Taika Waititi has been quite busy as of late. Besides producing various projects, he’s also been trying to get some projects going that sadly wouldn’t move forward, like a live-action Akira but ended up focusing on directing Thor: Love and Thunder. Yet, he was also involved in playing Blackbeard in the HBO Max series Our Flag Means Death. Turns out, he may have overestimated the projects after all and ended up editing while still in costume.
In an interview with SlashFilm, the Love and Thunder director talked about it being the first project where he was asked to take on the role. It seems that David Jenkins had him in mind when creating the seris’ take on Blackbeard, and somehow they made it work out that he was able to take on the role.
This is one of the rare occasions where I didn’t put myself in my own thing; someone else asked me to do it. David Jenkins wrote Blackbeard with me in mind and, at first, I was just too busy to do it. But with some shuffling of schedules, we were able to do it, which was great because I really wanted to play the role. I would have been really bummed out if I had missed out on it.
Taika Waititi
He highlights how he would end up editing the project at night after playing Blackbeard
I was Blackbeard by day and then was editing ‘Thor’ by night and doing various other things. I was trying to work from set with the shaggy hair and the beard. It was a management nightmare, but we pulled it off and it was probably one of my favorite roles that I’ve played because it’s something I didn’t have to write so I could bring a lot of myself to it.
Taika Waititi
The irony of two unique love stories overlapping production is a curious fate, but it may have helped develop them. While he does call it a “management nightmare” it seems that he certainly is passionate about both projects. So, we’re the lucky ones to get to see him bring Blackbeard to life and Love and Thunder.
Source: SlashFilm
