Jason Momoa reveals why Apple's Chief of War scares him: "This is everything I have"

The series is a landmark moment for Polynesian representation, with great lengths taken to ensure the accuracy of the costumes, props, sets and even language; the first two episodes were filmed entirely in the critically endangered 'Ōlelo Hawai'i language.

All this, Momoa hopes, will bring the culture and history of Hawaii to global attention in an ambitious drama never attempted before, but he admits to RadioTimes.com that telling the story has been daunting.

"I don't think there's much in this series that I haven't already done [in terms of action and stunts], but what I haven't done is anything that's been a direct descendant from my ancestors," he began. "To be able to play your elders and your ancestors is scary."

Momoa explained: "I may pull upon something [ancestral] when I'm playing Drogo [in Game of Thrones]. I might pull upon something when I'm giving a speech as [See character] Baba Voss – there may be something that I use as a tool to amp up [a scene].

"But actually… to hold the line and really do the research and play a real character and fill in the blanks of a very scattered puzzle from A to B of his arc… because it's our culture, it's a little bit more personal and scary in that sense."

Momoa shared that his greatest fear relating to Chief of War was making his people feel "ashamed" by a lacklustre retelling of their history; that's something he has never feared about his "day job" in lighter fare, such as Aquaman, Minecraft or Fast & Furious.

"If we don't get this right, we don't get to come home," the actor continued. "If we don't do this for our people – take that weight, that responsibility... it's not just another job, you know? I'm not coming home, people [would be] ashamed.

"That's something that weighs on us. I don't have that at my day job. This is f***ing everything I have, you know? And the importance is next level. It's not just as an actor, it's as a director. It's looking out for the whole show."

Momoa co-created and co-wrote Chief of War with frequent collaborator Thomas Pa'a Sibbett, who previously worked with him on the films Braven, The Last Manhunt and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

On why it took so long for a project of such enormous scale to focus on Hawaiian history, Sibbett spoke to the importance of having talent from the country elevated to a prominent position in the entertainment industry.

"The truth is, a story like this – especially because it hasn't been done before – it just needed to be told from the inside, and we just didn't have access [previously]," the screenwriter said.

"There's definitely capable people that could have done it in the past, but we needed a [major star like] Jason Momoa. We needed somebody like me that could dig deep into history. It's just my life. I'm a professional writer, but this is just what I love to do; I love to read these things and study these things."

He added: "Whether or not we did it perfectly, that will stand and people will question it. But we were able to do it because we are professionals and we are Hawaiian, and I think that's what we needed."

Chief of War is available to stream on Apple TV+ from Friday 1st August. New episodes weekly.

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