After two decades of playing warriors, gods and ocean kings, Jason Momoa has finally dropped the superhero act for something far more powerful: himself.
In Chief of War, the new Apple TV+ historical epic, the 45-year-old actor doesn’t just star, he created it. He wrote and directed it. And, as he puts it, has finally got to show the world who he really is.
“I feel like I’ve been mismanaged and people don’t really know who I am,” he told Metro. “Now I finally get a chance to show, ‘no, I can direct and write.’”
Momoa first landed on screens in Baywatch: Hawaii in 1999, all biceps and beach body. But while the world saw a hunky heartthrob, he was quietly harbouring a much bigger ambition - to tell the story of his people.
Chief of War is the result: a nine-part drama set in 18th-century Hawaii, following the true story of Ka’iana, a fierce warrior battling to unite the islands before colonisation arrives. It’s a love letter to Hawaiian history: Bloody, beautiful and entirely on Momoa’s terms.
He co-created the series with longtime collaborator Thomas Pa’a Sibbett (the duo also worked together on Braven and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom), and spent a decade shaping the show before Apple finally gave the green light. he says. “This has been in me my whole life.”
The series pulls no punches. It opens with two episodes entirely in Ōlelo Hawai’i, the indigenous Hawaiian language, a bold move for a big-budget Western streamer.
But for Momoa, it wasn’t optional. “You couldn’t not do it,” he says. “Our language was banned from us, and we’re getting it back. I just want people to embrace it.”
In one standout moment in the finale, TV critic, Rishma Dosani said his character switches to English mid-scene - a move that wasn’t scripted but came to him in the moment.
The series features a majority-Polynesian cast, including Luciane Buchanan, Temuera Morrison, Te Ao o Hinepehinga and Cliff Curtis. The production team was equally committed to authenticity from the traditional props to the handcrafted weapons and ceremonial costumes.
The result is a rich, deeply textured portrayal of a culture too often flattened into holiday brochures.
Momoa says that people visit Hawaii and don’t know the history of his people, so he’s thrilled Apple “took a risk on something this big.” It’s still full of action, it’s Jason Momoa, after all, but with emotion.
He also injured himself while directing and acting. “I stepped into a crevice. If I’d gone the wrong way, I probably would’ve broken my femur. But we all came out unscathed.”
Now, with Chief of War finally out in the world, Momoa says he’s just getting started. “It’s finally nice to be in a place where people trust you and you can do what you’re capable of.”
For an actor long typecast as the silent strongman, for once, he’s in charge of the narrative.
Chief of War is now streaming on Apple TV+, with new episodes every Friday.
