Taika Waititi Talks About Directing Jojo Rabbit While In Full Hitler Costume | FULL INTERVIEW

Hello everyone, I'm Dave Karger here at the IMDB studio in Toronto here with the director and cast of Joe Joe Rabbit Tycho Itt and Roman Griffin Davis Sam Rockwell Thomas and McKenzie Stephen Merchant hello everyone, thank you so much for being here. I have something. highly coveted in my hand, which is a ticket to your premiere tomorrow night. So no, no, I need it, I need it, this is one that I've been really excited to see, really, I'm going to be a little bit and a half Thomasson and share it. with you we'll sit together you didn't know we were showing him Could you take me back to you, get a little technical Oh, have a little, okay, I want to go back to your mom recommends a book Let me go back to my mother's story a little.

She says you should read this book. Caged Skies by Christine Loons. It's basically about a boy in Vienna in the 40s. He is part of the Hitler Youth. Hitler's dangerous power and he discovers that his family is hiding. a jewish girl in his attic, yeah, what makes you read it? I love it and I think this has to be a movie and Hitler has to be a character. Well, the story, that choice, how he described the book and the book is very good. a very good read, but I'm not a dramatic story teller, so I read the book and this is a brilliant premise, a brilliant situation, but if I were to make the movie, then I would just put things in there that would make me more interested and I came to work, so yeah, I put myself out there more, literally, and yeah, and I always do that, if you look at my stuff, I'll sing only in those movies, he, you can't stop me.

Christine? I need someone to convince her or she agreed with your whole idea. No, I really misled her by giving me those rights and didn't tell her at all what she was going to do. I thought I was sure I believe Sam, what can you do when? you're in the Thai world because as an actor maybe you can't do it when you're in another director's world, you know the script is so brilliant and tyka is a very good comedy compass, you know that, so it's just that I don't know that it's like you just understand, you say this amazing text, but you can also play and he encourages you to play, so it's really fun, yeah, it's really fun, Roman, this is your first time. professional acting job, were you scared the first few days you were on set or did you feel like you had this, but Tycho supported me, thank you and also all the other actors, that helped me a lot and it was also interesting, it was really interesting, so I don't really think about anything.

Did you ask Thomason for advice and she was one of the people closest to your age? I just looked at her and did anything I ever asked for. Council, let's always make sure from the beginning. I was more than impressed with Roman with his just I don't know, we're so emotionally deep. He had so much lightness and humor, and you from the beginning, beautiful. Thanks and Thomason. I'm right that Tyco wanted you to watch the movie Heathers to prepare for your character. I want to... I got into it, you know, I read a lot of books, I did a lot of research and I tried to be as sensitive as possible. on the subject and went to dinner the first time I met Tiger.

I sat down. I told him how he had prepared me and he didn't subscribe. What it probably means is: Oh, that's good, Thomason, do you know how much? I love you, we did a lot of things together for Leave No Trace and I was blown away by your performance in that movie and your American accent in that movie. Which is more difficult, the accent you did for that movie or the German accent or the Austrian accent? what you do for this one, I think definitely this one, um, because I had been doing an American accent for a

while

and on this one we had to learn it pretty quickly, so I found it to be a real challenge, but it was fun, it's a really cool axiom, Mr.

Steven, for you as someone who not only acts all the time but also directs a lot, is it a relief to give up a lot of control? oh yes, absolutely not. I was thinking actually when I was coming into Do This because I don't have any responsibility, so you know, I mean, whether this movie succeeds or fails, it's not up to me, it's brilliant, it's all up to that guy and similarly , as an actor you come in and it's like they blame you if I do something. terrible acting and i get all the praise if i do a good one its just fantastic have you ever had the urge to walk around playing a nazi waiting for that phone call my whole career its comp have you ever wanted to do it? whisper something in his ear like maybe just move the camera once.

I mean, no, honestly, I, like Sam, was saying that it was a pleasure to be on set with him and he knew exactly what he wanted, but he gave us freedom to My biggest anxiety was that I'm not particularly skilled with accents, so you know, Thompson said it's quite difficult, I think that has to do with the German accent not being just cartoony, and I worked very care

full

y with this. vocal coach to break down all the words phonetically in the script and master that sleeping in our beds eating our food I have all this and then oh and now just have fun improvise improvise but somehow through careful ADR What I managed to achieve was that accent was scary and discouraging to you, Sam.

Oh, use them like them, oh yeah, very scary, but I had a dialect coach, Liz Himelstein, who is coming to the premiere of Mart and then we also had a dialect coach, another one on set, but yeah, and we, I saw, you know to all the famous Nazis, you know, Ray Fiennes, zero zeros, I saw Brando and the young lines, I saw Oscar Burner and Ship of Fools, and you know, it just worked phonetically, but I kind of saw it. like more like Bill Murray with a German accent or Walter Matthau Bad News Bears, that was my model for him, he's very different from Marlon Brando in the Young Lions, yes, he's serious, yes, no, totally, but me, but the accent German it definitely was. intimidating, but once they got down to it it was a lot of fun, yes, one reaction when you first saw yourself in the

full

Hitler makeup and

costume

was that oh my god, once in a generation an actor comes along , this changes the game and everything. landscape and everything we think we do about acting and we look at the merits that this is that moment that this that actor has arrived oh my life is waiting to see someone who was bold enough and who had just the right range in my ranges from this is my rank there is a way out hello guys I am too but no one else can do that so there were times when he is in full

costume

but like himself trying to direct them yeah yeah yeah and I think Tank has some good stories. out there but and we've had those contact lenses you and I we oh yeah, now contact lenses are a little advice, no, don't do it, Conte, no, no, don't go blind.

I have not been wrong. raised eyes and stuff and the unique context so awkward, but I did it, they had a very embarrassing moment in this Riverside, the same with you, Roman, is it death? Grubman, yeah, Roman and Scarlet and I was trying to get through to the camera crew and who was on the other side of this river was up, it was that idiot and I started getting really frustrated anyway it's like yelling on the other side of this river and on the cruise I ask them why they can't understand why they can't follow these simple orders and like yell at the dress with the mustache and everything outdoors and fragmentation and they were and the EPK team was there oh no filming everything and me I went home more depressing times for me filming oh well I don't know, I guess The Mustache has, you know a certain thing, we just make you mad because I look in the mirror like that thing looks so dumb.

Roman, do you remember that day? Yes, how did you do it? How did you get over it? I told you never to talk about it. Well I mean it didn't shut me up, good answer, go on with the other things I told you to say. I mean, it helps a lot, but knowing you is kind to the costume, sir, so it was a little strange. Because I was looking at you and you would be very kind. What is that comic? He looks good on anything, there you go, but okay, but I'm sure you talked about this before, but originally the idea wasn't for you to play the part, who did you have in mind when you wrote it, this other guy, the one that stained my knee.

T. one of my favorite actors. Okay, he looks a lot like me. We went out in like 2011. We had gone to have a few. people and it was just a I don't know why, but it was very difficult to get this movie going and then I was like why are you right, get over it, you're right, I was asking myself. one by one and finally I moved on to my other two films and then I guess I don't know what, I don't know what changed the landscape, but maybe some of them are easier, right?