Page 94 - Esquire (November 2019)

a
“T aikaa a.

aikaa

T she aa,”

whispers.

In a Mediterranean-style house, built into the
side of a hill in the Los Feliz neighborhood
of Los Angeles, not too far away from Walt
Disney’s first home, Taika Waititi’s assistant
is trying to coax him out of his bedroom. She
thinks he’s asleep. And the complex Swiss
coffee machine seems to be on the fritz. So
while I wait, I try to fix it.
I’m about to implement the unplug-it-and-
plug-it-back-in method when I feel something
ping my back. I see a small object go skittering
across the floor. A bottle cap? I turn and there is
Waititi, wearing a tropical-print shirt and styl-
ish drawstring pants and, while in a ninja-like
pose, holding a large, capless bottle of Perrier.
He has the boyish energy of a walking GIF.
“I’ve been standing here for five minutes
watching you, bro,” the forty-four-year-old di-
rector/actor/producer says. Then he gives me
a hug. When in playful mode, he speaks with
the country-Kiwi accent of Korg, the charming
rock beast he played in Thor: Ragnarok (which
he also directed), whom he based on the sweet,
enormous Polynesian bouncers he would en-
counter outside clubs in his hometown of Wel-
lington, New Zealand. The rest of the time, he
speaks with a charming, soothing New Zealand
accent featuring just a touch of thespian gravi-
tas—a perfect delivery system for dry humor.
He moves a pink blazer from the back of a
kitchen chair so I can sit and begins eating his
very Californian breakfast—eggs and avocado
toast with a side of bacon.
Trying to make conversation, I ask him
about a sculpture in the kitchen. He gives me
the shrug emoji. “I don’t know what any of this
stuff is, bro! It’s not my house!”
He’s been so busy that he’s crashing here
to avoid interrupting his family’s schedule.
Before Thor, he split his time between New
Zealand and Los Angeles, but now he and his
wife, Chelsea Winstanley, and their two young
Jacket ($5,195), daughters have settled into a home nearby in
T-shirt ($375), and
trousers ($1,195) by L.A. They’ve had to: Waititi is directing the se-
quel to Ragnarok; directing an episode of The
Giorgio Armani.