Taika David Cohen (born August 16, 1975), known professionally as Taika Waititi is a New Zealand filmmaker, writer, actor, and comedian. He has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Grammy Award, as well as nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and six Emmy Awards. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022. He’s regularly collaborated with actors Jemaine Clement and Rhys Darby.
He mace his feature directional debut on Eagle vs Shark (2007), with Clement, Loren Horsley, Craig Hall, and Joel Tobeck. His feature films Boy (2010) with James Rolleston, and Te Aho Aho Eketone-Whitu; and Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016), with Sam Neill, Julian Dennison, Darby, Rima Te Wiata, and Rachel House; have each been among the top-grossing New Zealand made films. He won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the satirical black comedy film Jojo Rabbit (2019), with with Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Rebel Wilson, Stephen Merchant, Alfie Allen, Sam Rockwell, and Scarlett Johansson.
With Clement he co-wrote, co-directed and co-starred in the horror comedy film What We Do in the Shadows (2014), with Jonathan Brugh, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, and Stu Rutherford. The film would spinoff 2 tv series: Wellington Paranormal (2018-2022), with Mike Minogue, Karen O’Leary, Maaka Pohatu, and Tom Sainsbury; What We Do in the Shadows (2019-2024), with Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, Harvey Guillén, Mark Proksch, and Kristen Schaal.
He also directed two entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Thor: Ragnarok (2017), with Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban, Mark Ruffalo, and Anthony Hopkins; and Thor: Love & Thunder (2022), with Hemsworth, Christian Bale, Thompson, Jaimie Alexander, Russell Crowe, and Natalie Portman. He also voiced and did motion capture for the character Korg.
His other directorial credits include Next Goal Wins (2023), with Michael Fassbender, Oscar Kightley, Kaimana, David Fane, Rachel House, Beulah Koale, Will Arnett, and Elisabeth Moss; Klara and the Sun (2026), with Jenna Ortega, Amy Adams, Mia Tharia, Aran Murphy, Steve Buscemi, and Natasha Lyonne.
His various acting credits include Snakeskin (2001), with Melanie Lynskey, Boyd Kestner, Dean O’Gorman, and Oliver Driver; Martin Campbell’s Green Lantern (2011), with Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Angela Bassett, Tim Robbins, the voices of Geoffrey Rush, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Clancy Brown; Seven Stages to Achieve Eternal Bliss (2018), with Kate Micucci, Sam Huntington, Dan Harmon, Mark McKinney, Rhea Seehorn, Dana Gould, Maria Bamford, Brian Posehn, Lilan Bowden, Jon Dore, Josh Brener, Mindy Sterling, J. Lee, Brian Girard, and Michael St. Michaels; James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad (2021), with Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, David Dastmalchian, Daniela Melchior, Michael Rooker, Jai Courtney, Peter Capaldi, Alice Braga, Pete Davidson, Sylvester Stallone, and Viola Davis; Shawn Levy’s Free Guy (2021), with Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Joe Keery; The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021), with The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Claire Foy, Andrea Riseborough and Toby Jones; Fing! (2026), with Mia Wasikowska, Blake Harrison, Iona Bell, David Walliams, Penelope Wilton, Richard Roxburgh, and Matt Lucas; and Place to Be (2026), with Ellen Burstyn, Pamela Anderson, Édgar Ramírez, Lena Waithe, Murray Bartlett, and Maika Monroe.
Voice acting credits include Lightyear (2022), with Chris Evans, Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, Dale Soules, James Brolin, and Uzo Aduba; Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender (2026), with Eric Nam, Dave Bautista, Jessica Matten, Román Zaragoza, Dionne Quan, Geraldine Viswanathan, Ronny Chieng, Ken Jeong, Dee Bradley Baker, Steven Yeun, Freida Pinto, and Ke Huy Quan.
In addition to directing an episode of the web television series The Mandalorian (2019–2023), with Pedro Pascal; he also voiced the character IG-11, which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance nomination. He was also part of the main cast of Our Flag Means Death (2022-2023), with Darby, Ewen Bremner, Joel Fry, Samson Kayo, Nathan Foad, Vico Ortiz, Matthew Maher, Kristian Nairn, Rory Kinnear, Con O’Neill, Guz Khan, David Fane, and Samba Schutte.
He also co-created the dramedy series Reservation Dogs (2021-2023), with Devery Jacobs, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Lane Factor, Paulina Alexis; and fantasy series Time Bandits (2024), with Lisa Kudrow, Kal-El Tuck, Tadhg Murphy, Roger Jean Nsengiyumva, Rune Temte, Charlyne Yi, Rachel House, and Kiera Thompson.
Each new review will be linked to the title below.
(*seen originally in theaters)
(**seen rereleased in theaters)
- Scarfies (1999) – directed by Robert Sarkies – actor
- Snakeskin (2001) – directed by Gillian Ashurst – actor
- A New Way Home (2001) – directed by Michael Duignan – actor – short
- John & Pogo (2002) – director, writer – short
- Turangawaewae (2002) – directed by Peter Burger – actor – short
- Two Cars, One Night (2004) – director, writer – short
- Heinous Crime (2004) – director, co-writer, actor – short
- Toy Boy (2004) – directed by Bill Giannakakis – actor – short
- Futile Attraction (2004) – directed by Mark Prebble – actor
- Tama tu (2005) – director, writer – short
- Interviews with Some Vampires (2005) – co-directed with Jemaine Clement – also co-writer, actor – short
- Eagle vs Shark (2007) – director, writer, actor
- Boy (2010) – director, writer, actor
- 42 One Dream Rush (2010) – omnibus film – directed one segment
- Green Lantern (2011)* – directed by Martin Campbell – actor
- The Captain (2013) – directed by Nash Edgerton & Spencer Susser – co-writer, actor – short
- What We Do in the Shadows (2014) – co-directed with Jemaine Clement – also co-writer, actor
- Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) – also director, writer, actor
- Team Thor (2016) – director, writer – short
- Team Thor: Part 2 (2017) – director, writer – short
- Thor: Ragnarok (2017)* – director, writer
- Team Daryl (2018) – director, writer – short
- The Breaker Uppers (2018) – directed by Madeleine Sami & Jackie van Beek – producer
- Shrimp (2018) – directed by Zelda Williams – actor – short
- Avengers: Endgame (2019)* – directed by Anthony & Joe Russo – cameo
- Jojo Rabbit (2019)* – director, writer, producer, actor
- Seven Stages to Achieve Eternal Bliss (2020) – directed by Vivieno Caldinelli – actor
- Save Ralph (2021) – directed by Spencer Susser -actor – short
- The Suicide Squad (2021)* – directed by James Gunn – actor
- Free Guy (2021)* – directed by Shawn Levy – actor
- The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021) directed by Will Sharpe – actor
- Lightyear (2022)* – directed by Angus MacLane – actor
- Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)* – director, co-writer, actor
- Next Goal Wins (2023) – also director, co-writer, producer, actor
- Fling (2026) – directed by Jeffrey Walker
- Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender (2026) – directed by Lauren Montgomery – actor
- Kara and the Sun (2026) – co-writer, director, producer
- Place to Be (2026) – directed by Kornél Mundruczó – actor
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