production value. And according to Connell, it wasn't just the attendees who said they were having a terrible time.

"I was told I would get a 15-minute break every 45 minutes after each group went through. But I ended up playing Willy Wonka for three and a half hours straight," the stand-up comedian told The Independent.

"I didn't know where I ended and Wonka began. I was losing my mind by that point," he continued.

Connell told the British newspaper that there were barely any props for him to use. The actor said the organizers gave him a script, which he described as "15 pages of AI-generated gibberish."

"There were three Willy Wonkas, but I was the most unlucky because I went first and stayed for three and a half hours doing it through either commitment or stupidity," Connell said.

Connell added that there was also "no chocolate at the chocolate experience."

"There was supposed to be a chocolate fountain somewhere, but I never saw it," he told The Independent.

Stuart Sinclair, a parent who brought his children to the event, said in a Facebook post that he thought the event was "nothing more than an absolute con."

On Saturday, the House of Illuminati apologized and said they would give full refunds to ticket holders.

"We were let down in many areas of our event and tried our best to continue on and push through and now realize we probably should have canceled first thing this morning instead," the event organizer said on Facebook.

The House of Illuminati said in a separate post on Wednesday that they "will not be holding any other events in the foreseeable future."

Representatives for the House of Illuminati did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.

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