Actor Jason Momoa has played the superhero in “Aquaman” and the warlord Khal Drogo in “Game of Thrones.” But his role as Kaʻiana, a warrior in “Chief of War,” hits different. And not just because he might be related to the character he plays in the series. The season finale for the Apple TV+ mini-series drops this Friday, Sept. 19.
“Nothing will ever be more important than anything that I've just done,” Momoa told Aloha State Daily. “This is my life's goal to do this. After this, I'm gonna go play some fun roles. But this is my heart, my soul. This is like a love letter to our people.”
Momoa is not sure if he is related to Kaʻiana but his middle name, which goes back generations, is the name of Kaʻiana’s brother, he said. In the role, he wears the mahiole, feather helmet, and ʻahu ʻula, feather cape, worn by aliʻi chiefs.
“You're putting on stuff that you're not even supposed to wear, let alone like [what] you see in a museum,” he said. “The fact that I'm putting this on, playing my ancestors — there will never be a role I will ever play that has more weight and more mana going through my veins.”
In this series, Momoa is not just a leading actor, but also a screenwriter, executive producer — and for one episode, the director. For Momoa, the series, written alongside Thomas Paʻa Sibbett, was a chance to write lines for his own idols, Temuera Morrison, who plays King Kahekili, and Cliff Curtis, who plays Keōua.
“You’re going: Those are my idols, and I'm writing for them,” Momoa said. “Episode eight, I get to write that’s where he’s punching his f— teeth out. ... I'm writing that for my idol going: ʻYou would do it like this. You would do like this.’”
Momoa grew up in Iowa but moved to Hawaiʻi after high school, where he landed a lead role as Jason Ioane in the television series, “Baywatch.”
Today, when Momoa visits Hawaiʻi, his first stop is Zippy’s Restaurants. It is a tradition established by his father, Joseph Momoa, who would take him straight there from the airport. The second stop?
“I go to Hannara’s and get the Hawaiian plate,” he said. “I mean, it's pretty massive. I do a lot of damage there. But, yeah, Hannara’s is home. The West Side is home.”
“Chief of War” is set in Hawaiʻi and the team had wanted to film it entirely on the Islands but took most of it to New Zealand for budgetary reasons, Brian Keaulana, one of the producers, told ASD earlier this year. The team spent 101 days filming in New Zealand, in addition to 32 days filming on Hawaiʻi Island, Oʻahu or Maui, added Angie Laprete, a producer of the series.
One of Momoa’s favorite scenes to film was the final episode, which was filmed on Hawaiʻi Island and depicts a battle that happened while a volcano was erupting. Not one, but two volcanoes erupted during that time, he said, referring to Kīlauea and Mauna Loa, which erupted at the same time, something that had not happened in almost 40 years, at the end of 2022.
Another favorite moment was captured at Mākua Beach, on the West Side of Oʻahu, where Momoa spent summers with family. He had never seen it rain there, but when Kamehameha got out of the water, a rainbow appeared, Momoa said.
“And that's the wrap shot of Hawaiʻi,” he said. “The last shot of Hawaiʻi before we went to Aotearoa is Kamehameha getting out of the water, and there's a rainbow on his head at Mākua, on the West Side where I grew up. ... There was all kinds of that stuff happening where you just feel like you're doing the right thing.”
The series is filmed almost entirely in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi.
“I hope it sparks everything,” Momoa said. “I hope it revitalizes things. I hope it takes everything to the next level. And let it be the first. And let it ripple out. And yeah, s— man. Make it better. Make it better. Make it better. Get more in there. I was inspired by Cliff and Tem and all those movies that came from New Zealand because there is some really great stuff. ʻOnce Were Warriors’ is amazing. ‘Whale Rider.’ There's just so many beautiful movies that were supported that are down there. We need that more in Hawaiʻi.”
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