Taika Waititi has been at the forefront of many successful franchises over the last decade, but he doesn’t seem to care if you know of him or not. The man wears many hats: writer, actor, and director, and even created Air New Zealand’s successful safety instruction videos. He quite literally does it all, while also voicing a Star Wars character.
Even though he has had his name attached to various Marvel films, he doesn’t seem to think that his name has any staying power. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Waititi claims he doesn’t really “expect” to be remembered down the line, or go down in history as the guy who directed a Sour Patch Kid ad campaign.
“Here’s the thing: No one’s going to remember us,” Waititi told the publication, referring to directors. “What’s the name of the director of Casablanca? Arguably one of the greatest films of all time. No one knows his name. How the f*ck do I expect to be remembered? So who cares?” The director concluded. In case you ever feel the need to join a trivia night at your local bar, the director of Casablanca is Michael Curtiz.
Instead of turning his job into a popularity contest, Waititi says that the films should speak for themselves. He continued, “Let’s just live, make some movies. They’ll be obsolete and irrelevant in 15 or 20 years. And so will I, and then I’ll die and someone else can do it. This whole idea of chasing, chasing, chasing this life. It’s like, do we have to actually work this hard? Maybe not.” Though it sounds a bit pessimistic, he has a pretty good point. Will anyone remember James Cameron in 20 years? Avatar 3 probably won’t even be out by then, though.
On the other hand, the internet is forever, so we will always be able to trace Thor: Love and Thunder back to Waititi. For better or worse. Just because he didn’t remember that Natalie Portman was in Star Wars doesn’t mean that everyone else forgot too!
