Taika Waititi is a New Zealand filmmaker who gained worldwide recognition through directing Thor: Ragnarok.
So let’s find out some trivia and facts about his life and career thus far.
- His full name is Taika David Waititi
- He was born on August 16, 1975
- He is also known as Taika Cohen
- He is a New Zealand filmmaker, actor and comedian
- He was nominated for an Academy Award for his 2004 short film Two Cars, One Night
- He is married to Chelsea Winstanley
- She has also produced several of his films
- His feature films Boy (2010) and Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) have each been the top-grossing New Zealand film
- With the latter still holding that title as of January 2020
- He co-directed and starred in the horror comedy film What We Do in the Shadows (2014) with Jemaine Clement
- Waititi’s most recent directing credits include the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and the satirical black comedy Jojo Rabbit (2019)
- The latter of which he also wrote and starred in
- His work in Jojo Rabbit earned critical praise
- Receiving Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay
- Waititi was born in Raukokore of the East Coast region of New Zealand’s North Island
- He grew up in both the East Coast and the Aro Valley of Wellington
- His father was a Māori farmer and artist of Te Whānau-ā-Apanui
- While his mother is a schoolteacher of European descent
- Waititi’s maternal grandfather is of Russian Jewish heritage
- His maternal grandmother is of Irish heritage
- Waititi has used his mother’s surname, “Cohen”, for some of his work in film and writing
- He describes himself as a “Polynesian Jew”
- Waititi’s parents split up when he was around five
- He was raised primarily by his mother
- He attended Onslow College for secondary school
- He studied theatre at Victoria University of Wellington
- He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1997
- Waititi is reportedly set to direct a new live-action film version of Akira
- As well as co-write a sequel to What We Do in the Shadows, titled We’re Wolves
- In July 2019, it was reported that Waititi will write and direct Thor: Love and Thunder, a sequel to Ragnarok
- Thus causing Akira to be delayed indefinitely
- Waititi is also set to direct a feature film adaptation of Next Goal Wins
- He will co-write the script with Iain Morris
- While Garrett Basch, Jonathan Cavendish, Andy Serkis, Mike Brett and Steve Jamison will serve as producers
- In May 2012, Waititi’s wife, Chelsea Winstanley, of Māori descent, gave birth to their first daughter
- Their second daughter was born in August 2015
- In the run-up to the 2017 New Zealand general election, Waititi announced his support for Jacinda Ardern and the Labour Party
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