‘I look fantastic in tights’
GOT’s Jason Momoa jokes about rocking the original Aquaman look as he takes on the modernised version of the DC comics superhero in Justice League, playing now in the UAE
People do make fun of Aquaman. Just wait a little bit, and we’ll see if anyone is making jokes.” Jason Momoa
What I love about Aquaman is that he’s not really accepted at first on the land or in the sea, which is why he lives in the tides. He’s hurt when we meet him. ” Jason Momoa
JASON MOMOA IS a massive, muscular guy, and perhaps because of that he’s also a sensitive sort, even a bit shy on occasion. Nonetheless, he couldn’t help himself.
It happened one day on the London set of Justice League, a day when Momoa’s wife, actress Lisa Bonet, and their two young kids happened to be visiting the set. “There I was, standing on the Batmobile, which was moving,” recalled the 38-yearold actor, who plays Aquaman in the new superhero extravaganza. “I was surfing the thing with Ben Affleck driving. My kids were there watching me. I stood on that iconic car and, before cameras rolled, yelled, ‘Daddy’s got to go to work!’”
It was an indulgent moment for an actor who, these days, doesn’t have time for many of them. Best known for
Stargate: Atlantis (2004-2009) and as Khal Drogo in Game of
Thrones (2011-2012), Momoa is in the superhero business, with Justice League running now in UAE cinemas and an Aquaman solo feature due next year.
This is not the Aquaman comic-book fans may remember, an Apollonian blond in an orange shirt and green tights. This version has a mane of dirty-blonde hair that frames a meaty, well-lived-in face and a scar that slashes his right eyebrow diagonally down the middle.
Not that Momoa couldn’t have rocked the Aquaman Classic look, he hastened to add. “I want you to know that I look fantastic in green tights,” said the actor, who first played Aquaman in a cameo in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). In the new film, with Superman apparently killed, Batman (Ben Affleck) sets out to recruit a new team of heroes to step into the Kryptonian’s shoes, including Aquaman, Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), the Flash (Ezra Miller) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher). It’s one of 2017’s biggest releases, and Momoa is at the center of it all. “Life gets a bit crazier each day,” Momoa said during a telephone interview, “but I try to stay away from all that social-media stuff. I don’t read any of it. It’s just all truth, peace and Zen for me.”
From comic books to Aquaman
Raised in Norwalk, Iowa, Momoa grew up loving comic books and has always wanted to play a superhero on the big screen. He was thrilled when Justice League director Zack Snyder brought him in, several years ago, to audition … for Batman.
That role went to Affleck, but Snyder was intrigued by Momoa and kept him in the picture. “One day I was in Mr. Snyder’s office,” Momoa recalled, “and all of a sudden he said, ‘Jason, I want you play something for me.’ He said, ‘Aquaman.’ My first words were, ‘Pardon me?’
“It was one of the biggest shocks of my life.” He quickly adjusted to the idea, however. “What I love about Aquaman is that he’s not really accepted at first on the land or in the sea, which is why he lives in the tides,” Momoa said. “He’s hurt when we meet him, and sensitive because he feels like he’s misunderstood. He covers up those feelings at first.”
“As an actor, I love that there is so much there,” Momoa said. “He’s like a big onion where we slowly need to peel away the layers, only to find that inside there is this fierce hero who is really a teddy bear.”
Not all of the Justice Leaguers play well with others, but this one does. “I think Aquaman feels safer when he’s together with the team,” Momoa said. “He joins the Justice League and knows that it’s the greatest thing that ever happened to him. All of a sudden he’s loved, wanted and feels part of something, which is what I think a lot of the fans and people in general long for these days. Everyone just wants to be part of something.”
Aquaman has drawn his share of jokes through the years - the idea of an Aquaman feature was a long-running gag on Entourage (2004-2011) - and Momoa is hearing his share of fish jokes. “People do make fun of Aquaman,” Momoa admitted. “Just wait a little bit, and we’ll see if anyone is making jokes.”
It’s too early for Momoa to talk about the Aquaman solo movie, which is being directed by James Wan, best known for The Conjuring (2013) and Furious 7 (2015), and co-stars Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko, Nicole Kidman as Queen Atlanna and Dolph Lundgren as King Nereus. Patrick Wilson plays the lead villain, Ocean Master.
“I can’t give too much away,” Momoa said. “But I keep telling fans that they’re going to be happy.”