What Taika Waititi's Bond With His Kids Is Like
Taika Waititi may be known for directing hit movies like "Thor: Ragnarok" and "Jojo Rabbit," as well as co-creating the FX series "Reservation Dogs" starring Sarah Podemski, but not all his fans know that he's also a dedicated family man. Waititi has been married to singer Rita Ora since 2022, and he shares two daughters, Te Hinekahu and Matewa Kiritapu, with ex-wife Chelsea Winstanley. Waititi met Winstanley while the latter was interviewing the filmmaker and actor. A long while after their initial meeting, the couple met once again while Winstanley was a crew member on Waititi's 2010 film "Boy." While Waititi and Winstanley called it quits in 2018, they remain on good terms and co-parent their two daughters healthily. Te Hinekahu was born on May 20, 2012, while Matewa Kiritapu was born on August 11, 2015, and Waititi is open about his journey raising his two girls.
The "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" helmer created the Instagram hashtag #DadsOnTour to honor the time he spends with his kids. Waititi applied this hashtag to various photos he posted on Instagram Stories depicting the multi-talented artist and his daughters vacationing around New Zealand in 2022. While speaking with actor Kieran Culkin for Interview Magazine, Waititi expressed that he feels pain from being away from his kids for work, so he brings them on set. "My kids have been on every set of every film, and they meet all different types of personalities in this little contained society. It's really cool," he explained.
How Taika Waititi involves his children in his film projects
As stated previously, one major way Taika Waititi bonds with his kids is by bringing them on set while he shoots his films. On September 27, Waititi shared a photo on Instagram depicting one of his daughters with her hand on some camera equipment on the set of "Thor: Ragnarok." The post is captioned, "Waititi kids Ragnarok another film set." Speaking of Thor: Ragnarok, which stars Chris Hemsworth, the auteur revealed that he only made that particular film mainly to have the funds to provide for his children. While a guest on the podcast "Smartless," Waititi said, "You know what, I had no interest in doing one of those films," Waititi said. "It wasn't on my plan for my career as an auteur. But I was poor and I'd just had a second child. I thought, 'You know what, this would be a great opportunity to feed these children.'"
Waititi also exclusively revealed to People that his daughters were involved with the creation of the monsters in 2022's "Thor: Love and Thunder." "The monsters in the film were originally based on drawings that all of our kids did," Waititi told the outlet. The fact that Waititi involves his children in the making of his movies so heavily and makes some films solely for his kids showcases just how tight of a bond the filmmaker has with his daughters.