Newlyweds Rita Ora and Taika Waititi unite for their first photo shoot for Vogue Australia
Rita Ora and Taika Waititi unite for their first photo shoot for Vogue Australia. The couple reflect on their two year old relationship, ahead of Rita’s first album release in five years.
The day Rita Ora and Taika Waititi were due to shoot for Vogue Australia in April, all weather forecasts reported rain.
Not just any rain, either. An unpredictable torrential downpour; a rain bomb. And yet, by some sheer meteorological miracle, for the most part the sun shone brightly across Sydney’s eastern suburbs before the heavens opened up mere moments after wrapping.
It was not just fortuitous but fitting that the weather gods played nice for Ora and Waititi’s first shoot together. The two, who wed last year, are all warmth and laughter – non-stop banter, jokes and good times – their joint positivity attracting the best in everyone and every situation wherever they go. “Rita’s such a pro at knowing her angles,” Waititi told Vogue Australia’s June issue. “She’s got a lot more poses than I have. I’ve got about four poses and three expressions.”
The Kosovo-born British singer, 32, and award-winning Kiwi writer and director, 47, enjoyed a years-long friendship after being introduced by Robert Pattinson at a barbecue Waititi was hosting in LA. But it was a matter of right place (Sydney), right time (2021) when they finally got together. Ora was here to film her first season as a judge on The Voice; Waititi was in town directing Thor: Love & Thunder at Fox Studios.
Two years on, the husband and wife are having a major full-circle moment and not just because they’re being photographed in the city that was their romantic backdrop. “It does kind of close the story, it’s a really romantic way to do something for the first time together [and] a safe environment to just be ourselves,” Ora said.
Next month marks the release of Ora’s third studio album, You & I, which threads together the narrative of their love story, track by track. It emerged from a period of intense concentrated change for the singer, who has garnered more than 10 billion streams and holds the record for the most top 10 singles by a British female artist at 13 and counting. Not only did Ora hit her 30s with a big new love in her life, but also a new record deal with BMG that gives her ownership of all her master recordings. She’s taken artistic control like never before. So, naturally, the new record is bold.
Ora cracks open her heart in her songwriting about those first flourishes of love and vulnerability, but it’s brimming with fizzy, dancey, upbeat pop anthems anchored by the unmistakeable power of her voice.
“This was the best experience I’ve ever had writing an album,” Ora told Vogue Australia. “After my second album in 2018 I was like, ‘I don’t know if I can make another record. This is stressful. I am stressed’.
“And then I found this new deal and they were like, we’ll sign you and whenever you are ready, you can go.
“And that’s when I moved to Australia, did The Voice for the first time, I met Taika, and everything just kind of started to make sense. Maybe I’ve just made space, maybe I’ve emptied out the stuff and brought in the new stuff and it really started to feel that way.”
For Waititi, hearing an album of songs written for him was an honour. “I’m a Leo. Everything in the world revolves around me,” he joked. “No, I was really honoured. For me it was not at all confronting in any way … it was just humbling.” He praises Ora for her “inspiring” work ethic and for always “having my back”.