Jason Momoa: How the Aquaman star plans to keep his career afloat

Aquaman star Jason Momoa is an icon in the fantasy world, but despite his stardom, the actor’s career was sinking. Like a rock.

Jason rose to fame after starring as Khal Drago on the HBO hit series Game of Thrones.

The actor’s breakthrough role made him a fan-favorite and an international star. Jason now has over 5 million followers on Instagram and has been invited to fan conventions around the world as a guest of honor.

But simply being famous doesn’t always pay the bills.

After Drago’s story arc on the award-winning show ended, Jason struggled to find work. He couldn’t even land auditions.

“I loved being a part of Game of Thrones. I really wanted to play Khal Drago and I worked hard for the role,” Jason tells me.

“But after the show, it’s been hard to find work. People just don’t know what to do with me because of the way I look, you know, 6’5”, beard, muscles. They’re even surprised that I speak English,” he laughs.

Now that’s a real joke, especially seeing as the Hawaii-born star grew up in Norwalk, Iowa.

Not so funny is the serious situation Jason finds himself in.

“And even if I find work, I know I’ll be typecast,” he adds.

Of course, Jason’s career took an electrifying surge in 2016 when famed director Zack Snyder offered him the role of Aquaman in Batman v Superman.

Jason was cast again as the King of Atlantis and given a much larger role in Zack’s followup movie Justice League. The film’s success and Jason’s highly applauded performance earned him his own stand-alone movie, Aquaman.

But Jason knows there are only so many installments that can be made in the DC comics film series. So, he came up with a plan, a way to keep his career afloat.

“I started doing my own thing. Writing, directing and producing,” he says.

Jason founded his own production company, Pride of Gypsies, and made his debut as a director, writer and producer with his film Road to Paloma. Jason also played the lead with his wife Lisa Bonet and Sarah Shahi of The L Word and Reverie co-starring.

Road to Paloma was made on a $500,000 budget and Jason and his small crew of friends took on everything from the script and the score to the camera work and the editing.

“I’m really proud of the movie,” Jason says of Road to Paloma. “It was a huge challenge and the hardest thing I’ve done.”

Last year, Jason went on to star in the action thriller Braven. He produced the film shot in Newfoundland with his friend and business partner Brian Mendoza through their Pride of Gypsies banner.

Recently, Jason also had the Netflix adventure series Frontier to keep him busy.

The series which debuted in 2016 returned for a third season with Jason in the role of Declan Harp, a part-Irish/part-Cree outlaw campaigning to breach the Hudson’s Bay Company’s monopoly on the fur trade.

Jason not only stars in Frontier, but also serves as executive producer.

What started out as a fallback and a means to keep Jason’s career afloat has now turned into his main focus and passion.

“I love storytelling. I love writing, directing and producing, That’s the direction I’m going in,” Jason says.

“I want to make art and tell the stories I want to tell. I’ll still continue to act, I’d love to do some comedies and get roles where I can wear clothes, but this is going to be a big part of my career now. It’s my future.”

Jason joins Josh Brolin and Timothee Chalamet in Dune, the remake of the 1984 sci-fi adventure which just started production in Jordan. It has also been announced that Jason will reprise his role as Aquaman in the green-lit sequel. Follow Jason on Instagram to keep up with his upcoming projects.

Posted by Marc Andrew on Nov 1 2019. Filed under Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.