Biography

Jason Momoa

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Overview

Born
August 1, 1979 · Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Birth name
Joseph Jason Namakaeha Momoa
Nickname
- Jason
Height
6′ 4″ (1.93 m)

Mini bio

Joseph Jason Namakaeha Momoa was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is the son of Coni (Lemke), a photographer, and Joseph Momoa, a painter. His father is of Native Hawaiian and Samoan descent; and his mother, who is from Iowa, is of German, Irish, and Native American ancestry. Jason was raised in Norwalk, Iowa, by his mother. After high school, he moved to Hawaii, where he landed a lead role, beating out of thousands of hopefuls in the TV series Baywatch (1989) (known as "Baywatch Hawaii" in its 10th season). When the show ended, he spent the next couple of years traveling around the world. In 2001, he moved to Los Angeles, where he continued to pursue an acting career. In 2004, after the short-lived TV series North Shore (2004), he was cast as the popular character "Ronon Dex" in the TV series Stargate: Atlantis (2004), which achieved a cult-like following. In 2010, he appeared in the Emmy-nominated HBO series Game of Thrones (2011), playing the Dothraki king, Khal Drogo. To illustrate to the producers that he was Khal Drogo, he performed the Haka, a traditional war dance of the Maori of New Zealand. The audition was with the same casting director who was casting the titular role in the reboot of Conan the Barbarian (2011). Four weeks after being cast as the popular Robert E. Howard character, Momoa began shooting in Bulgaria. His approach, like that of the filmmakers, was to pull from the eight decades of comics and stories as well as the Frank Frazetta images rather than the hugely popular 1982 movie. Jason has a production company, Pride of Gypsies, in which he is expanding his career from actor to filmmaker. He has directed a couple of short films and is working on his feature film debut Road to Paloma (2014), which is pulled from a series of stories that he's been developing over the years, which he calls the Brown Bag Diaries: Ridin' the Blinds in B Minor (2010).
- IMDb mini biography by: Keith Simanton

Family

Spouse
Children
Parents
Relatives

Trademarks

Often plays warriors and tough fighters
Deep, powerful voice
Muscular physique
Towering height
Has three moles to the side of his left eye

Trivia

On November 15, 2008, Momoa was slashed in the face with a broken beer glass at the Birds Cafe, a club in Hollywood, California. According to an AP report, he received some 140 stitches and subsequent reconstructive surgery, which resulted in the scar on his left eyebrow. Dominic Bando, 21, then living in Venice Beach, California, was convicted of the crime and received a five-year prison sentence.
Once Momoa suggested to a friend that his Conan would look more authentic with a broken nose. Almost instantly, his friend punched him in the face, breaking his nose.
Has such a love for music that he would often play his selection of guitars even in his Aquaman costume while on set during filming of the Justice League (2017).
In his mid-teens, he became the youngest lifeguard in the history of the Gulf Coast.
Enjoys rock and ice climbing, mountain biking, snowboarding, long-board skateboarding, and roller hockey. Spends his free time on Buddhist studies.

Quotes

I was 19 and folding T-shirts in a surf shop. And I got chosen out of 1,300 people to play a leading role on 'Baywatch Hawaii'. I didn't even know how to act. It took me five years to get an agent after [that]. No one would take me seriously after 'Baywatch'. I lived in the shadow of that for a long time.
My favorite movie is 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.'
I love carbs, but denial is good training for the mind.
I think a man needs to be a man. To hold a woman the way she wants to be held. Just do whatever your woman wants, and you'll be fine.
I'm raised to actually think, to use my brain.