Charlie Wright is an American actor who became popular in 2017 for replacing Devon Bostick as Rodrick Heffley in the fourth installment of Jeff Kinney’s film series The Wimpy Boy’s Diary, titled “The Diary of a Wimpy Boy: The Long Journey,” which hit theaters on May 19, 2017.
Unfortunately for Wright, the reception he received from Diary of a Wimpy Kid wasn’t particularly encouraging, and the kind any aspiring actor would want.
The fourth installment of Diary of a Wimpy Kid has been returning after five years and while that should have been reason enough to generate excitement despite the circumstances, the fact that it returned with a revamp didn’t sit well with fans who expressed their frustration at poor Wright replacing their favorite character, Rodrick Heffley. Devon Bostick played the role for the first three installments of the franchise.
Gen Z audiences have been vocal about erasing social media by creating the hashtag #NOTMYRODRICK which quickly went viral. Additionally, a petition criticizing Wright looking like Johnny Depp Willy Wonka was posted on iPetitions. Like the Twitter hashtag, the petitions quickly garnered hundreds of thousands of signatures.
While others claimed that no one could replace Bostick, others criticized Wright with mean words and that only the insignificant few seemed to support the young actor.
Some reactions on Twitter from fans…
I want the beauty of lovers back, not fake stupidity that I want to be. I am angry. I want to speak with whoever made this decision. #NotMyRoderick pic.twitter.com/TgMlgKONyV
– kim // 4