Jason Momoa

Birthday: 1 August 1979, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Birth Name: Joseph Jason Namakaeha Momoa

Height: 193 cm

Joseph Jason Namakaeha Momoa was born on August 1, 1979 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is the son of Coni (Lemke), a photographer, and Joseph Momoa, a painter. His father is of Hawaiian descent and his mother, who is from Iowa, is of mostly German ancestry. Jason was raised in Norwalk, Iowa by his mother. After high school, he moved to Hawaii where he landed a lead role out of thousands of hopefuls in the T.V. series, Baywatch (1989) (known as "Baywatch Hawaii" in its tenth season). When the show ended, he spent the next couple of years traveling around the world. In 2001, he moved to Los Angeles where he continued to pursue an acting career. In 2004, after the short-lived T.V. series North Shore (2004), he was cast as the popular character "Ronon Dex" in the T.V. series Stargate: Atlantis (2004), which achieved a cult-like following. In 2010, he appeared in the Emmy-nominated H.B.O. series Game of Thrones (2011) playing the Dothraki King, "Khal Drogo". To illustrate to the producers he was Khal Drogo, he performed the Haka, a traditional war dance of the Maori of New Zealand. The audition was with the same casting director who was casting the titular role in the reboot of Conan the Barbarian (2011). Four weeks after he was cast as the popular Robert E. Howard character, he began shooting in Bulgaria. His approach, like the film-makers, was to pull from the eight decades of comics and stories as well as the Frank Frazetta images rather than the hugely popular 1982 movie. Jason has a production company, "Pride of Gypsies", in which he is expanding his career from actor to filmmaker. He has directed a couple of short films and is working on his feature film debut "Road to Paloma" which is pulled from a series of stories he's been developing over the years which he calls the Brown Bag Diaries: Ridin' the Blinds in B Minor (2010). Jason lives with actress Lisa Bonet with whom he has two children: Lola and Nakoa-Wolf. Hide

I'm not a big fan of just doing weights. Anything more physical is infinitely better. I'm not a big fan of just doing weights. Anything more physical is infinitely better.

I'm a huge art buff. I'm a huge art buff.

I'm raised to actually think, to use my brain. I'm raised to actually think, to use my brain.

I was 19 and folding T-shirts in a surf shop. And I got chosen out of 1,300 people to play a leading Show more I was 19 and folding T-shirts in a surf shop. And I got chosen out of 1,300 people to play a leading role on 'Baywatch Hawaii'. I didn't even know how to act. It took me five years to get an agent after [that]. No one would take me seriously after 'Baywatch'. I lived in the shadow of that for a long time. Hide

I was born in Hawaii, but I was raised in Iowa. I was born in Hawaii, but I was raised in Iowa.

I love carbs, but denial is good training for the mind. I love carbs, but denial is good training for the mind.

I'm kind of ADD in that sense where if I start liking something, I'll just learn it to the absolute Show more I'm kind of ADD in that sense where if I start liking something, I'll just learn it to the absolute max. Hide

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

I'm one of those freaky people that actually reads books. I'm one of those freaky people that actually reads books.

I grew up with artists. I grew up with artists.

I'm half Hawaiian and the haka is a very sacred thing, something your family teaches you - my father Show more I'm half Hawaiian and the haka is a very sacred thing, something your family teaches you - my father taught me. Hide

I think a man needs to be a man. To hold a woman the way she wants to be held. Just do whatever your Show more I think a man needs to be a man. To hold a woman the way she wants to be held. Just do whatever your woman wants, and you'll be fine. Hide

I'm not a barbarian. I'm not a barbarian.

I grew up rock climbing. I grew up rock climbing.

I got called 'pretty boy' my whole life. I got called 'pretty boy' my whole life.

My favorite movie is 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.' My favorite movie is 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.'

Jason Momoa's FILMOGRAPHY

All as Actor (189) as Director (1) as Creator (1)

Conan - Season 9

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

The Drew Barrymore Show - Season 1

The Simpsons - Season 16

The Simpsons - Season 21

A Minecraft Movie (2025)