Well, well, well. So here we are, at the crossroads of knowing whether or not you are a true Jason Momoa fan.
Here’s your first factoid, genius: Did you know that Jason Momoa played the role of Khal Drogo, leader of the Dothraki, in the critically acclaimed TV show Game Of Thrones ?
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Betcha didn’t. Get stumped, chump.
1. He was born in Hawaii
Which would explain his great love for the state.
However, he was raised all the way in Madison County, Iowa. Which is much less glamorous of a state (sorry, Iowa).
2. His parents split up when he was young
Which is actually why he ended up moving away from Hawaii with his mom.
And he is actually kind of a momma’s boy!
On her birthday, he wrote a sweet message to her on Instagram!
“Happy birthday to the me ma. Strong Aries woman. Raised a crazy lil Leo Lots a fire in this woman God bless all the single mothers. You are truly superheroes Aloha”
2. He was on *Baywatch Hawaii*
While a young Jason Momoa was working on his modeling career, he starred on Baywatch Hawaii from 1999 until 2001.
And yeah, young Jason Momoa without a beard does look pretty good.
3. Modeling is how Momoa got into Hollywood
He was discovered by Takeo Kobayashi back in the far off year of 1998, and continued until he started acting full time.
4. He’s even won awards for his modeling skills.
Momoa won Hawaii’s top model of the year back in 1999! And can you blame the judges?
He was gorgeous then, and he’s gorgeous now.
5. Before being a model, Momoa had a lot of different goals in mind for himself
The young man wanted to do a litany of different things. He took marine biology and wildlife biology in university and he was a surfer .
It sounds pretty right for someone with roots in Hawaii.
6. He is an activist for many different things.
In fact, for his film Road to Paloma , he went into great detail on why it was important to depict the sensitive topic of sexual violence.
“The biggest thing is that I’m a father, and a husband, and a son, and a grandson.”
“I’ve had the best group of women in my life — and if the law didn’t take care of them, what would you do?”
“It’s one of those injustices that are happening right now, and to bring awareness to it is really what we wanted to do.”
The movie is actually pretty fantastic, so watch it if you haven’t already.”
7. He is incredibly motivated to help Hawaii
Sure, he may not live there, but that doesn’t mean he’s not constantly inspired by his state.
He is always fighting for its protection, and to preserve the natural form of the state.
In fact, for a few weeks, he was protesting the construction that was supposed to take place on the dormant volcano of Mauna Kea.
There was a giant telescope and observatory that were meant to be put there, but Momoa and hundreds of others were not having it.
The volcano is sacred to native Hawaiians, and so preserving it was a super important thing for Momoa and the Hawaiian people.
He is always fighting for his people and home.
8. He is incredibly tall
Hide your wives, short guys, because you’ll never guess how tall Jason Momoa is.
He’s 6’5″. Or, for our European friends, he’s 1.98 meters.
9. His *Game Of Thrones* audition
When he was trying to break into the role of Khal Drogo, he decided to do something a little out of left field for his audition in order to seal the deal.
He did a Haka, which is done by the Maori people of New Zealand.
“When you have a big 6’5″ Hawaiian, screaming at the top of his lungs . . . casting directors were kind of very scared.”
10. He loves metal music
In order to prepare for his role in Conan The Barbarian , he had to get into a violent mindset. This was also when he got into heavy metal.
Yes, the two are linked.
11. He also used his love of beer to gain weight
After Momoa’s role in Conan he actually wanted to gain weight for his role as Khal Drogo on Game of Thrones .
“I wanted to put fat on top of it so that [Drogo] would be seven feet tall and really, really big, because he’s not sitting around doing sit-ups,”
“I just ate Guinness [Stout] and pizza.”
12. He got his scar in a bar fight
Here’s the story :
“It was crazy. A guy smashed a pint glass in my face. I got a little over 140 stitches in my face. It helped get those mean roles.”
He also mentioned that, because of the line going through his eyebrow hair, the hair “just doesn’t grow there anymore.”
“I got my wife beforehand, so… if she doesn’t like it, too bad. She likes it.”
13. He was once married to Lisa Bonet
From The Cosby Show . The two they got married in 2007, but unfortunately divorced in 2022.
If you can hear someone crying in the distance, it’s probably me.
14. His two children
As well as being a stepdad to Zoe Kravitz, he has two beautiful children with his wife.
His eldest is daughter Lola Iolani, and his youngest is son Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha.
15. His kids were super into Khal Drogo.
In fact, his children and his wife were frequently onset during his time playing Khal Drogo.
“They weren’t scared or anything like that.”
“They know their dad, so it wasn’t like they were running for their lives. But my son loved it.”
“He’s always got his sword and shield. He loves his sword, so he’s always playing with that, and my daughter, she loves coming to the set.”
“When I get all the makeup put on, she comes and sits on my lap.”
16. The tattoo on his arm
They’re not just fancy triangles. The tattoo on Momoa’s arm is supposed to represent shark teeth.
Why? So that when he goes swimming, they might recognize him as one of their own.
“It’s supposed to take the darkness out of your heart and bring the light in,” he said.
What a beautiful sentiment, and a beautiful tattoo.
17. He actually loves making commercials.
By now, you’re probably familiar with Momoa’s super famous Super Bowl commercial that broke the internet.
It’s actually not his first (and probably not his last) commercial.
“The problem with doing movies is it just takes so long. I want that instant gratification,” he said.
“I had talked to my partners and I was like, ‘What are the companies that we love?'”
“I don’t want to get an agent to go and tell me how to get in there. I don’t want to just go like, ‘Hey I want to direct commercials,’ and go do, you know, [expletive] shampoo ads or something like that.”
