Recommendations of the Editorial team
A text from August 3, 2021.
The interview between Jason Momoa (“Game of Thrones,” “Aquaman”) and “New York Times” journalist David Marchese initially went quite harmoniously. Momoa and Marchese talked about “Aquaman” and the artistic potential of action films.
Only when Marchese, who is known for luring his counterpart out of his reserve, asked Momoa about his role as the Dothraki warlord Khal Drogo in “Game of Thrones” did his answers become noticeably shorter.
“I won’t do it again”
The point of contention was an excerpt from the first episode of the series, in which the characters Khal Drogo and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) “spend their wedding night together”. For many fans, the scene was symptomatic of the visualization of sexual violence in the series and sometimes sparked heated discussions.
Marchese now wanted to know whether the actor would think differently about his role and the scene today in light of the current discussion. Momoa reacted a bit annoyed and referred to his professional ethics:
“Well, it was important to portray Drogo and his style. You’re playing someone who’s like Genghis Khan. That was a really, really, really difficult task. But my job was to play something like that, and that’s not a nice thing to do, and that’s what that character was. It’s not my job to say, ‘Wouldn’t I do it?’ I’ve never been asked, “Do you regret playing a role?” Let’s put it this way: I’ve already done it. I won’t do it again.”
From then on, the mood in the conversation dropped noticeably. And with it Momoa’s willingness to respond.
No comment…
While Momoa only answered some questions in monosyllables, he simply refused to answer others. For example, when asked whether he would be willing to discuss his vision for “Aquaman” (“No”). Or when asked about the research for Momoa’s new Netflix film “Big Girl” (“I don’t want to talk about Big Pharma right now”).
Shortly before the end of the interview, however, Momoa suddenly spoke in more detail. “Yes, and I wanted to mention something that left me with an uneasy feeling in my stomach,” he stopped the moderator when he had already thanked him for his time. And continued:
“When you mentioned ‘Game of Thrones,’ you said something about what was happening to my character and whether I would do it again. The question annoyed me. It just feels gross – asking me to make something disappear. As if an actor even has the choice to do that. We’re not really allowed to do anything. There are producers, writers and directors, and you can’t just say, ‘I’m not doing it because it’s not kosher right now and it doesn’t fit the political climate. That.’ never happens. So it’s a question that feels icky. I just wanted you to know.”
Marchese, now apparently a little out of his mind himself, replied: “Yes, well, thank you again” and ended the interview.
The whole conversation is there here to read.