Matewa Kiritapu Waititi is a young New Zealand performer known for her appearances in film, television and Māori-language adaptations of major Disney and Pixar productions. She is the daughter of filmmaker and actor Taika Waititi and producer-director Chelsea Winstanley, but her public profile also includes her own credited work, including Thor: Love and Thunder, Our Flag Means Death, Coco Reo Māori and Encanto Reo Māori.
As a child performer, Matewa has maintained a relatively limited public presence. The reliable record around her focuses on credited screen and voice work rather than private details such as education, residence or personal life.
Family background and public identity
Matewa Kiritapu Waititi is one of Taika Waititi’s two daughters with Chelsea Winstanley. The Associated Press identified Matewa and her older sister Te Hinekāhu alongside Waititi at the Sydney premiere of Thor: Love and Thunder in 2022, confirming her public identity within the filmmaker’s family.
Her mother, Chelsea Winstanley, is an established New Zealand producer and director. NZ On Screen identifies Winstanley as a Ngāti Ranginui filmmaker and records her Academy Award nomination as a producer of Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit.
Although Matewa became publicly known partly because of her family connection, her own entertainment credits provide the clearest explanation for why her name appears in film and television searches.
Some online searches also create confusion with Matewa Media, the Māori screen-production company associated with Chelsea Winstanley and Tweedie Waititi. The New Zealand Film Commission states that the company was named after Tweedie Waititi’s grandmother, Matewa Delamere, rather than after Matewa Kiritapu Waititi.
Early screen appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder
Matewa’s first widely reported screen appearance came in 2022 with Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder, directed by Taika Waititi.
TIME reported that Matewa and her sister appeared in the film as Asgardian children captured by the villain Gorr. The appearance was part of a larger group of family-related cameos involving children of people connected to the production, rather than a leading acting role.
The Associated Press later photographed Matewa with her father and sister at the film’s Sydney premiere, further confirming the connection between the young performer and the project.
Expanding into television and Māori-language productions
Matewa later received a small television credit in the second season of HBO’s Our Flag Means Death. Episode-credit databases list her as Girl #2 in the episode “Calypso’s Birthday,” which was released in October 2023.
Her more distinctive public work has come through Māori-language adaptations of internationally recognised animated films. These projects place her within a broader effort to bring major stories into te reo Māori for audiences in Aotearoa.
For Coco Reo Māori, released in 2023, Matewa Media’s official cast information credits Matewa Waititi as Baby Coco. Apple Music also lists her alongside Troy Kingi on the soundtrack track “Mahara Mai (Lullaby).”
Disney described Coco Reo Māori as a collaboration involving Matewa Media and Pixar Animation Studios, with the production created as a te reo Māori version of the animated film.
Voicing Antonio in Encanto Reo Māori
Matewa’s most prominent named voice role to date is Antonio Madrigal in Encanto Reo Māori, the Māori-language version of Disney’s animated film Encanto.
Disney announced in 2024 that Matewa Waititi would voice Antonio, noting her previous involvement with Coco Reo Māori. Matewa Media’s official cast information and Te Ao Māori News independently confirmed the role.
The project represents an important part of Matewa’s public record because it connects her with Māori-language screen work beyond a brief cameo appearance. Her credits show involvement in productions that adapt globally recognised films for te reo Māori audiences, although she has not publicly stated long-term career plans.
Age and what is publicly known about her today
Secondary entertainment sources list Matewa’s birth date as August 11, 2015. If that date is accurate, she turned 11 in August 2026. However, no primary birth announcement or official record confirming the exact date has been publicly verified.
Information about Matewa’s schooling, private life, finances and personal interests has not been established through reliable sources and remains outside the documented public record.
As of 2026, the newest substantial performance credit confirmed through authoritative sources is Encanto Reo Māori from 2024. No later acting or voice project has been publicly confirmed through the reliable sources reviewed.
Final thoughts
Matewa Kiritapu Waititi’s public profile is still developing, but her existing work shows a clear pattern: she is not known only through her famous filmmaking family. Her documented appearances in Thor: Love and Thunder, Our Flag Means Death, Coco Reo Māori and Encanto Reo Māori establish a small but verifiable body of screen and voice work.
For now, the most accurate picture of Matewa is that of a young performer with meaningful Māori-language production credits, while much of her personal life remains appropriately private.
