Media Monday – Jason Momoa
February 1st, 2010 | Published in Media Monday | 3 Comments
By Jen S
That classic fantasy exclamation should be a good lead off for this weeks Spotlight: Jason Momoa! Best known to sci fi geeks everywhere as Ronon Dex from the SyFy Channel’s Stargate Atlantis
, Momoa recently landed the starring role of Conan the Barbarian in the movie reboot of Robert E. Howard’s sword swinging hero, beating out other contenders such as Twilights Kellan Lutz and Supernaturals Jared Padalecki.Son of a native Hawaiian father and a mother who’s ancestry includes Irish, German and Native American, Momoa was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and was raised in Norwalk, Iowa. He returned to Hawaii in 1998 where he started a career in modeling by being discovered by the international designer Takeo. It was around that time when he joined the cast of Baywatch: Hawaii in his first high profile tv roles as lifeguard Jason Ioane. After leaving Baywatch, he joined the cast of North Shore as the reccurring character Frankie Seau as well as a supporting role in the film Johnson Family Vacation.
2005 saw Momoa appear in what many scifi fans consider his most high profile role, Ronon Dex of Stargate Atlantis
where he stayed with the series through its finale in 2009. His distinctive deadlocked appearance made him an instantly recognizable to the casual viewer and fans alike.Not keeping still, he’s currently working on the HBO adaption of George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones as Khal Drogo as well as reprising his role as Ronon Dex in the upcoming film Stargate:Extinction.
The Official Jason Momoa Fansite
I do approve! *fans self and faints* HOTTIE!
Interestingly enough, there were some complaints about his casting as Conan, since apparently the books had described Conan as light-skinned and so forth.
The problem with Momoa as Conan is that Conan is a Cimmerian, which is the Hyborian Age equivalent of the Irish and Scottish: initially there were problems in people believing Jason could portray someone who Howard described using the same terms as he did with 12th-Century Gaelic warriors. Most of this seemed to be based on his dreadlocks and goatee, giving him a deceptively “ethnic” appearance to some.
However, when he shaved and grew out his hair, most of those fears were allayed. A shame the script doesn’t look up to much.