It's responsible for launching the Hollywood careers of actors like Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington, but Game of Thrones was once more of a curse than a blessing for Jason Momoa.
The Hawaii-born actor told The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon that after his warrior character Khal Drogo — thehugely popular love interest of Daenerys Targaryen — was killed off in 2012, he struggled to even land an audition.
"Not a lot of people thought I spoke English. It was very challenging. What do you do with Drogo? Like you're not going to put him in a comedy ... he's pigeonholed, you know?" the 38-year-old said. "I was bummed out... And then I met [comedian] Fred Armisen, and he goes 'I didn't even know you spoke English' — it was heartbreaking ... That's why I wasn't getting any jobs!"
Momoa, who has two children with his wife and former The Cosby Show star Lisa Bonet, explained that after a frustrating period of unemployment, he got a life-changing call from Justice League director Zack Snyder.
"That whole audition process is pretty crazy," he said. "Zack was a huge fan of Game of Thrones ... and I couldn't get a job and Zack called me in.
"It was funny because I had no idea what I was even playing. He just called me in. I had an audition for Batman. Obviously, Ben [Affleck] was cast. I was like, 'I'm just basically gonna be the bad guy. I'm gonna fight Batman and Superman. I'm gonna play the villain.' And he's like, 'Wait, no. Aquaman!'"
It was a major turning point in his career — after starring in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016, he went on to reprise the role in the ensemble Justice League movie, and his first stand-alone Aquaman blockbuster will be released later this year.
