If Taika Waititi Hadn't Agreed To Play Hitler, Jojo Rabbit Wouldn't Have Been Made

Taika Waititi “scoured the earth” to find the perfect person to play an imaginary version of Adolf Hitler in his new film Jojo Rabbit, but it turns out that the right man for the job was Taika himself.

Speaking with Deadline, Taika revealed it wasn’t a part he intended to play himself, “I scoured the earth for the perfect actor and sometimes your search for the right person is staring at you right in the mirror.”

Now, in a new interview with Business Insider, Waititi revealed it was Fox Searchlight that demanded he take on the role.

When he was writing the film, which is based on the book Caging Skies by Christine Leunens, all he knew was that he didn’t want A-lister to play Hitler for fear they’d dominate headlines.

Fox Searchlight execs loved the script, but told him, “We’re only interested if you play Hitler.”

Waititi’s response? “[It] was lunacy to me,” he told the publication.

But, luckily Fox Searchlight pitched it in a way to make him reconsider, “They made a good point which was that particular role is written a certain way and it needs to be handled by the person who invented that character.”

“Part of it, like we said, is the celebrity distraction thing, but also because the way I wrote it, and because I knew how it needed to be played, it fell on me.”

He added that it ended up being the best decision, “It actually made it easier to play because I didn’t have to deal with someone else filtering what I was trying to do. They were right, looking back on it. If I worked with another actor maybe that person would have researched it too much or tried to do a more authentic version of Hitler and pulled away the buffoonery I was after.”

It also meant he had to direct the film while in a Hitler costume, “I was just embarrassed on set,” Waititi said.

“Having to be dressed like that and having to talk to people. Often I took off the moustache between set ups or put a hat on. Or I would take the jacket off. But still, you catch yourself in a reflection and you’re reminded. For most people it’s something like seeing themselves and going, ‘I forgot, I got a haircut yesterday.’ For me it was, ‘Ah, I forgot, I look like Hitler.’”

Jojo Rabbit seems like it could be a serious contender for an Oscar after winning the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. Green Book won the award last year and then went on to take out the Oscar for Best Picture, as many other TIFF winners have done in the past.

Jojo Rabbit hits Australian cinemas on Boxing Day.