Just days after accepting his Oscar for best adapted screenplay, Kiwi director Taika Waititi and his 12-year-old costar Roman Griffin Davis appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show today to take a victory lap of sorts.
Degeneres praised Waititi, declaring Jojo Rabbit, adapted from the book Caging Skies by New Zealander Christine Leunens, as one of her "favourite films ever, of all time".
When asked if he had been able to thank everyone he had wanted in his acceptance speech, Waititi joked that it is one of the only awards where you don't have thank anyone except yourself.
"I say I share the thing with the producers, and with my mum, who introduced me to the book that I adapted. But she didn't do any of the typing. I did that."
In his speech on Monday, Waititi dedicated the win to "all the indigenous kids in the world who want to do art and dance and write stories".
"We are original story-tellers and we can make it here too."
Jojo Rabbit had been nominated in five other categories including best picture.
Waititi also revealled to DeGeneres today that he decided to play Hitler only after Searchlight Studios executives said they would only make Jojo Rabbit if he took on the role.
The Jojo Rabbit director earned an Academy Award for best adapted screenplay.
"It made no sense to me, because look at me - I'm way too good looking to play Hitler."
It was a casting move that the filmmaker now agrees was a good idea, because it prevented the star-appeal of a big celebrity from overshadowing the narrative of the film.
The director remains in demand. He said today he'll be heading to Australia soon to direct the next film in the Thor series starring Chris Hemsworth.
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