# ‘I’d consider replacing one of my children’: Taika Waititi on robot kids, his cheese-o-meter and Klara and the Sun

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/id-consider-replacing-one-of-my-children-taika-waititi-on-robot-kids-his-cheese-o-meter-and-klara-and-the-sun/
- Published: 2026-10-22T04:00:06+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-22T04:11:02+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/oct/22/taika-waititi-kazuo-ishiguro-robot-friend-klara-and-the-sun
- Topics: Culture, Entertainment, Film, Geopolitics, Politics

## Key points

- Waititi gives Ishiguro’s novel a comic film adaptation.
- Jenna Ortega plays robot companion Klara.
- The creators discuss love, emotion and adapting books.

## Summary

Taika Waititi has adapted Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel *Klara and the Sun* into a film about a sick teenager and her AI companion, prompting questions about love, grief and technology. The film’s warm comedy differs sharply from the novel’s spare tone, reflecting the creators’ view that adaptations should bring original ideas to the source.

Jenna Ortega plays Klara, a discontinued solar-powered robot who becomes a companion to 14-year-old Josie, played by Mia Tharia. Waititi says comedy is his instinct and describes learning to be more emotionally direct; Ishiguro argues that films should move beyond simply reproducing a book. The story also explores how people’s tastes and feelings can differ, and how love resists simple definitions.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.