The Big Read: Taika and Jemaine

Blood brothers? Well, flatmates at least. Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi.

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Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement tell Lydia Jenkin how their love of vampires and 20-year friendship inspired a movie about a bunch of bloodsucking mates flatting together in Wellington.

As TimeOut sits down in a dimly lit room underneath the Civic Theatre with Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, the small talk turns to how appropriate the location feels for an interview with vampires. But it's not long before the pair are bouncing off each other with an easy comic rapport.

These two have been friends for years, and their latest film What We Do In The Shadows, which they co-wrote, co-directed, and co-star in, is not just a grand celebration of ordinary vampires, but of a fruitful creative relationship. They have made their names separately with Flight of the Conchords and Boy, but some of their first steps in the entertainment world were made together, at Victoria University in the 1990s.

Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi took an instant dislike to each other but then decided to make a vampire film. Photo / Sarah Ivey

"I don't remember the moment when we actually met, but I remember the moment I first saw Jemaine," Waititi recalls.

"It was in the library at Victoria University. I remember looking across and going, 'Ugh. Man, look at that dick!' because he had this colourful Samoan shirt on, and I remember thinking, 'Oh, he's probably one of those snooty arty types.'

"And that night there were auditions for a university show, and I saw him there and thought, 'Oh no, not that guy again'."

Jemaine laughs: "I remember that same moment seeing Taika and thinking, 'What a dick!' because he had a reggae hat on, one of those big red, yellow and green crocheted hats. So both of us based our instant dislike on each other's clothes. Both of us were sending misleading messages about our ethnicities!"

Fortunately, they both got through the auditions for the show, and started hanging out, which quickly changed their initial judgments.

"I think when I saw Taika do his audition bits, he was actually one of the few people who made me laugh." ...

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- nzherald.co.nz