Jason Momoa's New Show Has Hawaiian Locals In An Uproar
Jason Momoa is putting his chops to the test by writing, starring in, and producing the upcoming limited series "Chief of War" for Apple TV+. This marks Momoa's debut in writing for television, reports Deadline. The series will chronicle the Indigenous communities of Hawaii during the colonization of the country in the 18th century. While promoting the new series, Momoa has been making appearances and even stripped down on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Momoa answered questions about an Instagram post he had previously shared where he went fishing in what appeared to be a thong-like garment. "That's a traditional Malo. It's what the Hawaiians wear," Momoa explained to Kimmel. "I'm doing a show. I'm a creator and writer and director and producer and actor on this Apple series called 'Chief of War' and it's all 1780s, 1790s Hawaii," Momoa said of his project.
"That's what I wear every day and I was just getting ready for the role because I like to get into character and so I was tanning my white a**," he added. Momoa's come a long way from the early days of acting, taking roles that almost ruined his career. But he's proved that he's a resilient actor now, starring alongside legends like Nicole Kidman (who adores him, btw). While it seems like Momoa can't take a false step, some are deeply upset about a certain filming hiccup with "Chief of War."
A local farmer's market is losing revenue for filming
While filming "Chief of War," production had to shut down Kaimu Farmer's Market because the series needed the location. As TMZ reported, the market will be closed for two consecutive Saturdays in December, which is major since the market is only open on Saturdays. On the farmer's market's Facebook page, they wrote: "The movie crew has requested our market area for another Saturday so we will be closed now for 2 weeks in December, the 3rd and the 10th."
Vendors are very upset because they're losing two weekends of revenue at a busy time since it's right before the holidays. "Thank Jason [Momoa] for taking away our [livelihood' during the busiest time of the year," someone commented. "These are your big [Hollywood] sellouts. No surprise. They're making A LOT of money. Too bad they don't compensate those little people who lose money," another person wrote. "That's a lot of lost income for Puna folks, especially so close to the holidays. Do you think we could hold [the] market in another location?" another asked, but vendors felt like there wasn't enough time to find the four acres required to host the market.
So far, the "Chief of War" production has not attempted to recoup the vendors for their lost funds.