A tense Jason Momoa interview is doing the rounds where he shuts down a journalist for asking about filming a rape scene in Game of Thrones.
The actor “went cold” during a recent interview with New York Times journalist David Marchese after the writer asked if he regretted filming the graphic scene during his breakout performance as the villainous Khal Drogo.
When Marchese asked whether Momoa “thinks differently about those scenes today,” he replied, “Well, it was important to depict Drogo and his style. You’re playing someone that’s like Genghis Khan.”
He continued, “It was a really, really, really hard thing to do. But my job was to play something like that, and it’s not a nice thing, and it’s what that character was. It’s not my job to go, ‘Would I not do it?’ ”
The scene copped mad backlash from fans at the time due to its violent nature, plus the fact that it was an edited version of the original story written by George R. R. Martin, in which Momoa’s character and his wife engage in consensual sex.
“I’ve never really been questioned about ‘Do you regret playing a role?’” Jason Momoa added. “We’ll put it this way: I already did it. Not doing it again.”
For the rest of the interview, Jason only offered snippy, one-word replies to the journalist.
When asked if Momoa would be “able to articulate” what he sees in the future for his DC hero, Aquaman, he simply responded, “No.”
Then when asked about his upcoming project, Sweet Girl, a film which implicates “big pharma,” he responded: “[I’ve] never researched anything like that before. Big pharma’s pretty scary, buddy.”
When asked what sort of “research stood out”, Momoa said: “I don’t really want to talk about big pharma right now.”
As the interview was ending, Momoa decided to clear up the Game of Thrones conversation.
“I wanted to bring something up that left a bad feeling in my stomach. When you brought up Game of Thrones, you brought up stuff about what’s happening with my character and would I do it again. I was bummed when you asked me that,” Momoa said.
“It just feels icky — putting it upon me to remove something. As if an actor even had the choice to do that. We’re not really allowed to do anything. There are producers, there are writers, there are directors, and you don’t get to come in and be like, ‘I’m not going do that because this isn’t kosher right now and not right in the political climate.’ That never happens. So it’s a question that feels icky. I just wanted you to know that.”
If you’d like to speak to someone about sexual violence, please call the 1800 Respect hotline on 1800 737 732 or chat online. Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
