Actor Jason Momoa may be one of Hollywood’s leading actors right now, and that is because of many good reasons. Momoa had a string of high-profile movie roles in the past couple of years, ranging from the superhero Aquaman to Denis Villeneuve’s first adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune series. In the upcoming years, it has already been announced that Momoa will be joining Vin Diesel’s Fast & Furious series as, according to Deadline, an undisclosed villain. However, he first made his name in the Baywatch series, then rose to acclaim while appearing in Game of Thrones as Khal Drogo in the first two seasons of the series.
Since those series, Momoa has taken on a wide variety of roles. In 2018’s Aquaman he reprised a role first seen in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Aquaman. Netflix’s Sweet Girl places him in a thriller action role, although the movie was not well-received by critics and audiences alike. Ever since Apple TV+ launched the series See in 2019, Momoa has been starring in the lead role of Baba Voss. Although Momoa has not managed to win any awards yet, he has paved quite the name for himself in mainstream American entertainment. These are his best performances ranked.
8 Bullet to the Head
Momoa teamed up with the likes of Sung Kang, Sarah Shahi, and Sylvester Stallone for Bullet to the Head, which was directed by Walter Hill. Kang and Stallone star in the movie as a cop and hitman teaming up to take down a common enemy: a businessman with a shady background. But as the businessman’s assassin (Momoa) starts to plan the counterattack, it becomes a dangerous race against time. Bullet to the Head was a massive failure at the box office, noted to be Stallone’s worst opening in decades, but it was a throwback reminiscent of the violent action films of the 1980s.
7 Braven
Braven was another movie Momoa produced, but this film came out in 2018. This action thriller stars Momoa as a logger living in Canada, but as they try to take a simple break away from the chaos of their mundane lives, they get tangled up in the underworld of drug dealing. Braven came equipped with a lackluster script that needed some mending done to make it usable, and, unfortunately, it simply did not deliver up to standard. However, Momoa’s performance in Braven offers a small thread that acts as a light at the end of the tunnel.
6 Road to Paloma
Momoa directed, wrote, and produced the 2014 movie Road to Paloma. If that was not enough, he also starred in the movie’s lead role of Robert Wolf. Road to Paloma is reminiscent of Clint Eastwood’s Wild West, except the main character, Wolf, is an Indigenous person forced to flee after he avenges his mother’s murder. He travels the American West on his motorcycle, offering idyllic scenery that evokes old Americana in the Manifest Destiny era. While Momoa helped create this movie, his performance was solid but not a standout one.
5 Baywatch: Hawaii
Momoa initially became known for his role in Baywatch: Hawaii, which is fitting considering he is part Hawaiian. He was on the show for two seasons in the role of Jason Ioane, a Texas transplant who has just joined the lifeguard team at Baywatch Hawaii. Momoa was only 19 when he was cast in this role, but it set the tone for the rest of his career as an actor.
4 See
Apple TV+’s See stars Jason Momoa, Alfre Woodard, Hera Hilmar, and Sylvia Hoeks. Released in 2019, it ironically was based on a fictional pandemic that wipes out the majority of humanity, but survivors were left without a dire necessity to function in everyday life: the ability to see had been stripped away from them. Momoa is cast yet again as a warrior seeking to protect his loved ones from any outside threats.
3 Dune
Dune swept up the awards season due to its stunning cinematography and behind-the-scenes effects, like sound, but without its actors, Dune would simply be a beautiful but barren wasteland. Momoa’s role is a small but pivotal one; he portrays Duncan Idaho, one of the most feared warriors in the universe. His prowess with weapons is rumored to be unmatched, which makes him a formidable sight on the screen as the drama and real story begin to unfold.
2 Aquaman
It is rather fitting that Momoa was cast as Aquaman in 2018 for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and even more fitting when he got a standalone movie. The premise of Aquaman is simple, reminiscent slightly of Percy Jackson: he finds out he is only half-human after coming of age. With that knowledge comes the responsibility of knowing that he is the rightful heir to the throne of Atlantis, and getting to that point really will not be easy.
1 Game of Thrones
During his audition for Game of Thrones, Momoa performed a haka or a traditional Maori dance that often intended to intimidate enemies or greet a guest. That may be why he got the role of Khal Drogo, an accomplished warrior who appears in the first two seasons of Game of Thrones. Although Momoa already had some relevant roles that put him somewhere on the map of being known, Game of Thrones elevated his status as an actor to an entirely new level of popularity.