I always wanted to play a dapper gentleman, and I also always wanted to play my mum. Taika Waititi More Quotes by Taika Waititi More Quotes From Taika Waititi The ridiculous events in everyday life are often overlooked - people don't recognise it as potentially cinematic. Taika Waititi everyday-lifeeventslifepeople I play music all the time because silence freaks me out. Taika Waititi memusicsilencetime I come from a country whose idea of masculinity is quite extreme, and I've grown up around a lot of that energy. I've been part of that a lot. And it's very draining; it's quite tiring trying to be macho. Taika Waititi masculinityenergytryingcountry I like flawed characters, and I like seeing people who are supposed to be not villains but antagonists. There are elements to them, which are really annoying, but you kind of see where they came from. You see the things that caused those inadequacies. Taika Waititi thingsseeyoupeople Maori get pigeonholed into the idea they're spiritual and telling stories like 'Whale Rider' and 'Once Were Warriors,' quite serious stuff, but we're pretty funny people, and we never really have had an opportunity to show that side of ourselves, the clumsy, nerdy side of ourselves, which is something I am. Taika Waititi i-amopportunityfunnypeople I don't mind going from sadness to comedy in a split-second or mixing the two up. Taika Waititi comedysadnessmindtwo I've always found the script to be more of a skeleton, the template. Taika Waititi skeletonmorealwaysfound I love heroes that really go through ordeals, and they come out the other end completely changed. Taika Waititi heroesendgolove If someone asked, 'What are your films like?,' the best I can come up with is that they're, like, a fine balance between comedy and drama. And they deal mainly with the clumsiness of humanity. Taika Waititi bestcomedybalancehumanity You make up a character, there's always gonna be parts of you that, like it or not, shine through. Taika Waititi shineyoualwayscharacter People overcoming the odds is actually a really important part of humanity, and I don't think we kind of get to celebrate that as much as we should. Taika Waititi thinkcelebratehumanitypeople My job is to express myself. Taika Waititi expressjobmyself At the end of the day, the reality is we're all losers, and we're all uncoordinated. We're the worst of all of the animals on earth, and there's something quite endearing about that. Taika Waititi end-of-the-dayenddayreality My world is not spectacle and explosion. It's two people talking. Taika Waititi two-peopletalkingpeopleworld I don't like laughing at people unless they're in a privileged position or if they're in authority. If it's poor people or people who live on the outskirts or on the margins, or the underdog, I'd rather be laughing with them. Taika Waititi livepoor-peoplepoorpeople With some actors, you can tell, just from their different backgrounds and their different approaches to working, they would have just a natural conflict, just a sort of friction. Taika Waititi someyouconflictdifferent My style of working is I'll often be behind the camera, or right next to the camera yelling words at people, like, 'Say this, say this! Say it this way!' I'll straight-up give Anthony Hopkins a line reading. I don't care. Taika Waititi wordsstylecarepeople You can have integrity with your art, but worrying about integrity doesn't pay the bills. Taika Waititi youryouintegrityart We've got a thing called the 'tall puppy syndrome' in New Zealand, where if anyone is doing really well, it's quite common to try and bring them down - like, cut them down and say, 'You've been to the moon? So what? I mean, plenty of people have been to the moon.' Taika Waititi downyoumoonpeople The stuff I'm passionate about is what I write; it isn't multi-million-dollar franchise movies. Taika Waititi writemoviesaboutpassionate
