Taika Waititi: the real story behind 'that' Oscars gag, and much more...

Interview – 2009

Taika Waititi [Te-Whānau-ā-Apanui] has acted in movies Scarfies and Snakeskin, and TV series The Strip, and been a stand-up comedian. Turning his creative energies towards directing, he made Oscar-nominated short film Two Cars, One Night, and Māori Battalion tale Tama Tū, and this 48Hours film in which he played multiple roles. Waititi has gone on to global success directing feature films (Boy, Jojo Rabbit, Thor).

In this ScreenTalk interview, Waititi talks about:

The trials of working with kids on Two Cars, One Night
The truth behind the now infamous 'falling asleep' gag at the Oscars, and how he was left holding the baby
How the amazing, lifelike set for short film Tama Tū was realised
The crazy story behind the script for Eagle vs Shark
How he approached writing and directing on Flight of the Conchords
His upcoming movie Boy (back when it was still known as Volcano)
Thoughts on choosing a career as a filmmaker
The layout of his hilltop castle-themed mansion

This video was first uploaded on 22 September 2009, and is available under this Creative Commons licence. This licence is limited to use of ScreenTalk interview footage only and does not apply to any video content and photographs from films, television, music videos, web series and commercials used in the interview.

Interview, Camera and Editing – James Coleman

We got to smash huge chunks of the hospital apart to make it look like it had been blown apart, and used their pneumatic drills to put bullet holes all through the concrete and stuff . . . it started looking incredible.
– Taika Waititi on filming short film Tama Tū in the remains of the old Wellington Hospital buildings

Taika's Full Profile