Jason Momoa Net Worth

Biography of Jason Momoa

Jason Momoa (full name – Joseph Jason Namakeaha Momoa) is an American actor, model, producer, and screenwriter. He gained fame thanks to the TV series Baywatch, Stargate: Atlantis, Game of Thrones, Conan the Barbarian, as well as the role of Aquaman from the DC Comics Cinematic Universe. The first appearance of Momoa in this image took place in 2016 (“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”).

Jason Momoa’s childhood

Jason Momoa was born on August 1, 1979 in Honolulu, the capital of Hawaii. He was the first and only child of artist Joseph Momoa and photographer Koni Lemke. The boy’s father is a full-blooded Hawaiian, while his mother’s pedigree is mixed German, Irish and Indian blood. Such a cocktail gave the actor an exotic appearance and impressive natural data: the actor’s height is 193 centimeters (the muscular relief, which is admired by the female audience, is already his personal merit)

Jason’s parents divorced when their son was still a toddler. The boy stayed with his mother, and soon they moved to Iowa. Jason, who showed athletic abilities from an early age, spent his free time outdoors. Growing up, he became interested in mountaineering and ax throwing. After high school, Jason entered a local college where he studied marine biology.

In his youth, Momoa traveled a lot and developed comprehensively. As a student, he traveled half the world, studied painting in Paris, studied Buddhism in Tibet. Shortly before completing his bachelor’s degree, he returned to Hawaii to bond with his father.

Actor career

In 1998, Japanese designer Takeo Kobayashi drew attention to Jason Momoa’s atypically beautiful facial features, toned figure and tall stature. It was he who brought the tanned handsome man into the modeling business, from where it was a stone’s throw to an acting career. In parallel with participating in local beauty contests, the guy worked as a salesman in a surfer store.

In 1999, Momoa got into the cast of the iconic TV series Baywatch. The creators gave him preference out of 1300 candidates, and this despite the fact that he had no idea how to behave on the set. His character Jason John appeared in forty episodes and, after the series closed, in its feature-length spin-off Hawaiian Wedding (2003).

In 2004, the actor appeared in the TV series “North Shore”, which delighted the audience with an abundance of seascapes and semi-nude models, in the same year he played a small role in the comedy “The Johnson Vacation”, and in 2005 he got the role of Ronan Dex, one of the key characters in sci- fi series Stargate: Atlantis, which aired until 2009.

By that time, it was hard to recognize in him the languid young man from the posters of youth magazines, which Momoa was only five years ago. Thick dreadlocks became a recognizable feature of his image. However, he got rid of them by the final season – a heavy hairstyle caused pain in his neck and back. To avoid the wrath of the fans, a wig was made for him.

In 2010, he played the main character in the feature film Conan the Barbarian. The film failed at the box office and was panned by critics. Momoa did not avoid comparisons with the young Arnold Schwarzenegger and, as is often the case in such situations, the comparison did not work out in his favor.

But the failure did not affect the actor’s career, because in the same year he was approved for the cast of a new project from HBO, which promised to turn the global serial industry around. And so it happened – the legendary “Game of Thrones” became an Event with a capital letter. Momoa was cast as Khal Drogo, leader of the fearsome Dothraki. At the very beginning of the series, he buys a young Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) to make her his wife and give birth to an heir.

Interestingly, he got the role of Drogo not so much because of his muscles, but because of his dancing skill. To stand out among the many competitors, he danced a traditional New Zealand war dance, and in doing so, he definitely caught the attention of the casting director.

One after the other (in 2013 and 2014), two unsuccessful projects in Momoa’s filmography saw the light of day: the action movie “Wolves” (Momoa played a werewolf) and the horror film “Debugging”. In 2014, he wrote and directed the thriller Road to Honor (in another translation Road to Paloma), which tells the story of the friendship of two rebellious hearts: Robert, who avenges the death of his mother, and Cash, a disenfranchised biker.

The actor admitted that most of all he likes to play good guys with a not very good reputation. In his opinion, this type is the most loved by the audience.

In 2016, another project with Momoa was released that deserves attention. This is the post-apocalyptic drama The Bad Batch. The action takes place in the near future – Americans who do not meet the requirements of society are evicted to desert lands, and not everyone can get to a safe oasis because of a hunting gang of cannibals. Jason plays one of them, a cannibal who falls in love with his victim (Sookie Waterhouse).

In 2016, Jason Momoa joined the DC Comics Cinematic Universe, trying on the image of the superhero Aquaman. Thanks to a magical trident, he can command water and marine life, as well as develop tremendous speed while swimming.

For the first time, Momoa in the image of Aquaman appeared before the audience in the film “Batman v Superman”, which told the story of the confrontation between the heroes of Henry Cavill and Ben Affleck. Together with Superwoman (Gal Gadot), The Flash (Ezra Miller), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), he joined the Justice League to save humanity from destruction.

In 2018, Aquaman received a “personal” film that told viewers his story in detail. In the same year, the drama “Wild” was released with Momoa in the title role – he played a forester who declared war on drug dealers who had wandered into his forest.

In 2019, the series “See” premiered, in which Jason Momoa played the main role. The plot tells about the future of a sightless human race, whose life changes when sighted twins appear in the tribe. The project was a success and was renewed for season 2, which premiered in 2024.

Jason Momoa’s personal life

While filming Baywatch, Momoa met actress Simone McKinnon. Soon they became very close, in 2004 they announced their engagement, but the wedding was not destined to take place – 2006 was the last year for their couple.

In 2005, while still in a relationship with Simone, the actor met actress Lisa Bonet, ex-wife of musician Lenny Kravitz. Neither Jason’s engagement nor the age difference interfered with their romance – Lisa was 12 years older than her chosen one.

Contrary to popular belief, Jason and Lisa did not get married in 2007, but in 2017. By that time, they already had two common children – daughter Lulu Iolani (b. July 23, 2007) and son Nakoa-Wulf Manakauapo Namakea (b. 15.12. 2008). The boy received such an unusual name for a reason. Due to the fact that he was born in Los Angeles at night during a terrible thunderstorm, his parents gave him this name: Nakoa means “fighter”, Mana – “fortitude”, Kaua – “rain”, and Po – “dark” . In addition, Momoa became the stepfather of Lisa’s daughter from her first marriage, actress and singer Zoe Kravitz.

Momoa has a scar on his left eyebrow, which has become his trademark. He received it rather banally – during a fight in a bar, someone broke a glass on his head, and a fragment dug into his eyebrow, miraculously not hitting his eye.

Religion plays an important role in Jason’s life. He is an adherent of Buddhism and often visits Tibetan temples, where each time he discovers something new.

In his free time, Jason goes hiking, canoeing, cycling, rollerblading or snowboarding, playing the guitar and raising children. Despite the fact that Momoa’s life is connected with the film industry, he himself categorically does not like to watch movies. He prefers reading literature to watching movies. The actor is especially captivated by Japanese poetry and the work of Charles Baudelaire. Moreover, he practically does not watch TV, does not use e-mail and does not like talking on the phone.

Jason Momoa now

In 2024, Jason appeared in two films. And if the first, the thriller “Baby”, in which his hero and his on-screen daughter take revenge on the bandits for the death of his wife and mother, went almost unnoticed, then the premiere of the blockbuster “Dune” became a real event for movie fans. True, in the first part, the hero Momoa, the swordsman Duncan Idaho, does not have much screen time, in the second part his storyline will be expanded.

Despite the fact that Momoa is not new to cinema and starred in such fundamental projects as “Game of Thrones” and “Justice League”, the scope of Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” struck him. “I have never had to become a part of something so massive,” the actor admired in an interview, “I can’t believe that I was filming with Javier Bardem!”

If the pandemic does not put a spoke in the film industry, in 2024 the second “Aquaman” will be released, as well as the adventure film “Slumberland” from Netflix, in which Jason Momoa will also play one of the main roles.

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