The company who is casting extras has been inundated with applications, after the announcement that the series based on the true story of a Hawaiian warrior chief will be partially filmed here. Video / AP
Aquaman star Jason Momoa has been welcomed to a marae in West Auckland with a pōwhiri.
Photos shared to Facebook revealed Momoa visited a marae in Glen Eden yesterday.
Momoa is in Auckland to film his new series Yenedakine (Chief of War), based on the true story of a warriorchief caught up in the colonisation of Hawaii in the late 1700s.
Photos shared to a Glen Eden community Facebook group show Momoa seated and watching on as he was welcomed by a haka.
“Heard the haka from Sunnyvale,” one person commented on the post.
I got to fa’aula Jason Momoa (Samoan for putting necklace on him) to welcome him and acknowledge the importance of his presence and thanked him for bringing his film production to Tāmaki Makaurau we appreciate it as a city. pic.twitter.com/lLsk5PKayv
Auckland councillor Josephine Bartley, who represents Maungakiekie Tamaki, also shared a snap on Facebook and Twitter posing with the Hollywood star.
“I got to fa’aula Jason Momoa (Samoan for putting necklace on him) to welcome him and acknowledge the importance of his presence and thanked him for bringing his film production to Tāmaki Makaurau, we appreciate it as a city,” she wrote.
“Excuse me ... where was my invitation?” one person commented.
“So exciting!! Great news for our film industry,” another wrote. “M3GAN was filmed here too and now number two film in the world behind Avatar.”
The show, told from an indigenous viewpoint and starring Honolulu-born Momoa as a warrior chief, will be filmed in locations across Auckland, the Bay of Islands, and Hawaii, and will eventually screen on Apple TV+.
It comes after talent agency InTouch shared an urgent casting call earlier this week seeking 15 extras for the series.
The production was after “Hawaiian looking” men between the ages of 18 and 50 to play Maui warriors alongside Momoa, offering aspiring actors $300 a day for three days of filming.
The roles were described as “an awesome opportunity to work on Jason Momoa’s new television series”.
Kiwi casting company HeyCast founder Sarah Hart put out a call for “background actors” of all ages to portray Hawaiians and people of Pacific Island descent.
In a Facebook post, Hart said she’d been overwhelmed by the response, with thousands of applications coming through in the first few days.
Jason Momoa, seen here as Aquaman on the set of Justice League, is the co-writer, co-producer and star of a new series to be filmed in Northand. Photo / Supplied
Hundreds attended the pōwhiri at Te Rāwhiti Marae, about 25km east of Russell, with guests unaware that Momoa was attending until the last minute.
At the time, Momoa planted a kōwhai tree and shared a hākari [feast].
He wrote in a social media post at the time that he’d been drawn to Aotearoa ever since seeing pictures of the country as a child.
According to family tradition, his ancestors had travelled from Hawaii to Aotearoa and back nine generations ago — which explained his sense of connection.
“It’s the only place on Earth I’ve set foot and felt this is exactly where I’m from,” he said.
