"Not really an AI": Taika Waititi gets candid about Jenna Ortega's Klara and the Sun character, calls it "a dumb robot"
"Not really an AI": Taika Waititi gets candid about Jenna Ortega's Klara and the Sun character, calls it "a dumb robot"
Archi Biswas Thu, October 22, 2026 at 10:26 AM UTC
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Taika Waititi opens up about Jenna Ortega's character in Klara and the Sun in The Daily Show ©Getty
Academy Award-winning writer and director Taika Waititi appeared in the latest episode of The Daily Show to promote his upcoming film, Klara and the Sun. Waititi spoke about the new film, cast, and his filming experience in New Zealand.
Based on Kazuo Ishiguro's 2021 novel, the film stars Jenna Ortega, Amy Adams, and Natasha Lyonne. Klara and the Sun premiered at the BFI London Film Festival on October 15, 2026. It is set to hit the theatres on October 23, 2026. Speaking to The Daily Show host, Ronny Chieng, Waititi described Jenna Ortega's character as,
"Jenna Ortega plays a robot in the near future where we are so disconnected with each other that you have to buy an artificial friend for your children. Not really an AI. It's just a dumb robot that hangs out in your house."
According to the synopsis, the film is set in a dystopian future where genetic engineering has divided humans into rigid social classes. Ortega plays Klara, a companion android who is brought to give company to Josie, a sick girl. Waititi explains that Klara is finally beginning to understand love and is looking for ways to bring the broken family back together.
"Not even a future movie, it's happening right now": Taika Waititi on how AI has drastically affected humanity
In the latest episode of The Daily Show, Taika Waititi came to promote his film Klara and the Sun, which is set in a dystopian future. However, the multi-award-winning director and writer added that even though the plot is set in the future, it resembles quite a few things that are happening right now. He said,
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"It's not even a future movie. It's happening right now. Too late"
Waititi added that he started to work on the film about two years ago, when not many people were talking about AI or its threats.
Waititi shared how he stumbled upon Kazuo Ishiguro's 2021 novel at an airport and made up his mind to make an adaptation. Waititi also praised the cast.
Taika Waititi on the challenges of making Klara and the Sun
Taika Waititi and Jenna Ortega - Source: Getty
In an interview with Variety Australia, Waititi opened up about the challenges he faced while filming Klara and the Sun. He said that the pivotal challenge was to make space for his filmmaking abilities without disturbing the elements of the novel. He added that the book has little humor, and it's mostly how Klara misinterprets things. He added:
"I wanted to make sure that I brought my own tone that I usually do to my films into this, but I didn't want to mess too much with the actual sort of overall time of how the book reads, because it is really beautiful."
Waititi added that rather than a dramatic adaptation, he wanted to preserve the slower elements that make the novel so unique. He said he wanted to retain those elements and not make it into a full-blown commercial movie. He also added that the premise could have been easily made into a very different kind of science fiction story, especially how Hollywood handles and showcases AI as a threat. He said,
"I knew I was never going to be doing that."
Follow SoapCentral for more such updates on Klara and the Sun.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
