Jason Momoa can be just as proud of his role as Khal Drogo in “Game of Thrones” as he is of his performance as Aquaman. But the Hawaiian is very ashamed of another strip. In doing so, he followed in the footsteps of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Jason Momoa made history with series like “Baywatch”, “Game of Thrones” and films like “Aquaman” and “Dune”. But the 43-year-old actor is not proud of all the productions in which he has been involved. In an interview with the British magazine “GQ”, the Hawaiian now expresses sharp criticism of his revival of the film character “Conan the Barbarian”, with which none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger had made his breakthrough in 1982.
“I’ve been involved in a lot of things that really sucked and films that were out of my control,” Momoa said. “Conan was one of them. It’s one of the best experiences I’ve had and it took over and turned into a big pile of shit.”
“Conan” was originally slated to be produced by Warner Bros. in 2011 before Lionsgate bought the film’s rights and took over the helm. The German “Friday the 13th” maker Marcus Nispel was hired as the director. The low-fantasy flick was a total flop both with critics and at the box office: With a budget of 90 million US dollars, it only grossed 48 million dollars worldwide. It received a positive rating of just 25 percent on well-known rating portals such as Rotten Tomatoes, and a score of 36 (out of a possible 100) on the Metacritic site.
Luckily for him, Jason Momoa’s career didn’t suffer from the flop. Shortly thereafter, he landed the role of Dothraki warlord Khal Drogo on the hit HBO series Game of Thrones, in which he starred for ten episodes. Although his character was killed at the end of the first season and he said he was “completely in debt” and “starving” at the time, the role brought Momoa many more lucrative jobs. He is now believed to be worth around $15 million.
However, he is ready to leave behind the brutal and hypermasculine film roles he is always cast for, “GQ” continues to quote the actor. “It was hard because people always think I’m just this guy playing (macho characters),” says Momoa. “But I want to be moved, I want something new. Things are changing and even the villain roles I’m playing now are eccentric.” He’s probably a reference to his role in the tenth installment of the Fast and Furious series, in which he plays a villain with purple and pink painted toenails and a lavender-colored car. “I’m a peacock at the highest level and I’m having the time of my life,” laughs Momoa.
