Follow TV Tropes

Following

Creator / Jason Momoa

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jasonmomoa.jpg

"I love life and if there's something that I'm playing that I love, I'll research it."

Joseph Jason Namakaeha Momoa (born August 1, 1979 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an American actor, model, director, writer, and producer.

His first acting role was for the final two seasons of Baywatch, Baywatch: Hawaii, where he was cast for the show because one of the producers spotted him working in a surf shop. He's known for playing a lot of warrior types such as Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones, Ronon Dex in Stargate Atlantis, Conan the Barbarian, Duncan Idaho in Dune, and Baba Voss in See. He struggled to find significant roles for a while until he was chosen by Zack Snyder to play Aquaman in the DC Extended Universe, and his 2018 solo movie (the highest grossing of that franchise) as the character made him a bankable star.

Momoa's also been getting more into the indie flick scene, directing, writing, and sometimes costarring beside his then-wife of 16 years, actress Lisa Bonet (who's been his Celebrity Crush since he was a kid). They had a son and daughter together before splitting up in 2022.


Notable roles:

His works provide examples of:

  • Barbarian Hero: He's played some characters who have a lot of barbarian grit to them, like Khal Drogo, Conan and Baba Voss. Aquaman has this vibe in the Zack Snyder-directed DCEU films he appears in, but less so in his solo movie.
  • Barbarian Longhair: Probably the most famous example today now that Chris Hemsworth dons a shorter haircut. Not to mention a picture of his character from Conan the Barbarian braces the main page.
  • The Big Guy: He's 6’4” and hugely muscular. Most roles he plays tend to draw attention to his size.
  • Clark Kent Outfit: An advertisement for Rocket Mortgage shows that at home, he turns into the inversion of this by taking off all of his muscles to reveal he's really scrawny underneath all of his muscles and that his long hair is just a wig and he's balding. The commercial ends with him being so wimpy he can barely even lift an empty barbell without his personal trainer to spot him.
  • Creator Backlash: He has said that he should have "never done" Conan the Barbarian and considers the role his biggest regret. He stated in 2022 that he enjoyed making the movie but regarded the finished product as "a big pile of shit" due to Executive Meddling.
  • The Danza: As Jason Ioane in Baywatch: Hawaii, his first major role.
  • Death Glare: His stare can be pretty intense, which along with the beard helps a lot with some of the aforementioned Barbarian Hero roles.
  • Face on the Cover:
    • He's been essentially all of the advertising for the Discovery Canada/Netflix series Frontier and is given top billing even though the character Declan Harp is more a supporting leader and mentor to real main character Michael Smythe.
    • Ditto for See on Apple+.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has a scar on his eyebrow due to a Bar Brawl in 2008. It helps with the types of characters he usually plays.
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: He's head and shoulders above his real (now ex-) wife Lisa Bonet, and thanks to his massive size, most of his acting partners end up looking small next to him.
  • Mr. Fanservice: Several of his known roles showed his fabulous abs. Understandable given his acting debut was being scouted for a show Best Known for the Fanservice. His role as Aquaman seems to be extremely popular with the ladies.
  • Nice Guy: Momoa is a cool, friendly, and respectful guy in real life. He loves those he works with and enjoys giving back to his fans.
  • One Degree of Separation: Playing Aquaman in a Shared Universe with Batman has given Jason a case of this. Aquaman's mother is played by Nicole Kidman, whose Star-Making Role was playing one of Batman's love interests. Jason was married to the mother of Zoë Kravitz, who plays Batman's most well-known love interest Selina Kyle aka Catwoman.
  • Plays Great Ethnics: He's of Native Hawaiian, German, Irish, and Native American descent. He only ever played a Hawaiian in Baywatch: Hawaii and his most famous roles since have been as a Human Alien (Ronon), fictional-race human (Conan, Drogo) and half-human, half-fictional race (Aquaman, who is half-Atlantean, half-American, with his father being played by Māori actor Temuera Morrison so at least he got to be part-Polynesian).
  • Real Men Wear Pink: Literally. He wore a pink Lounge Lizard style suit to the 2019 Oscars and made it work, stating in this video that pink and black are his favourite colors.
  • Star-Making Role:
    • Despite Conan the Barbarian underperforming, Game of Thrones did more than enough to blow his name up, though he still struggled to find roles for a while afterwards.
    • Eventually, playing Aquaman gave his career a decisive and much needed popularity boost.
    • His time on Stargate Atlantis didn't hurt either, given his character Ronon Dex's popularity.
  • Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Many of the characters he portrays fit this trope; Momoa is dark-haired, stands 6'4" and many of his roles emphasise his attractiveness, including lots of shirtless scenes.
  • Truer to the Text: Character-wise and appearance-wise, his takes on Conan the Cimmerian and Duncan Idaho hew closer to their respective source material than do their counterparts in previous adaptations.
  • Typecasting: And Tropes Are Not Bad! When he's in a supporting role, they all seem to become Ensemble Darkhorses. And his portrayal of Conan was appreciated by fans of the original books and comics for at least capturing the character better, though his film didn't displace Arnold Schwarzenegger's in pop culture. He broke away from this by playing a delightfully flamboyant and girlish villain in Fast X.
  • Walking Shirtless Scene: He has bare-chested scenes in most of the above-listed roles.
  • What Could Have Been:

 
Feedback

Video Example(s):

Top

Explaining TV on a TV show

It mostly involves "fictional representations of ridiculously attractive people in absurd situations."

How well does it match the trope?

4.73 (11 votes)

Example of:

Main / LeaningOnTheFourthWall

Media sources:

Report