Taika Waititi's perfect pick for Klara and the Sun? Jenna Ortega
Taika Waititi’s audacious casting puts Jenna Ortega in the role of the thoughtful companion Klara — a move that all but guarantees an unforgettable turn.
Taika Waititi just pulled back the curtain on why he cast Jenna Ortega as the robot at the heart of his next movie, and honestly, it tracks. Sony dropped the first look at Waititi's Klara and the Sun, his adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's 2021 bestseller, and the vibe is both warm and eerie. Ortega leading as an Artificial Friend? Makes sense the more you hear him explain it.
Why Jenna Ortega clicked for Klara
Waititi told Vanity Fair he needed someone who felt modern and effortlessly cool, but also a little off-center in the best way. Ortega, who went mega-mainstream with Netflix 's Wednesday, apparently showed him a side that is the total opposite of that character: bubbly, funny, and sharper than your average robot or human. He even admits she challenged him in a way that sealed the deal. Casting note I love: the thing that made him slightly uneasy is exactly what convinced him she was right.
"She was young and hip and cool and weird. And that sort of appealed to me."
"She had sort of made me feel uncomfortable and a little bit out of my depth, and I thought, Oh, that’s a good challenge."
"She's super charming and really fun and funny. I was really keen to see that version of her onscreen."
So what is Klara and the Sun?
It is a sci-fi drama set in a near-future where Artificial Friends are built to keep teenagers from feeling lonely. In this story, a family brings home Klara to help them heal — emotionally and physically — which is a gentler, sneakier setup for a dystopia than we usually get. If you know the book, you know 'Rick' is an important human in the mix; here, Aran Murphy plays him.
The first look has range
Sony's images (via Vanity Fair) lean colorful and emotive rather than cold and metallic. One shot has Ortega sprinting through a golden field under bright skies; another is a quiet moment in a sunlit bedroom. It is sci-fi, but the palette whispers 'tender' more than 'tech demo.'
The cast
- Jenna Ortega as Klara, the Artificial Friend
- Amy Adams
- Simon Baker as a key parental figure
- Natasha Lyonne
- Steve Buscemi
- Aran Murphy as Rick
- Antonia Prebble as Fiona
- Michelle Ang
- Harry Greenwood
- Davida McKenzie as Simone
- David Fane as Rebel Robot Arnold
- Bronwyn Bradley as Miriam
- Mia Tharia