Taika Waititi and his daughters Matewa Kiritapu and Te Hinekahu. Photo / Getty Images
Taika Waititi and his daughters Matewa Kiritapu and Te Hinekahu. Photo / Getty Images
As Succession comes to its climax this week, Kiwi director Taika Waititi spoke to show star Kieran Culkin about parenting and the end of the family dynasty series.
In a classic Interview Magazine celebrity-on-celebrity chat, Waititi, the interviewer, spoke to the star about his two children, daughter Kinsey, 3, and son Wolf, 21 months. Culkin said he had thought twice about taking a role on his first post-Succession project, movie A Real Pain, with Jesse Eisenberg, which is soon to film in Poland, as he would be away from his kids.
Waititi, who has two children with ex-partner director Chelsea Winstanley, sympathised.
“I’ve got two daughters, 10 and 7. But it’s very different with us. I’ll be away for a month or two at a time and try to really make up for that when we get back together. It’s tough being a parent who abandons your kids.
“You start justifying things in your head. You’re like, ‘Yeah, but they’ll really appreciate the work ethic’.”
Culkin said he often thinks he’d rather be an attentive at-home dad than one who is always working.
“I think we’d all rather do that,” Waititi says.
“I think that if you’re a good person and show a good example, they’re going to turn out great. It’s kind of hard to f*** it up. You’ve got to really try to be a s*** parent.”
The pair talked about how it was easier to travel with children when they are younger.
“Now they want the stability of being around their friends at school, instead of spending four months in Budapest where they’ve got to make new friends who they don’t understand,” Waititi says.
“My kids have been on every set of every film, and they meet all different types of personalities in this little contained society. It’s really cool.
“And it’s not the school thing at all that really worries me. I couldn’t care less about school. You’ll learn a lot just by being around smart people and being around books.”
Actor Kieran Culkin. Photo / Getty Images
On Succession, Culkin plays Roman Roy, the youngest of four siblings. The hugely-popular comedy-drama is about their battling it out to succeed their father in his world-dominating media and entertainment company.
Waititi confessed his fandom of Succession and how there was “constant talking over everyone”.
Culkin said it was encouraged, as was improvisation, which got the actor comfortable with the rhythm that has become a trademark of the show.
He compared the trick to the acting style of Jeff Goldblum, who worked with Waititi on Thor: Ragnarok. Waititi encouraged Goldblum to play his character more like himself and improvise on lines, as well as throw out any ideas for his character while shooting.
Waititi told Culkin he was sad it was the final season but Americans do too many episodes of things. Culkin agreed and knew it wasn’t the kind of show that could keep on going.
The pair talked about everything from Waititi happily giving his email away to fans who want to send him scripts, to the director praising Culkin’s recent interview on Hot Ones (which blew up the internet), the YouTubeshow where celebrities are interviewed while they eat increasingly spicier chicken wings.
Waititi confessed he was too nervous to be on the show, and was scared he might fail, whereas he said Culkin was the terminator of hot sauces.
The pair’s witty repertoire ended with Culkin telling Waititi he was obviously a big fan of his work and would love to see him do Hot Ones and he would email him a script.
