Jason Momoa Biography

Joseph Jason Namakaeha Momoa (born August 1, 1979) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Aquaman in the DC Extended Universe, beginning with the 2016 superhero film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and in the 2017 ensemble Justice League and his 2018 solo film Aquaman. In Baywatch Hawaii, he portrayed Lifeguard Jason Ioane. He is also known for his television roles as Ronon Dex on the military science fiction television series Stargate Atlantis (2004-2009), Khal Drogo in the HBO fantasy television series Game of Thrones (2011-2012), and as Declan Harp in the CBC series Frontier (2016-present).

Momoa portrayed the title character in the sword and sorcery film Conan the Barbarian (2011). Road to Paloma was Momoa's first film as director, writer, and producer. He also starred in the lead role in the film, released on July 11, 2014.

Early life

An only child, Momoa was born in 1979 in N?n?kuli, Honolulu, Hawaii to Coni (Lemke), a photographer, and Joseph Momoa, a painter. He was raised in Norwalk, Iowa, by his mother. His father is of Native Hawaiian ancestry and his mother is of German, Irish, and Native American descent. After high school, Momoa attended college and initially majored in marine biology before switching to wildlife biology.

Career

In 1998, Momoa was discovered by designer Eric Chandler and Takeo Kobayashi, who encouraged his modeling career. Momoa won Hawaii's Model of the Year 1999 and hosted the Miss Teen Hawaii contest. At 19 years old, he also worked part-time in a surf shop before being cast in the action drama series Baywatch Hawaii, where he appeared as Jason Ioane (1999-2001).

In addition to his appearances in North Shore (2004-2005), Johnson Family Vacation (2004), and Stargate: Atlantis (2005-2009), Momoa was cast as Roman in four episodes of the comedy-drama television series The Game (2009). He portrayed the title protagonist in Conan the Barbarian (2011), a reimagining of the 1982 film of the same name and a role made famous by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Momoa gained his role of Khal Drogo on HBO's Game of Thrones through his audition, in which he performed a Haka, one of many intimidating M?ori dances traditionally used to convey a challenge to an opponent, or a welcome to a visitor.

Momoa directed and co-wrote Road to Paloma (2014), an American drama thriller film, together with writers Jonathan Hirschbein and Robert Homer Mollohan. The film stars Momoa, Sarah Shahi, Lisa Bonet, Michael Raymond-James, and Wes Studi. It premiered at the 2014 Sarasota Film Festival in April 2014. The film had a limited theatrical release on July 15, 2014 in New York City and Los Angeles and a VOD release.

In March 2014, Momoa joined the dark comedy/thriller indie Sugar Mountain alongside Cary Elwes and Haley Webb; its principal photography was done in Alaska. He also starred as Phillip Kopus, a Ramapough Mountain Indian, on the SundanceTV drama series The Red Road (2014-2015).

In June 2014, Momoa was reported to have been cast in the role of Aquaman. He first played the role in a cameo in the superhero film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, marking Aquaman's live action theatrical debut. Momoa played the character in a leading role in the 2017 ensemble film Justice League. He then starred in the Aquaman solo film, which released in late 2018. He is also set to reprise this role in The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part.

In 2014, Momoa portrayed Connor in the Canadian horror action film Wolves, and starred in the sci-fi horror movie Debug; it was written and directed by Momoa's former Stargate Atlantis co-star, British-born Canadian actor David Hewlett. In February 2015, it was announced that he would portray a cannibal in the drama thriller film The Bad Batch. In 2015, Momoa was cast in the Canadian action film Braven, which was released on February 2, 2018.

In early 2017, he signed onto the official Just Cause movie series.

In July 2018, Momoa was cast for Apple's upcoming future-based drama series See.

In February 2019, Momoa was cast as Duncan Idaho in the upcoming Denis Villeneuve film Dune.

Personal life

Momoa began a relationship with actress Lisa Bonet after mutual friends introduced them in 2005. Although it was previously believed that Momoa and Bonet married on November 15, 2007, the couple did not legally marry until October 2017. Through his marriage to Bonet, Momoa became the stepfather to Zo Kravitz.

In July 2007, Bonet gave birth to their first child, a daughter. Their second child, a son, was born in December 2008. Momoa's mother announced the birth.

Martial arts

Momoa learned martial arts for his role as Ronan in Stargate Atlantis and for Conan.

In 2017, Momoa started practicing Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Facial scar

On November 15, 2008, Momoa was slashed in the face with a broken beer glass by a man during an altercation at the Birds Cafe, a tavern in Hollywood, California. He received approximately 140 stitches during reconstructive surgery and the scar is apparent in his later work.

Tattoos

Momoa has several tattoos. The most prominent is the tribal half-sleeve featuring nine rows of black triangles encircling his left forearm. Momoa has explained that the tattoo is of his aumakua, his Hawaiian family's crest, the man?, or shark. The triangles represent shark teeth. He said, "It's supposed to take the darkness out of your heart and bring the light in, but we're still working on that."

On his right outer forearm, Momoa has a tattoo that reads "tre toujours ivre", which roughly translates from French as "Always be drunk". His step-daughter, Zo Kravitz, and his castmate from Series 1 of Game of Thrones, Jamie Sives, have identical tattoos in the same place.

On his right inner forearm, Momoa has a tattoo that reads "Pride of Gypsies", the name of his film and commercial production company.

He has a memorial tattoo on his middle right finger, which reads "Diablo", in memory of his grandfather who died in 2013. He also has a small skull between his right thumb and forefinger.

Momoa also has the signatures of his two children with Lisa Bonet, tattooed over his left pectoral in red ink.

Filmography

Film

Title	Year	Role	Director	Notes
Johnson Family Vacation	2004	Navarro
Pipeline	2007	Kai
Conan the Barbarian	2011	Conan		CinemaCon Award for Male Rising Star
Bullet to the Head	2012	Keegan
Road to Paloma	2014		Himself	Also director, producer, and co-writer
Debug	2014	Iam
Wolves	2014	Connor
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice	2016			Cameo
Sugar Mountain	2016
Once Upon a Time in Venice	2017	Spyder
'	2017
Justice League	2017
Braven	2018	Joe Braven		Also producer
Aquaman	2018	Arthur Curry / Aquaman
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part	2019	Arthur Curry / Aquaman		Voice role
Dune	2020	Duncan Idaho	Denis Villeneuve	Filming

Television

Title	Year	Role	Notes
Baywatch: Hawaii	1999-2001		38 episodes
Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding	2003		Television film
Tempted	2003	Kala	Television film
North Shore	2004-2005		21 episodes
Stargate Atlantis	2005-2009		73 episodes
'	2009	Roman	4 episodes
Game of Thrones	2011-2012		10 episodes; CinemaCon Award for Male Rising Star Nominated - Scream Award for Best Ensemble Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
'	2014-2015		12 episodes
Drunk History	2014-2015	Various roles	2 episodes
Frontier	2016-present		18 episodes; Also executive producer; Nominated - Canadian Screen Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Dramatic Role
Saturday Night Live	2018	Himself / Host	Episode: "Jason Momoa/Mumford & Sons"
See