I distinctly remember watching Annie when I was very little and thinking 'I don't like this kid.' In fact I think I remember thinking 'I don't like any of these kids.' That's all I remember. 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-life events life people I play music all the time because silence freaks me out. Taika Waititi me music silence time 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 masculinity energy trying country 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 things see you people 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-am opportunity funny people I don't mind going from sadness to comedy in a split-second or mixing the two up. Taika Waititi comedy sadness mind two I've always found the script to be more of a skeleton, the template. Taika Waititi skeleton more always found I love heroes that really go through ordeals, and they come out the other end completely changed. Taika Waititi heroes end go love 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 best comedy balance humanity You make up a character, there's always gonna be parts of you that, like it or not, shine through. Taika Waititi shine you always character 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 think celebrate humanity people My job is to express myself. Taika Waititi express job myself 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-day end day reality My world is not spectacle and explosion. It's two people talking. Taika Waititi two-people talking people world 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 live poor-people poor people 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 some you conflict different 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 words style care people You can have integrity with your art, but worrying about integrity doesn't pay the bills. Taika Waititi your you integrity art 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 down you moon people The stuff I'm passionate about is what I write; it isn't multi-million-dollar franchise movies. Taika Waititi write movies about passionate
