Jason Momoa Thinks He’s ‘Not Known For Acting’ and ‘Not ‘Very Smart’’
In a new cover story, Jason Momoa got introspective about his own acting skills.
"I'm not known for my acting," he says. "I'm known for action. I don’t say a lot of things or use big sentences"
Momoa's new series, See, launches with Apple TV+ on November 1.
Ahead of the release of his big-budget new series See, Jason Momoa seems to be doing some self-analyzing. In a new Esquire cover story, the actor goes deep and shows a level of self-awareness rare for stars of his magnitude; the man who made his name on Game of Thrones and blew up doesn't seem all that impressed with his own work on-screen.
“I’m not known for my acting,” Momoa says in the piece. “I'm known for action. I don’t say a lot of things or use big sentences.” Writer Rachel Syme noted that he continued, adding air quotes while saying “I’m not 'very smart'. ”
Momoa is hard on himself, self-deprecating throughout the piece. He referred at one point to some peers a generation or two older than him. "I think of Brad Pitt as a movie star. You know what I mean? Like George Clooney is a movie star," he said. "Those guys are like, boom."
He heaped praise on one star a generation or two beneath him, too: Timothée Chalamet, whom he just worked together with on next year's Dune. “I would never be able to handle what he does,” he said about the young Call Me By Your Name star, who turns 24 in December (Momoa, 40, had his breakthrough at 31 when Game of Thrones hit). “He’s so fucking talented, man. I don’t know. I’m a little dumber, needed some time. Which is probably the best for me, because it would have been bad if it happened when I was younger. I just would have fucked it all up.”
Momoa's perspective is interesting, granted how the early part of his career went. Sure, he didn't get Thrones until his 30s, but he did star in the later seasons of Baywatch and a sci-fi cult favorite in Stargate: Atlantis. And while he hasn't gotten Oscar nominations like Pitt, Clooney, or Chalamet have, he's far from a bad actor. Yes, he's known for his action, but it's his charisma that helps to sell Aquaman and his smaller role in Justice League. In the hands of a less charming performer, some of those roles would've fallen totally flat. Plus, he's just got a 'cool guy' persona; from his style to his interview presence, he just seems like a guy that would be a blast to kick it with.
Over the course of time, there have been a few flash-in-the-pan star moments from er, less-than-stellar performers, but they tend to come and go over the course of a few years. We're talking the Sam Worthington types. Momoa, now, has been in the spotlight for eight years and his star only seems to be continually rising. That doesn't happen by accident. With See as one of the anchors of Apple TV+'s launch on November 1, we'll see if that star will continue to rise, 'movie star' or not.
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