11 Things You Need To Know About The New Conan A bluffer's guide to Jason Momoa
As anyone with access to the Hyborian bush telegram or, er, the internet knows by now, Cimmeria has a new barbarian in the dreadlocked form of Jason Momoa. The Hawaii-born actor beat off competition from Twilight's K-Lutz and Supernatural's Jared Padalecki to land the long-deliberated-over role of Conan. But who exactly is the man who'll be following in Arnie's huge footsteps and exactly how much reaving, slaying and general barbarity can we expect? WORDS PHIL DE SEMLYEN
The 30 year-old Momoa is a similarly aged Conan to the Arnie incarnation - Schwarzenegger was 33 when he first donned the sackcloth and sandals. However, as blasphemous as it sounds/is, Momoa's lithe physique cleaves more closely to the "panther-like grace" of Robert E. Howard's original barbarian than his predecessor, whose improbably ripped torso at times looked like, as Clive James famously said, a condom stuffed with walnuts.
Momoa's first acting break was in Baywatch Hawaii. In it he played fresh-faced lifeguard Jason Ioane, whose journey from headstrong youngster to leader of men may mirror his arc in Conan. Although with less surfing and more giant serpents, obviously.
You may also know him from Stargate Atlantis (pictured) in which he played Ronon Dex (and will again in the movie Stargate Extinction). A Satedan from the Pegasus galaxy, Ronon fitted with a subspace tracking device by the human-feeding Wraiths and hunted as a 'runner'.
Although Momoa was born in Honolulu he was raised by his mother in Iowa. He returned to his roots to attend college in Hawaii and collected Hawaii's Model of the Year award in 1999.
His girlfriend is Lisa Bonet - she of Cosby Show and being-splattered-in-Angel-Heart fame. They have two children together: two year-old Lola and one year-old Nakoa-Wolf.
Conan isn't the first mighty warrior he's played. He will appear as Khal Drogo in the HBO pilot for Game of Thrones, after impressing (read: scaring witless) the producers by performing the haka in his audition. The show, based on George R. R. Martin's wild, twisted medieval fantasy novels, is likely to be picked up, which might cause something of a scheduling problem for Momoa.
Momoa has a long-standing fear of horse-riding, despite his turn as the largely horse-backed warrior Drogo. And unless Cimmeria has had a monorail installed since we were last there or the barbarian has turned power-walker, he's fresh out of luck in Conan too.
While he isn't a bodybuilder, the 6' 4" Momoa probably won't have much trouble holding a sword, even one the size of Gibraltar. In fact, it was test footage of Momoa swinging a giant sword that helped persuade director Marcus Nispel to cast him.
He cut his dreadlocks off at the end of Stargate season 4, complaining that the extra weight was giving him headaches and whiplash during the action scenes.
His uncle is Hawaiian surfer and fellow Baywatch veteran Brian Keaulana who, when he's not ripping pipelines or pretending to be rescued Erika Eleniak, is also an ocean survival specialist. We'd like to think his mantra - "Never let your emotion control your action" - was inspired by watching the Hoff act.
Halfway through the new movie, he'll be replaced by Jay Leno.
