Early life

An only child, Momoa was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1979, the son of Coni, a photographer, and Joseph Momoa, a painter. He was raised in Norwalk, Iowa, by his mother. His father is of Native Hawaiian descent, while his mother is of German, Irish, and Native American ancestry. After high school, Jason began college in Iowa as a marine biology major, studying for a period in the Florida Keys. He transferred his major to wildlife biology at Colorado State University. Before completing his degree, he moved back to the Hawaiian Islands to reconnect with his father.

As a young man, Momoa traveled extensively, took up pastel painting in Paris, and studied Buddhist teachings in Tibet.

Career

In 1998, Momoa was discovered by international designer Takeo Kobayashi, who encouraged his modeling career. Momoa won Hawaii's Model of the Year 1999 and hosted the Miss Teen Hawaii contest. At 19 years old, he also worked part-time in a surf shop before being cast in Baywatch Hawaii. Momoa appeared as Jason Ioane in the action drama series Baywatch Hawaii (1999-2001).

In addition to his appearances in North Shore (2004-2005), 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 the Haka, an intimidating Māori war dance traditionally used on the battlefield.

After the shooting of Stargate Atlantis Season 4 was over, Momoa had his dreadlocks cut off. Their weight had been giving him headaches. The program agreed with the decision and had planned to film a scene where Ronon cuts off his hair for Season 5's "Broken Ties", but that change was ultimately overruled by the Sci Fi network. On the first day of filming for Season 5, his dreadlocks were reattached, but the process was too taxing. Momoa switched to using his stunt double's wig until a custom wig could be made and delivered two weeks later. When Momoa was first cast for the role, the producers had asked him to cut off the dreadlocks, but they became a trademark of his character, so he was allowed to keep them.

He 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 premiéred 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.

In June 2014, it was reported that Momoa had been cast in the role of Aquaman in the superhero film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Momoa's role as Aquaman was confirmed in October 2014. This marked Aquaman's live action theatrical debut. He will also be starring in an Aquaman solo film in 2018. He also portrayed Connor in the Canadian horror action film Wolves.

Momoa starred in the 2014 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 will portray a Cannibal in the drama thriller film The Bad Batch'. He will star in an action movie titled Braven.

Personal life

Momoa met actress Lisa Bonet in 2005 after mutual friends introduced them and they developed a relationship. Bonet gave birth to their daughter, Lola Iolani Momoa, on July 23, 2007, and they married November 15, 2007. Their second child, a son named Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha Momoa, was born on December 15, 2008. Momoa's mother announced the birth, saying that Nakoa means "warrior" and Mana stands for “strength/spirit,” while Kaua ("rain") and Po ("dark") pertain to the circumstances surrounding his birthday (he was born on a rare bad-weather night in Los Angeles). He shares his name, Namakaeha, with his father. From his marriage to Bonet he inherited one step-daughter, Zoe Kravitz. Momoa is also a very big follower of Australian Rules Football following the Port Adelaide Football Club both Magpies and Power. Momoa is also an avid supporter of Rugby Union, and a huge fan of the New Zealand national rugby team "The All Blacks".

Momoa learned martial arts for his role as Ronon in Stargate and for Conan.

On November 15, 2008, Momoa was slashed in the face with a broken beer glass by another customer at the Birds Cafe, a Hollywood, California, tavern. He received around 140 stitches during reconstructive surgery, and the scar is apparent in his later work.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Johnson Family Vacation	Navarro
2007	Pipeline	Kai
2011	Conan the Barbarian	Conan	CinemaCon Award for Male Rising Star
2012	Bullet to the Head	Keegan
2014	Road to Paloma	Robert Wolf	Also director, producer and co-writer
2014	Debug	Iam
2014	Wolves	Connor
2016	Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice	Arthur Curry / Aquaman	Cameo
2016	The Bad Batch	Miami Man	Post-production
2016	Sugar Mountain	Joe Bright	Post-production
2016	Going Under	Spider	Post-production
2017	Braven		Post-production
2017	Justice League Part One	Arthur Curry / Aquaman	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999-2001	Baywatch Hawaii	Jason Ioane	Series Regular; 44 episodes
2003	Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding	Jason Ioane	Television film
2003	Tempted	Kala	Television film
2004-2005	North Shore	Frankie Seau	Series Regular; 21 episodes
2005-2009	Stargate Atlantis	Ronon Dex	Series Regular; 73 episodes
2009	Game, TheThe Game	Roman	4 episodes
2011-2012	Game of Thrones	Khal Drogo	Series Regular; 10 episodes CinemaCon Award for Male Rising Star Nominated - Scream Award for Best Ensemble Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2014-2015	The Red Road	Phillip Kopus	Lead Role; 12 episodes
2014-2015	Drunk History	Various roles	2 episodes
2016	Frontier	Declan Harp	Series Regular

[ Source: Wikipedia ]