Jason Momoa (Aquaman, A Minecraft Movie) took the opportunity during a Tuesday interview with The Hollywood Reporter to debrief audiences on the real-life events that inspired his critically-acclaimed Apple TV+ historical drama series, Chief of War, as well as his personal connections to the material. As a Native Hawaiian himself, Momoa expressed a desire that the series’ popularity could become a source of cultural renewal and pride for the island state’s inhabitants.
“Everyone that has come here has these vacations and brings home these memories, but they fall in love with Hawaii,” Momoa told the Reporter. “Now, they’re going to be in the comfort of their home watching the history — stuff that they didn’t even know about. But what it’s going to do for us, for Indigenous [actors], and how it resonates with our people — that’s all I care about. We are the great, great grandchildren bringing all of this back and trying to inspire the next generation.”
The most recent episode of Chief of War, “Day of Spilled Brains,” shines a light on a particularly tragic day of Hawaiian history: the Olowalu Massacre, an incident in which hundreds of Native Hawaiians were ambushed and slaughtered by American ship captain Simon Metcalfe. It’s a shocking and heartbreaking moment, especially for Ka’iana, who has spent his portion of the show’s runtime unsuccessfully trying to warn his people against the dangers Metcalfe and his band of “paleskins” represent.
“That was the ultimate horror,” Momoa stated to The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s to come back, know what’s coming, and then voice what you’ve seen, and not be trusted and then also have to live by some laws that you necessarily don’t believe in anymore. [Ka’iana now believes] there aren’t these gods, they aren’t going to look after us, and these people are going to hurt us if we don’t get aligned. So to be muzzled and not be heard, but also be poisoned by the outside rule, I feel like he’s coming back and carrying that. He feels inflicted when he comes back, but he can’t let that go.”
Yet despite the series’ focus on warfare, Momoa also reiterated that the real-life history of Hawaii’s colonization was not without nuance. “Not everything about cultures coming together is bad, but this was one of them,” he pondered to the Hollywood Reporter. “History gives us the ability to look back and see what led to it, what caused it, what was the mindset, and for us to make sure we’re not making these types of mistakes again. (…) “I always thought it was fascinating from that point of view to say, “So if Ka’iana had killed Captain Simon Metcalfe, then that massacre would’ve never happened.” But on the flip side, you could argue, “Well, was [Ka’iana] one of the reasons why [Metcalfe] did it?” So it becomes this really interesting moment in history where everybody could take blame for it. Simon Metcalfe clearly takes blame for it, but everybody, depending on how you’re looking at the story, can take some blame.”
Chief of War will premiere its final two episodes — “The Sacred Niu Grove” and “The Black Desert” — later this month. All seven previous episodes are streaming now on Apple TV+.