Joseph
Jason Namakaeha Momoa (born
August 1, 1979) is an American actor. He made his acting debut
as Jason Ioane on
the syndicated action drama series Baywatch: Hawaii (1999–2001), which was followed by
his portraying Ronon Dex on the Syfy science
fiction series Stargate Atlantis (2005–2009), Khal Drogo in the first two seasons of the HBO fantasy
drama series Game of Thrones (2011–2012),
Declan Harp on the Discovery
Channel historical drama series Frontier (2016–2018),
and Baba Voss on the Apple TV+ science fiction
series See (2019–present).
Momoa was featured as the lead of the two lattermost series. Outside of
television, Momoa has portrayed Arthur Curry
/ Aquaman in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU)
since 2016. He headlined an eponymous 2018 film, and will reprise his role in the 2022 sequel.
Momoa also played Duncan Idaho in
the 2021 film adaptation of
the science fiction novel Dune. An only child, Momoa was born in 1979 in Nānākuli, Honolulu, Hawaii to Coni (Lemke), a photographer and Joseph
Momoa, a painter. His father is of partial Native Hawaiian ancestry and "he has stated in
interviews his mother has Pawnee ancestry" along with German and Irish heritage. He was raised in Norwalk, Iowa, by his mother. In 1998, Momoa was
discovered by designer Eric Chandler and Takeo Kobayashi, who encouraged
his modeling career. At 19
years old, he also worked part-time in a surf shop before being cast in
the action drama series Baywatch Hawaii, where he appeared as Jason Ioane (1999–2001). In
addition to his appearances in Johnson Family Vacation (2004),
and Stargate: Atlantis (2005–2009),
Momoa was cast as Roman in four episodes of the comedy-drama television series The Game (2009).
He portrayed the title protagonist in Conan the Barbarian (2011),
a reimagining of the 1982 film of the same name and a role
made famous by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Momoa gained his role of Khal Drogo on
HBO's Game of Thrones through
his audition, in which he performed a Haka,
one of many intimidating Māori dances traditionally used to convey a challenge to
an opponent, or a welcome to a visitor. Momoa directed and
co-wrote Road to Paloma (2014),
an American drama thriller film, together with writers Jonathan Hirschbein and
Robert Homer Mollohan. The film stars Momoa, Sarah Shahi, Lisa Bonet, Michael Raymond-James,
and Wes Studi. It premiered at the 2014 Sarasota Film Festival in
April 2014. The film had a limited
theatrical release on July 15, 2014, in New York City and Los Angeles and a VOD release. In March 2014, Momoa
joined the dark comedy/thriller indie Sugar Mountain alongside Cary Elwes and Haley Webb; its principal photography was done in Alaska. He also starred as Phillip Kopus, a Ramapough Mountain Indian,
on the SundanceTV drama series The Red Road (2014–2015).
In June 2014, Momoa was reported to have been cast in the role of Aquaman. He first played the role in a cameo in the superhero
film Batman v Superman: Dawn of
Justice, marking Aquaman's live action theatrical debut. Momoa
played the character in a leading role in the 2017 ensemble film Justice League. He then
starred in the Aquaman solo
film, which released in late 2018.[21][22][23] He also reprised this role in The Lego Movie 2: The
Second Part. In 2014, Momoa portrayed Connor in the Canadian
horror action film Wolves, and starred in the Sci-fi horror movie Debug; it was written and directed by Momoa's
former Stargate Atlantis co-star, British-born Canadian
actor David Hewlett. In February
2015, it was announced that he would portray a cannibal in the drama thriller film The Bad
Batch. In 2015, Momoa was cast in the Canadian action
film Braven, which was released on February 2, 2018. In early
2017, he signed onto the official Just Cause movie series. Between
2016 and 2018 Momoa portrayed Declan Harp in all three series of the Canadian
historical drama television series Frontier (2016 TV series) and
was an executive producer on the show. The series chronicles the North American
fur trade in late 1700s Canada, and follows Declan Harp, a part-Irish,
part-Cree outlaw who is campaigning to breach the Hudson's Bay Company's
monopoly on the fur trade in Canada, which has become corrupt and engages in
illegal activities to enrich itself. In July 2018, Momoa was cast
for Apple's post-apocalyptic drama
series See. In
February 2019, Momoa was cast as Duncan Idaho in the Denis Villeneuve film Dune. In February 2020, Momoa appeared in a
halftime commercial for Rocket Mortgage for Super Bowl LIV. He also appeared in the teaser for "Scary
Little Green Men" by Ozzy Osbourne from his album Ordinary Man.