Taika Waititi Did Not Do Any Research When Playing Hitler Because Hitler Is A “C*nt”
Facts.
When tasked with the great burden of playing a once living human being, many actors turn to research to help guide them. Taika Waititi, New Zealand-born director of Thor: Ragnarok and Hunt For The Wilderpeople, is not like many actors.
But then again, Waititi is not playing any normal human being. In his forthcoming film Jojo Rabbit, Waititi is set to play Adolf Hitler — or at least, an imaginary version of Adolf Hitler, dreamt up by a young boy living in Nazi Germany who misses his father.
To be clear, Hitler is the c*nt.#JojoRabbit https://t.co/cqnN23C8Uy
— Taika Waititi (@TaikaWaititi) May 15, 2019
“I didn’t have to do any research, and I didn’t do any research,” Waititi said in an interview with Deadline. “I didn’t base him on anything I’d seen about Hitler before. I just made him a version of myself that happened to have a bad haircut and a shitty little moustache. And a mediocre German accent.
“It would just be too weird to play the actual Hitler, and I don’t think people would enjoy the character as much. Because he was such a fucking cunt, and everyone knows that as well. I think people have got to relate to really enjoy the ride.”
Certainly, Waititi is helped by the fact that he’s not really playing Hitler and the fact that his film’s tone will (presumably) be broad enough that there won’t be World War 2 activists sitting in the audience, critiquing the nuances of his performance. After all, this is an “anti-hate satire”, according to Waititi, and one that’s being helmed by a director best known for bringing rock monsters and Asgardian gods to the screen. Nobody’s exactly expecting realism.
The exact date for Jojo Rabbit‘s release is yet to be set, but there’s a tentative window being suggested in October — which means it might well being eyed up as a possible Oscar contender.