Taika Waititi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Taika Waititi ONZM
Waititi in 2023
Born	Taika David Cohen (1975-08-16) 16 August 1975 (age 49) Wellington, New Zealand
Education	Victoria University of Wellington (BA)
Occupation	Director producer screenwriter actor comedian
Years active	1999–present
Works	Filmography
Spouse(s)	Chelsea Winstanley ​ ​ (m. 2011; div. 2018)​ Rita Ora ​ (m. 2022)​
Children	2
Awards	Full list
Signature

Taika Waititi (born August 16, 1975) is a talented filmmaker, actor, and comedian from New Zealand. He is famous for making funny and unique movies. Taika has also worked as a voice actor and producer on many projects. He has won important awards like an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Grammy Award. In 2022, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Some of his most popular films are Boy (2010) and Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016). Both of these movies became the highest-earning New Zealand films. His short film Two Cars, One Night (2003) was even nominated for an Academy Award. Taika also helped create, direct, and star in the funny vampire movie What We Do in the Shadows (2014). This movie later became a popular TV show in 2019.

Taika has directed big superhero movies like Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022). He also wrote, directed, and acted in the movie Jojo Rabbit (2019). For Jojo Rabbit, he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and a Grammy Award for the film's music.

On television, Taika helped create the comedy series Reservation Dogs. He also directed, produced, and acted in the comedy Our Flag Means Death. He even directed an episode of the Star Wars series The Mandalorian and voiced a robot character named IG-11.

Early Life and Background

Taika David Cohen was born in Wellington, New Zealand, on August 16, 1975. He grew up in a place called Aro Valley in Wellington and also in a small town called Raukokore.

His father was an artist from the Māori tribe Te Whānau-ā-Apanui. His mother, Robin Cohen, was a schoolteacher with different backgrounds, including Russian Jewish and Irish heritage. Taika sees himself as both Māori and Jewish. He was mostly raised with his Māori culture.

Taika's parents separated when he was about five years old, and his mother mainly raised him. He went to Onslow College and then studied theatre at Victoria University of Wellington. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1997.

Even though his legal last name is Cohen, Taika has used his father's last name, Waititi, for most of his professional life.

Early Career and First Films

While studying at university, Taika was part of a comedy group called So You're a Man. He also formed a comedy duo called The Humourbeasts with Jemaine Clement. They won a top comedy award in New Zealand in 1999.

Taika started making short, funny films for a New Zealand film contest. His short film Two Cars, One Night (2003) was very popular. It was even nominated for an Academy Award in 2005.

His first full-length movie was a romantic comedy called Eagle vs Shark, released in 2007. He wrote this film with Loren Horsley. Around this time, he also directed episodes of the TV show Flight of the Conchords.

In 2010, his second movie, Boy, was shown at the Sundance Film Festival. Taika also played one of the main characters in the film, a father who returns home. When Boy was released in New Zealand, it received great reviews and broke box office records.

Becoming a Well-Known Filmmaker

Taika Waititi speaking at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival

What We Do in the Shadows

In 2013, Taika worked with Jemaine Clement again on a funny vampire movie called What We Do in the Shadows. It's a "mockumentary," which means it's filmed like a documentary but is actually a comedy. The movie shows a group of vampires living together in modern-day Wellington. It premiered in 2014 and was so popular that it became a successful TV series in 2019. Taika is an executive producer and director for the show.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Taika's fourth movie, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, came out in 2016. This comedy adventure film also broke records for a New Zealand movie. It's about a young boy and a grumpy man who go on an adventure in the wilderness.

Directing Marvel Movies

In 2017, Taika directed his first big Hollywood movie, Thor: Ragnarok, for Marvel Studios. He also played the voice and movements for a funny rock alien character named Korg in the film. Thor: Ragnarok was a huge success and was praised by critics.

Taika Waititi and Chris Hemsworth speaking at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con

He later directed the sequel, Thor: Love and Thunder, which was released in July 2022.

Jojo Rabbit

In 2019, Taika wrote and directed Jojo Rabbit. This movie is set during World War II and tells the story of a young boy whose imaginary friend is a silly version of a historical figure. The boy's mother is secretly hiding a Jewish girl in their home. Taika played the imaginary friend in the movie.

Jojo Rabbit was nominated for many Academy Awards. Taika won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, which means he wrote the best movie script based on a book. This made him the first person of Māori descent to win an Academy Award for screenwriting. He also won a Grammy Award for producing the movie's soundtrack.

The Mandalorian

In 2018, it was announced that Taika would direct an episode of the Star Wars TV series The Mandalorian. The show is about a lone space bounty hunter. The series started in 2019, and Taika also voiced a robot bounty hunter named IG-11. He directed the final episode of the first season. His voice acting earned him an Emmy Award nomination.

Recent and Upcoming Work

Waititi at Toronto International Film Festival

In 2020, Taika narrated a special reading of James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl for charity. He also appeared in the action-comedy film Free Guy in 2021.

With Sterlin Harjo, Taika helped create the comedy series Reservation Dogs. This show is about a group of Native American teenagers in Oklahoma. The main actors, directors, producers, and writers are all Indigenous people. Taika also produced, directed, and starred as Blackbeard in the HBO Max comedy series Our Flag Means Death, which premiered in 2022.

He directed a movie called Next Goal Wins, which was released in November 2023. This film is based on a true story about a soccer team.

Taika is involved in many exciting future projects. He is set to direct and co-write a new Star Wars film. He is also working on animated series for Netflix based on Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and its sequel. Additionally, he is set to direct a film adaptation of the novel Klara and the Sun.

Personal Life

Taika Waititi is married to British singer Rita Ora. They married in August 2022. He has two daughters from a previous marriage.

Supporting Indigenous Artists

Taika often includes his Māori and Indigenous heritage in his work. He supports Indigenous filmmakers and artists. For example, he is an executive producer for New Zealand films directed by Māori or Indigenous filmmakers. His cousin, Tweedie Waititi, produces and directs Māori language versions of Disney animated films, partly thanks to Taika's influence.

Filmography

Awards and Achievements

Taika Waititi has won many awards and received nominations for his work. These include an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Grammy Award.

In 1999, he and Jemaine Clement won the Billy T Award for comedy. In 2005, his short film Two Cars, One Night was nominated for an Academy Award.

For his 2019 film Jojo Rabbit, he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He was also nominated for Best Picture. He won a Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for the film's music.

Since 2019, he has been involved with the TV series What We Do in the Shadows. For this show, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series.

In 2020, Taika Waititi was honored as an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his contributions to film.

Images for kids

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  Taika Waititi's signature

See also

In Spanish: Taika Waititi para niños