He co-wrote, co-directed and starred in the horror comedy film What We Do in the Shadows (2014) with Jemaine Clement, which was adapted into a television series of the same name in 2019.

[8][9] His father was an artist of Te Whānau-ā-Apanui descent, while his mother, Robin Cohen,[10] was a schoolteacher of multiple ethnicities.

[7] Waititi stated that his mother's family were Russian Jewish, Irish, and other European ethnicities, while his father's side was "Māori and a little bit of French Canadian".

[12] His paternal grandfather, also named Taika, served as a Māori Battalion soldier during World War II.

[14][15] He was raised more connected to his Māori roots, in a household where Judaism was not actively practised[13] and identifies as an atheist who "puts more stock in indigenous beliefs.

[8] He attended Onslow College,[18] then studied theatre at Victoria University of Wellington where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1997.

[5][6] He originally used his mother's surname, Cohen, for his work in film and writing, and his father's, Waititi, for visual arts endeavours.

[21] While a student at Victoria University of Wellington, Waititi was part of the five-member comedy ensemble So You're a Man, which toured New Zealand and Australia with some success.

[24] He directed the short film Two Cars, One Night (2003) which involves two young boys and a girl meeting in the carpark of a rural pub in Te Kaha, New Zealand.

[28] In 2010, he acted in the New Zealand TV3 improv sketch comedy show Radiradirah, together with frequent collaborators Rhys Darby and Jemaine Clement.

On its release in New Zealand, Boy received enthusiastic reviews[31] and was successful at the local box office, eclipsing several records.

[36] Waititi and Clement played members of a group of vampires who live in an appropriately gothic house in modern-day Wellington.

[44][45] Marvel films In 2017, Waititi won the award for New Zealander of the Year, but was unable to receive it in person due to work commitments.

[51][52] Waititi was later consulted by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely on Thor's storylines for Avengers: Infinity War, to maintain the character's consistency in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

[62] His voiceover work earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance in 2020.

[67][68] Waititi executive produced, directed and starred as Blackbeard in the HBO Max comedy series Our Flag Means Death.

[74] The film received mixed reviews with critic Mark Kermode complained that "the jokes, the catch-phrases [are] just incredibly tired".

"[76] In her mixed review from NPR, Amy Nicholson added "I was really compelled by the ideas Taika Waititi was teasing in this film, but the actual style of it – the eagerness to please – made me take a step back from everything.

[82] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian described it as "a shoddily made and strikingly unfunny attempt to tell an interesting story in an uninteresting way".

[83] In 2024, Waititi directed and co-wrote the pilot episode of a television adaptation of the Terry Gilliam film, Time Bandits, alongside frequent collaborators Jemaine Clement and Iain Morris.

[84] In 2024, Waititi directed the pilot and executive produced a television adaptation of the Charles Yu novel, Interior Chinatown, starring Jimmy O.

[93] After rumors began circulating in late 2019 and early 2020, it was officially announced on May 4, 2020 that Taika Waititi would direct and co-write a Star Wars movie with Krysty Wilson-Cairns.

[98] In 2021, it was announced that Waititi would executive produce and direct the Showtime limited series The Auteur starring Jude Law.

[100] In 2023, it was announced that he would direct a film adaptation of the novel Klara and the Sun, intending on making it his next movie after Next Goal Wins.

[101] In 2024, it was revealed that Waititi would direct a film adaptation of the Percival Everett novel James with Steven Spielberg producing.

[111] He is an executive producer of the New Zealand films The Breaker Upperers (2018), Baby Done (2020), and Night Raiders (2021), all directed by Māori or indigenous filmmakers.