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MEDIA: Taika, what is the significance of this movie coming out in today's political climate of 2019, rather than at the time you started the screenplay eight years ago?
TAIKA: Well, there weren't as many Nazis around then. It feels more relevant. I wish I could say that I could foresee this, and that I was writing this film in 2011 just waiting! But at the time, it was more a reflection of what children go through during wars and during conflicts, and how they see adults operating, and what they take away from watching adults, especially in war when adults are acting like maniacs. We are supposed to be the people who are nurturing these children and creating a better world for them to grow up in, and creating better versions of ourselves, and we're reliable. Then when wars happen, that all goes out the window and nothing makes sense. And I was just fascinated with how children see that, and seeing World War II through the lens of a child, because I've never really seen it before. I've seen films set in the war about children, but not really, like, looking at how they experience war. Cut to 2019 and this film is coming out, and there's a rise of more Neo-Nazis and hate groups and intolerance, and hate is on the rise, and we've got people who promote hate and intolerance. And now it feels more relevant and more timely. But that wasn't the original intention. [pauses] But you're welcome to say that it was the intention.
Scarlett, how did the script come to you, and what was your initial reaction to it?
SCARLETT: Actually, the first person that told me about the script was [Chris] Hemsworth. He had read it, I guess, at some point. [to Taika] I'm assuming when you guys were working together. And he just loved it, and he was talking about it. And I hadn't felt there was anything for me to play in it, but he just said, "You have to read this script, it's so, so good." And then it came back at some point through my agent, [who] had read it, and again, he was like, "This script is incredible, you have to read it. The logline's bad." [laughs] And so I read it, and it was this beautiful gem. It's so rare to receive a script that is just a perfect little gem like that, and when you read it, you felt it was so beautifully descriptive and touching. And I cried when I read it, which is...That's a good sign. And I felt this unique thing that Taika has...It was full of whimsy and it was child-like, but it was also really poignant and strong. It had a vulnerability to it, but also this kind of big personality that came across. It was just so dynamic. And I knew Taika a little bit. And so we met and chatted... [to Taika] I don't know if we were supposed to be convincing each other...?
TAIKA: I don't think they knew that we knew each other. "Go and hang out, and see if you like each other!" [laughs]
SCARLETT: Yeah, so we were like, "Hey, what's up! Come over, have a drink, and chat!" So I don't know if you felt you had to convince me, or I had to convince you, but it was clear that... [lowers voice] ...we were actually just having a drink. [laughs] It's like, "I'll see you on set...?"
 
Taika, did your decision to play the Hitler character reflect a desire to send up the modern day Nazi?
TAIKA: [jokes] The role I was born to play, obviously! If you look at me. [laughs] Yeah, there was zero intention when I was writing this to play that role. I don't think that there's any list anywhere in the world where people are considering who could play an Aryan that I'm on. I wrote this, as I said, in 2011, and then I got distracted and went and made three other movies, and then came back to this. And that's when Fox Searchlight had got their hands on it, and they said, "We love the script, we want to make it, but we're only really interested in doing it if you play the role." And I thought they were going through liquidation and trying to destroy the company. But it made more sense, I think, in terms of...I feel like if someone who was very, very well-known played that role, it would overshadow the heart of the film, which is the story between these kids, and this boy and his mother. You know, it would just become "the celebrity who's playing Hitler" film. So I'm pleased that it didn't go down that way. And playing that role...I think the main word to describe it is "embarrassing." I was embarrassed most of the time to have to dress like that. A smattering of shame. Having to direct a film like that, it's just not cool. It doesn't make you feel empowered, it doesn't make you feel like people really want to listen to you. But I had to own it in some way, and to remind myself that I'm not playing that guy. And I'm also not going to give that guy the satisfaction of actually doing any research into what he was like, and his nuances and physicality, because I don't think he really deserves that, and I didn't want to make any effort for him. [laughs] So I just decided to play him as a 10-year-old, really. Because he comes from a 10-year-old's mind, he can only know what a 10-year-old knows. So it made it more bearable.
Scarlett, you've been doing so much action and drama that it can be easy for audiences to forget your comedic side--you're funny, you do voices, you can be a goofball when the role calls for it. How was your experience of performing the scene in which you act out both of Jojo's parents?
SCARLETT: Yeah, that scene...It's interesting, because it actually didn't strike me as funny, really, at all. It actually stroke... [catches herself] "Stroke me?" [laughs] ...It was actually quite hard to do, because it was quite upsetting. I found it to be extremely hard to scream at this innocent boy who, I think, was probably genuinely scared, at least the first time I did it. [to Roman] (Just say you were scared!) And I think the character is also shocked. She kind of scares herself a little bit, because she's a single mom who is on the edge all the time--she's scared for her life, her child's life. As Taika said, nothing makes sense. She's lost so many friends, she doesn't know what the future's going to hold for her or her son. And then she looks across the table and sees this little boy who, in one moment, represents everything that she hates--but it's her own son! And she temporarily loses it, and then kind of comes back to herself. But I guess sort of temporarily losing it felt quite scary to me, so much that I was shaken by it. But yeah...Hopefully it wasn't too hilarious! [laughs]
I probably [didn't phrase that question very well]. More to the point, could you speak to how Rosie uses humor to shelter Jojo during certain moments?
SCARLETT: I think she is someone who's sort of vaudevillian, and that's her background and her passion, and probably on any given day would be using humor--it's just a part of how she is. She loves to be in all these different kinds of characters...
TAIKA: Like Scarlett, who is like that. who's a mother, and she's funny, and she is a goofball when you hang out with her. But also fiercely protective. [to Scarlett] I've just given you a massive compliment here.
SCARLETT: Oh, thanks! [laughs]
TAIKA: But that's really what I was looking for for that role. And I've said it before, when I became a parent, I realized how hard it is. And trying to raise a child alone is hard enough, let alone during a war when you're trying to salvage whatever you can from your child who is just being brainwashed and pulled away from you. And you use whatever tools you can, I think, in [that] situation.
SCARLETT: But I think the character is also emotionally responsible with her son and shows him the reality of what's going on. She has that scene where she says, "Look! Look at this and take it in. This is what's actually happening, you can't just live in a fantasy world about these things." So while I think she's obviously playful and lighthearted and wants to keep the home alive, especially in this huge absence of her partner who she desperately misses, this person she's been raising her child with...And now she's this single mother, not at all by choice, and so she has to find levity in things and keep the home a lively place, especially with all this death around them. But I think, again, she is emotionally responsible, and isn't sheltering him in a way that...You know, she's teaching him to be empathetic, and she's teaching him to be compassionate. And I think you have to give your kids a healthy dose of reality so that that can actually happen.
The film differs quite a bit from the book it's based upon. It's darker...
TAIKA: ...More words. Bigger page count! [laughs]
...How did those changes come about?
TAIKA: So, my mother recommended this book to me. And the way she described it was sort of like "There's a boy who's in the Hitler youth who finds this girl in his attic, and he's never met a Jew, so in his mind, based on the propaganda and what he's been taught, it's like having a monster living in the attic. And so he's got to deal with this creature that he's petrified of, who's living up there. And then eventually he discovers that this monster is a human." And just based on that idea of this boy having his whole world upended and being challenged in that way...That, to me, was interesting enough. But I don't think I'm capable of making a straight drama. I'm old, I don't want to be depressed when I go to work. [laughs] I want to have some joy in my life! So I had to add the things that are kind of, I guess, particular to my style of storytelling, which has moments of humor and some fantastical elements as well, like this Hitler character. But I wanted it to feel more like it's, again, going back to a child's point of view.
Do you think there will be a lot of discussion over the appropriateness of setting a comedy during a horrific period of history?
TAIKA: [jokes] There's a discussion now. It's happening right now! We're doing it, we're talking about it! Well...There will always be a discussion about that. And I want to make it very clear that it's not a film that makes fun of these events. This film is a drama with jokes. It's a film with quite an important message, and very simple: it's just "be kind, and be nice." 80 years ago, Charlie Chaplin made The Great Dictator, so I wouldn't say it's too soon. You know, I'm following in the tradition of some very smart people who had something to say and used comedy, which, in my opinion, is one of the most powerful tools against bigotry and against regimes and dictators. It's very important. What comedy does is when you laugh, it disarms you and opens you up, and you become more receptive to ideas. And that's when you can say, "Here, laugh at this; but also, this was what I'm trying to say..." And now more than ever, comedy feels very sophisticated. And for me, it's a very important part of telling a story.
What are you working on next, and are you prepared for a potentially busy awards season for this movie?
TAIKA: [jokes] I'm from New Zealand, man. We don't think further than tomorrow. Uhhh...It'll be nice. [pauses] That's all I can say! [laughs] I'm not preparing anything...I'm actually going to make another film in Hawaii at the end of the year. I like being distracted from things like that, from what you're talking about, which is probably why I work too much. I don't like to think about it too much, so I go off and distract myself with something else. That's what I'm going to do!
SCARLETT: [jokes] I have a small film coming out called Black Widow. [laughs] I'm still in the middle of making it, so that's taking up my entire mindspace right now. Also a good distraction!
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