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"Artsy outsider was always your thing"

"You were my thing"

"Nah we were just a fling, just like you and Jack"

⚠️ do not separate ⚠️

sundaymag: Taika Waititi is done with Hollywood. ⁠

Well, not really. But it’s the sort of thing Waititi tends to say in interviews, and it can sometimes be tricky discerning the degree to which he is kidding. Playful sarcasm, which positively flows out of Waititi, doesn’t always translate in print.⁠

Zooming in from Buenos Aires – where he is directing a commercial – on the morning of the Academy Awards, the Oscar winner says he “forgot that was even on today” when Sunday magazine brings it up. ⁠

“I literally have zero interest in the film industry. So this interview’s going to go great," he jokes. “When I say that, I mean zero interest really in Hollywood, anything that happens there. I still like making films. At least I haven’t fallen out of love with that part of it.”⁠

Considering all the big projects he has in development – including a Star Wars movie and a new take on Flash Gordon – Hollywood is clearly still interested in Waititi, but as Dominic Corry discovers, he articulates an exciting enthusiasm for recommitting to, and elevating, filmmaking in Aotearoa. As he reflects on the 10th anniversary re-release of his 2016 hit Hunt for the Wilderpeople, his sarcasm quickly dissipates.⁠

“I don’t usually watch my films ever again, but I just have an affinity for this one, I think because it was so fun to make. All the films were fun, but there was something really special about being out in the wilderness. There was a real family feeling. I watched it again in 2020 and I was like, shit, this is a good film."⁠