Taika Waititi spills the beans on working with Donald Trump in new podcast episode
In a recent episode of the Smartless podcast, directed by Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes, Taika Waititi shared some interesting details about his experience working with ex-president Donald Trump back in 2012. Waititi revealed that he directed Trump in a NBC Super Bowl featurette titled “Brotherhood of Man.”
During the podcast, Waititi shared that there was a list of demands on a piece of paper, and Trump had a helper present who constantly flattered him. “He had a sort of like a make-up person who was also his ego booster. So she would like, touch him up and say ‘Oh Mr. Trump, oh Mr. Trump, you look fantastic.’” Waititi explained. “The camera had to be a certain height to make him look a little thinner. I think it had like a sort of, whatever the pantone of orange was that he had to appear as on screen.”
The Super Bowl featurette also featured Matt Lauer, the disgraced former NBC anchor. The commercial, which included the casts of popular NBC shows at the time such as The Office, Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, Community, and Smash, had a musical theme, with the irony of Trump’s presence not being lost on the viewers, as the song performed was from the musical “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”.
In the featurette, Trump appears for a brief moment before Lauer shows up on screen. The former president points straight into the camera and sings, “You.”
This behind-the-scenes look at working with Trump sheds light on an interesting moment in his entertainment career and provides a glimpse into the demands and atmosphere behind the scenes with the former reality TV star and business mogul.