Matewa Kiritapu Waititi is a New Zealand celebrity child best known as the youngest daughter of filmmaker Taika Waititi and film producer Chelsea Winstanley. She was born on August 11, 2015. By 2026, she is 10 years old and already has two confirmed screen credits. Most people search for her because of her father’s global fame and her appearances in major productions.
She played an Asgardian Kid in Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) alongside her older sister. As a Māori child actress raised with Te Reo Māori language at home, she comes from a family with deep roots in New Zealand’s indigenous film industry. Her name “Kiritapu” honors her mother’s maternal grandmother, Kiritapu “Kitty” Wilson, who lived from 1926 to 2014.
Chelsea Winstanley named her 2017 production company Matewa Media after her daughter. This profile covers everything confirmed about Matewa’s life, family, and film career.
| Field | Value |
| Full Name | Matewa Kiritapu Waititi |
| Known As | Daughter of Taika Waititi |
| Date of Birth | August 11, 2015 |
| Age (2026) | 10 years old |
| Birthplace | New Zealand (city not publicly confirmed) |
| Nationality | New Zealander |
| Ethnicity | Māori (via mother: Ngāti Ranginui / Ngāi Te Rangi) and mixed (father: Māori, Ashkenazi Jewish, other European) |
| Father | Taika Waititi (born Taika David Cohen) |
| Mother | Chelsea Jane Winstanley ONZM |
| Stepmother | Rita Ora (married Taika August 4, 2022) |
| Sister | Te Hinekāhu Waititi (born May 20, 2012) |
| Half-Brother | Maia (born 1996, Chelsea’s son from previous relationship) |
| Known For | Thor: Love and Thunder (2022); Our Flag Means Death S2 (2023) |
| IMDb Credit 1 | Asgardian Kid — Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) |
| IMDb Credit 2 | Girl #2 — Our Flag Means Death Season 2 (2023, 1 episode) |
| Residence | Auckland, New Zealand |
| Social Media | No confirmed public accounts |
Early Life and Childhood
Matewa Kiritapu Waititi was born in New Zealand in 2015. Her parents, Taika Waititi and Chelsea Winstanley, had married in 2011. They separated in 2018 but continued raising their daughters together in New Zealand.
Growing up, Matewa and her older sister Te Hinekāhu were immersed in Te Reo Māori language from an early age. Chelsea made a deliberate choice to hire a Māori-speaking nanny for her girls. The family also keeps karakia, a Māori prayer, before dinner each day as a regular practice.
Matewa attends school full-time in the Auckland area. Her parents want her childhood to remain as grounded as possible. As a celebrity child in New Zealand, she’s mostly kept away from public events and media attention.
From a young age, she reportedly accompanied her father to film sets. Taika also took his daughters on a “Dads on Tour” road trip, which he documented on Instagram Stories. The trip included visits to Hobbiton, caves, lakes, and horseback riding across New Zealand. These experiences reflect the creative household upbringing that shapes both girls’ early years.
Taika Waititi — Father
Taika Waititi, born Taika David Cohen on August 16, 1975, in Wellington, New Zealand, is an award-winning filmmaker with a career that spans both his home country and Hollywood. His mother, Robin Cohen, is a painter and educator with Ashkenazi Jewish, Irish, Scottish, and English heritage. His father has Māori ancestry with French-Canadian roots. His parents separated when he was around five years old, and his mother raised him.
Taika describes himself as a “Polynesian Jew” and channels that layered identity into his work as an indigenous filmmaker. His early New Zealand films broke domestic records. Boy (2010) and Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) each became the top-grossing New Zealand-made film of their time.
Global Breakthrough
His career reached global scale when he directed Thor: Ragnarok (2017) for Marvel. He followed that with Jojo Rabbit (2019), which earned him the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. That win made him the first person of Māori descent to win an Academy Award in a screenplay category. Time magazine named him one of its 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2022.
His other credits include What We Do in the Shadows (2014), which he co-directed with Chelsea, and the TV series Our Flag Means Death, which he co-created. He has also received a BAFTA Award and a Grammy Award across his career.
Taika directed Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), the film in which both of his daughters appeared. He married singer Rita Ora on August 4, 2022. He has been candid in interviews about the difficulty of being away from his daughters for one to two months at a time due to work.
Chelsea Winstanley — Mother
Chelsea Jane Winstanley ONZM was born on January 30, 1976, in Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. She has Māori ancestry through her mother, specifically from Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāi Te Rangi tribal affiliations. Her maternal grandmother was Kiritapu “Kitty” Wilson (née Borell, 1926–2014), the source of Matewa’s middle name “Kiritapu.”
Chelsea is a film producer New Zealand indigenous content specialist whose credits include What We Do in the Shadows (2014) and Jojo Rabbit (2019), both produced alongside Taika. She and Taika jointly won the 2014 SPADA Screen Industry Awards Independent Producer of the Year.
Matewa Media and Cultural Work
In 2017, Chelsea co-founded Matewa Media with Tweedie Waititi, naming the company after her daughter. Matewa Media focuses on Māori-language Disney adaptations, including Moana, The Lion King, and Frozen. This work sits at the heart of Chelsea’s commitment to indigenous storytelling and making mainstream content available in Te Reo Māori.
Chelsea was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) in the 2022 Queen’s Birthday Honours. The appointment recognized her contributions to the screen industry and to Māori culture. Her professional identity as a film producer New Zealand indigenous pioneer stands well beyond her profile as a Taika Waititi ex-wife.
She has been open about the cultural values she instills in her daughters. Hiring a Māori-speaking nanny was a deliberate choice. Her work in Māori-language Disney adaptations mirrors the language environment she creates at home.
Siblings and Family Bond
Matewa has one older sister and one half-brother. Her sister, Te Hinekāhu Waititi, was born on May 20, 2012. That makes Te Hinekāhu approximately three years older than Matewa. Sources citing Taika’s birthday post reference her full name as Te Kāinga O Te Hinekāhu Waititi.
Both sisters share Taika and Chelsea as biological parents. They grew up together in New Zealand and have appeared on screen together. As Thor Love and Thunder child actors, both sisters played Asgardian Kids in the 2022 film. They also appeared in Our Flag Means Death Season 2 (2023), with Matewa credited as Girl #2.
Matewa also has a half-brother named Maia. Maia is Chelsea’s son from a relationship before she met Taika. He was born in 1996, when Chelsea was approximately 20 years old. Maia is notably older than both of his half-sisters and has pursued a career in acting and showbiz. As Matewa’s half-brother, Maia shares Chelsea as a biological parent but has a different father.
The bond between Matewa and Te Hinekāhu is the most visible to the public. Their shared on-screen credits and upbringing in Auckland connect them closely as children of famous parents growing up in the same cultural environment.
Career and Filmography
Matewa Kiritapu made her screen debut in Thor: Love and Thunder (2022). She played an Asgardian Kid in the film, directed by her father. Her older sister Te Hinekāhu appeared in the same production in the same role. The character is listed in a gender-neutral way on IMDb and the Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki. Some sources have incorrectly called the role an “Asgardian boy,” which is not accurate.
Taika revealed in interviews that his daughters’ drawings partly inspired the monster designs in the film. This suggests both girls had some creative influence on the production beyond just their on-screen appearance. That detail was cited by NZ Herald and AmoMama, drawing on a Taika interview.
Her second credit is Our Flag Means Death Season 2 (2023), the TV series her father co-created. She appeared in one episode as Girl #2. Her IMDb page, listed under credit nm13811793, confirms the role. TMDB and a Paste Magazine season review both corroborate it.
This Marvel cameo and the Our Flag Means Death Girl #2 credit are her only confirmed screen appearances as of 2026. No further projects have been announced or confirmed on IMDb. As a child actor debut at such a young age, two professional credits in major productions is a notable start.
Parents’ Separation and Co-Parenting
Taika Waititi and Chelsea Winstanley separated in 2018. The split was not publicly known until around 2020. Both parents discussed aspects of the separation in separate interviews in the years that followed.
Chelsea spoke to NZ Herald about career imbalance and resentment as contributing factors. She described the difficulty of building her own career while also supporting a high-profile partner. The co-parenting arrangement that followed placed both girls full-time in New Zealand with Chelsea.
Taika has been open about his absences. He told Kieran Culkin in an Interview magazine piece that he is away from his daughters for one to two months at a time. He said he tries to compensate when he returns home. This co-parenting arrangement prioritizes the girls’ school schedule and their preference for stability in Auckland.
The blended family expanded when Taika married Rita Ora in 2022. Chelsea continues to be the primary caregiver. Both parents have directed their public comments toward what works best for the girls, rather than the details of their Taika Waititi ex-wife and ex-husband dynamic.
Relationship with Stepmother Rita Ora
Taika Waititi married singer Rita Ora in a private ceremony on August 4, 2022. Rita has spoken about her stepmother relationship with Taika’s daughters on multiple public platforms.
On the Table Manners podcast hosted by Jessie and Lennie Ware, Rita described herself as the girls’ “fairy godmother.” She said she breaks all the rules, buys them whatever they want, and takes on no traditional parenting responsibility. This Table Manners podcast Rita Ora moment gave fans the clearest picture yet of how she fits into the girls’ lives.
Taika and Rita bought a $10.5 million home in Point Chevalier, Auckland. That location puts them close to where Matewa and Te Hinekāhu attend school and live full-time with Chelsea. The proximity makes visits with their father and stepmother more practical.
In June 2025, Rita mentioned on the Begin Again with Davina McCall podcast that she had taken the girls to an Ed Sheeran concert. This detail shows the kind of experience-focused, relaxed role she plays in the blended family structure.
Rita functions as a fun, supportive figure rather than a traditional co-parent. Chelsea remains the primary caregiver in Auckland. Both adults have spoken positively about putting the girls’ wellbeing first.
Social Media Presence
Matewa Kiritapu has no confirmed public social media accounts. Her parents have made a deliberate decision to maintain a low public profile for their daughters. This approach is consistent across all credible coverage of the Waititi family.
Taika and Chelsea’s shared position reflects a commitment to protecting their daughters’ private childhood celebrity family upbringing. Anyone searching for Matewa online will find information through her parents’ interviews, her IMDb listings, and news coverage of family events. She has not created or maintained any known public online presence of her own.
Common Misconceptions About Matewa Kiritapu
Several errors appear in other published articles about Matewa Kiritapu. The correct facts are listed below.
- Some sources say her Our Flag Means Death appearance is “not widely validated.” That is incorrect. Her credit as Girl #2 in Season 2, 1 episode, is confirmed on IMDb (nm13811793), TMDB, and in Paste Magazine’s season review.
- Some sources refer to Te Hinekāhu as Matewa’s “older brother.” That is incorrect. Te Hinekāhu is Matewa’s older sister, confirmed by Wikipedia (Chelsea Winstanley), IMDb, and the Marvel Fandom Wiki.
- Some sources describe Matewa as being “in her teens” in 2026. That is incorrect. She was born August 11, 2015, making her 10 years old in 2026.
- Some sources list her full name as “Matewa Kiritapu Vaiti.” That is incorrect. Her confirmed surname is Waititi, as listed on IMDb and Wikipedia.
- Some sources call her Thor character an “Asgardian boy.” That is incorrect. The character is listed as “Asgardian Kid,” a gender-neutral credit, on IMDb and the Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki.
- Some sources state Te Hinekāhu was born “two years after” Taika and Chelsea’s 2011 marriage. That is incorrect. Te Hinekāhu was born on May 20, 2012, approximately one year after the marriage.
Where Is Matewa Kiritapu Now?
As of 2026, Matewa Kiritapu Waititi is 10 years old and living in New Zealand. She attends school full-time in the Auckland area. Her day-to-day life is largely out of public view, matching her parents’ approach to raising a low public profile family.
Taika has said in interviews that his daughters now prefer school stability over traveling with him on film shoots. This marks a shift from earlier years when they reportedly joined him on set. Their preference for a settled life in Auckland shapes how the co-parenting arrangement runs today.
Matewa has no confirmed acting projects as of 2026. Her two screen credits from 2022 and 2023 remain her only IMDb listings. She occasionally appears at public family events, but she’s not in the spotlight by choice or by design.
As part of the broader Taika Waititi family 2026 picture, she remains a school-age celebrity child whose next chapter has not yet been written.
Final Words
Matewa Kiritapu Waititi is 10 years old and living a grounded, private childhood in Auckland, New Zealand. She has two confirmed screen credits that reflect early Māori culture representation in global entertainment. Her parents have been clear that a normal upbringing comes first. What her future holds, in acting or any other field, remains unconfirmed. She’s a child first, and a public figure only because the world already knows her parents’ names.
Explore more celebrity children, famous family backgrounds, and Hollywood relationship stories in our Celebrity Families category.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Matewa Kiritapu? Matewa Kiritapu Waititi is the youngest daughter of Oscar-winning filmmaker Taika Waititi and New Zealand film producer Chelsea Winstanley. She was born on August 11, 2015, and has two confirmed screen credits.
How old is Matewa Kiritapu in 2026? She is 10 years old in 2026. Her confirmed birth date is August 11, 2015.
What movies has Matewa Kiritapu appeared in? She played an Asgardian Kid in Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) and appeared as Girl #2 in Our Flag Means Death Season 2 (2023, 1 episode). These are her only two confirmed credits as of 2026.
Who are Matewa Kiritapu’s parents? Her father is Taika Waititi, the Academy Award-winning director. Her mother is Chelsea Jane Winstanley ONZM, a New Zealand film producer focused on indigenous Māori content.
Does Matewa Kiritapu appear in Our Flag Means Death? Yes. She is fully confirmed in Our Flag Means Death Season 2 (2023) as Girl #2, in 1 episode. The credit appears on IMDb under nm13811793, on TMDB, and was referenced in Paste Magazine’s season review.
What does the name Matewa Kiritapu mean? “Kiritapu” is a Māori name that comes from Chelsea’s maternal grandmother, Kiritapu “Kitty” Wilson (née Borell, 1926–2014). Chelsea also named her production company Matewa Media after her daughter.
Who is Matewa Kiritapu’s stepmother? Her stepmother is Rita Ora, the British-Albanian singer. Rita married Taika Waititi on August 4, 2022, in a private ceremony. She has described herself as the girls’ “fairy godmother.”
Does Matewa Kiritapu have siblings? Yes. Her older sister is Te Hinekāhu Waititi, born May 20, 2012. She also has a half-brother named Maia, born in 1996, who is Chelsea’s son from a relationship before Taika. Half-brother means Maia shares Chelsea as a biological parent but has a different father.
Is Matewa Kiritapu on social media? No. Matewa has no confirmed public social media accounts. Her parents have made a deliberate choice to keep their daughters’ lives away from public platforms.Where does Matewa Kiritapu live now? She lives full-time in Auckland, New Zealand. She attends school in the Auckland area and her daily life is kept largely out of public view.
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