Biography
Who is Taika Waititi?
Early life and real name
Taika David Cohen was born on August 16, 1975, in Raukokore, New Zealand. His mother, Robin Cohen, worked as a schoolteacher, while his father was an artist and a member of a motorcycle club. Taika grew up in both the Aro Valley suburb of Wellington and Raukokore in the Bay of Plenty. His heritage includes Māori, European, and Jewish roots.
His parents separated when he was about five years old, and his mother raised him primarily. He attended Onslow College before studying theatre at Victoria University of Wellington. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1997. Although his legal surname remains Cohen, he adopted his father's surname, Waititi, for his professional work in the visual and film arts following early career success.
How Taika became famous
Taika Waititi built his early comedy career as part of the ensemble So You're a Man and the comedy duo The Humourbeasts with Jemaine Clement. The duo won New Zealand's Billy T Award in 1999. He gained international recognition when his short film Two Cars, One Night earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film.
He wrote and directed the feature films Boy and Hunt for both domestic and international audiences. Both projects became top-grossing films entirely funded and produced within New Zealand. His mockumentary vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows, co-created with Jemaine Clement, later inspired a television series of the same name on FX.
Career highlights
Taika Waititi directed the superhero blockbusters Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder for Marvel Studios. He also portrayed the alien character Korg using motion capture in the cinematic universe. In 2019, he wrote, directed, and starred in the black comedy film Jojo Rabbit as an imaginary version of Adolf Hitler.
Jojo Rabbit earned six Academy Award nominations, and Taika won the award for Best Adapted Screenplay. This victory made him the first person of Māori descent to win an Academy Award in a screenplay category. He also earned a Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media as a producer of the Jojo Rabbit soundtrack.
Television and other projects
In television, Taika Waititi co-created and produced the comedy drama series Reservation Dogs. He also directed, produced, and starred in the comedy series Our Flag Means Death. For the Star Wars streaming series The Mandalorian, he directed the first-season finale and voiced the droid bounty hunter IG-11, earning a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his voiceover work.
He has also made cameo appearances in major studio films. He appeared as the original Ratcatcher in The Suicide Squad and portrayed Antwan Hovachelik in Free Guy. Beyond live-action projects, he narrated a charity reading of James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl.
Family and relationships
Taika Waititi was previously married to filmmaker Chelsea Winstanley. He later married singer Rita Ora. His family background includes his sibling Tweedie Waititi. He maintains a connection to his indigenous Māori heritage while identifying professionally as a multihyphenate creator across film, television, and comedy.
Birthday and age
Taika Waititi was born on August 16, 1975, which makes Taika 51 years old today. That birthday falls under the Leo sign. Taika shares the date with 41 other famous people.
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