There’s a movie in the Jason Momoa cinematic oeuvre he considers to be a “big pile of shit.” No, not “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.” Or “Justice League.” That other one.
Speaking with British GQ in an interview published on Monday, the actor reflected on a past project that ended up being a major disappointment, long before he commanded the seas as Aquaman.
That would be none other than 2011′s “Conan the Barbarian,” a box office bomb that did the unthinkable: waste a baby-faced Momoa’s abundant movie star potential.
“I’ve been a part of a lot of things that really sucked, and movies where it’s out of your hands. ‘Conan’ was one of them,” Momoa said of the film, his first leading role. “It’s one of the best experiences I had and it [was] taken over and turned into a big pile of shit.”
The “Game of Thrones” alum, who has some experience with the perils of studio interference, didn’t specify what occurred behind the scenes, but the film’s director shed a bit more light.
“As a filmmaker in this system you are a dog on many leashes,” Marcus Nispel told People. “Trying to get ‘Conan’ done under those circumstances was the worst experience that I had and I was as unhappy with the result,”
“I am happy though that none of this got in the way of Jason’s career path … I always stood by the decision to make ‘Conan’ with him,” the director added, joking that he “paid” for “the muscles that Jason flexed for ‘Game of Thrones.’”
Before “Conan” even hit theaters, Momoa revealed he was at work writing the sequel himself, but was waiting on the studio to see if “they’ll accept it.”
At the time, he said the follow-up would be “character-adapted” and would “get into more of the mythical creatures.” But, alas, “Conan” massively underperformed, and no sequel materialized.
But don’t feel too bad for Momoa’s thwarted Barbarian dreams, as the actor said now he’s looking to play against type ― apart from, of course, the upcoming DC sequel “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” which will be released next year.
“It’s been hard because people always think I’m just this dude who plays” macho characters, he told GQ. “But I want to be moved, I want something new. Things are changing, and even the villain roles I’m playing now are eccentric.”
Apparently, he’ll do just that for the 10th “Fast and Furious” film, in which he’ll play a villain whose “toenails are painted purple and pink,” according to GQ. So quirky!
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