Name: Jason Momoa Talks About His Hawaiian Roots
Uploaded: 2026-01-27T21:01:12.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Jason Momoa Talks About His Hawaiian Roots' from Theo Von Clips on Comedy Buff. Published 2026-01-27. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Jason Momoa Talks About His Hawaiian Roots' from Theo Von Clips on Comedy Buff. Published 2026-01-27. Transcript available.

and so so your mom is a white woman and your your father is more islanders my
dad's Hawaiian yeah
and my mom is basically German Irish is there a lot of beef between Hawaiians
in Hawaii of like
the day are there different kind of sex of like SECTS of Hawaiians like
different kind of like
or is it if you're a Hawaiian you're Hawaiian I mean that's a good question I
wouldn't say it's
like sex um definitely you know back in the day there was different islands
were different kings
until it was united by Kamehameha but not everyone loved Kamehameha you could
have been with Kahikiri
could have been different you could have been with different islands and that
obviously to unite them
your family could have been murdered so I don't I don't think everyone sees eye
to eye but having
said that like we are you know since we are part of America now like I think
all those generations you
know our our culture and our language was completely removed from us like most
indigenous races and uh
you know really trying to get it back and I don't necessarily think there's
like sex to it right
yeah it's not like so people aren't like that tribal I'm gonna tell you what
not as much as like
if you were compared to New Zealand where there's I I don't don't quote me but
there's 200 plus
different iwis different tribes and mud eyes oh yeah I met some iwis yeah
whereas the south island
there's one like naitahu's just one tribe on the south island the north island
has many so it
definitely has to go through a lot more if you're trying to agree on certain
things like it's got to
go through more people so that's what you mean yeah got it and did your dad
have a like like is he
like they're a very hawaiian kind of guy very much so yeah I mean in the sense
of like because
there's so much pride in that culture it's such a unique culture yeah I come
from the west side of
oahu my dad lives in nanakuli most of my family's like nanakuli why not why and
I and then makaha
and uh that whole west side is called hawaiian homestead land so it's like our
reservation kind
of esque kind of um thing and so um but my father's very much a waterman and in
that sense what does that
mean he's he likes to be out in the water yeah or is it a specific job riggers
uh paddling surfing he
was a coach and I mean just any a waterman as in knowledge of sailing knowledge
of anything out
there and you're aquaman which is crazy which is crazy that's crazy it is and I've
always wanted to
my my uh my family's very much um some of the last living legends of of surfing
or of watermen is
like my great uncle's buffalo kiolana bring him up so you can get a gander at
him buffalo kiolana
and brian kiolana is an amazing waterman too who's my he's my cousin and rusty's
a four-time world
champion so I just come from a very the kiolanas oh wow that's uncle buff hell
yeah dude beautiful
Hawaiian man yeah yeah I think I've seen him on the pictures of the bronzer at
the tanning salon as
well I think I'll just say I'll just say this they're using his name image and
likeness over there
okay it's suntan city I'll say that fast dude that's awesome yeah I always
wanted to yeah be
with him but that's that's kind of uh that's the family and he still lives over
there he does yeah
wow oh that's beautiful man yeah I just want to do Hawaiians feel like um it it
seems to me like
Hawaiians always feel like a responsibility to uphold their culture kind of or
that they're Hawaiian like
they like there just seems to be like a certain like level of respect that they
carry about
themselves with that I think that's true I think there's a lot of things that
have happened to our
to our people that have it's been very challenging and what's happened and and
and and getting our
identity back in our culture back in our language back so there's I'm sure
there's a lot of there's
a lot of things yeah it's a lot of a lot of terror and trauma that's happened
to the Hawaiian islands
there's a lot yeah I think when you have something beautiful people want it you
know
was there ever a movie role where you liked it kind of so much or the
environment that you were at you
liked so much that you're like I wish I could stay here I wish this was my life
kind of
that's interesting question where you just want to stay in that time period in
that place
yeah or even as that person even
I don't think I've you know I did this show chief of war that came out last
year and I think it was
really cool because it's it's all about uh it's on Apple TV it's all about
Hawaii yeah it's like when
they're uniting the kingdoms it would have been really beautiful to be in
Hawaii before the white
man arrived and just kind of see that time and place and you know see what our
people are like our
ancestors it was so special to make that show and because you know you grow up
in Iowa and you watch
it then like last the Mohicans and and Braveheart you see all these things like
oh I would love to
see my culture if they watch it I love samurai movies or Native American movies
and all we had was
paintings you know my grandparents they've never seen a movie with us wearing
all the regalia and like
and going into the big battles with no metal so it's fish I mean it's just
brutal battles UFC
to the next level yeah before they had I can shark teeth dude yeah like you're
ripping each other
apart so um just imagining that or seeing a movie on that scale it took me a
long time to make that
move that show because you know oh yeah that's beautiful and also as a gay Mardi
Gras vibe as well
I'll say that but that's outside and that that's just a joke I think it's very
beautiful of these
that you get to even envision something like this that's crazy dude oh man it's
crazy to even get
to see moments like that like even just like on a movie set or something like
that it must be so
bizarre to see moments like that where you've seen this you should see like
just the trailers or
something you know when you you know we're not you have some spare time it's it's
pretty it's
pretty wild the the fight scenes in this are pretty wild yeah that's amazing
yeah anyway so that was a
that's the first thing I ever created so I was a co-creator and produced it and
co-wrote it and
directed like the finale and started it so that was like my big that's fine
that's my little love
letter yeah it's my baby they're my people so oh that's beautiful dude and was
it was it something
was that special to your dad or special to like some of your friends and family
from home I think
everyone because you have to all the people I was when I was 19 I hired on Baywatch
so like makeup
artists to craft services to your drivers they knew me when I was 19 I'm coming
back at 45 at the
time 44 and coming back and making something like doing Baywatch was just kind
of shit and then coming
back and doing something that's about our people yeah there's a real big honor
man for sure it's like
I mean that's my ultimate goal I'm kind of done now yeah I'm just gonna do fun
fun shit and I want to
do comedy like we're doing Minecraft with Jack Black again so nice excited to
do that thanks buddy
sorry about that you're good man um when you were doing that show did you go to
parts of the island
and learn stuff about Hawaii that you didn't know before yes uh yes but also
like gotta go and just
scout and go to places I've never been meet uncles and aunties and people who
are just know so much
about our culture like we had to yes had to learn um you know we had to do it
we didn't know Lela
Hawaii so you didn't wear we Lela Hawaii so we did it in our in our in our
native language yeah
tongue so all the other characters in here I'd say half of the cast it's all
Polynesia so you gotta
understand like there's there's there's there's maori New Zealand there's Samoan
there's there's
Tongan there's uh there might have been some petition but like all of us and
and and kanaka maoli which
is us all these certain people who had different their own languages they had
to learn this ancient
language so like everyone in there doing that is like it's hard it was the
hardest for me but um I
thought it would have been a lot easier but it was it was very challenging for
me yeah the Tongans are
tough huh Samoans and Tongans aren't yeah they're all tough who's the toughest
one though um I mean I
I I wouldn't fuck with the Tongan bring up a Tongan I wouldn't fuck with a Samoan
like I'm good
pull up a pair of Tongans I heard you should never have just one I mean look at
that guy over there
the I mean yeah there you go click on that one that guy on the right oh my god
that guy
is doing something different huh you know what we're all law so it's it's nice
we don't have to
fuck around to get in the fight with the Tongan yeah no I'm never gonna but
that's why just Polynesians
in general man they're just like oh it's such a different breed dude you know
who I like Filipinos
they're kind of like the comfortable Polynesians you know there you go yeah and
they're the smiling
people you know they are and they're the last people that most people see
before they die because
a lot of them work in hospice care which is crazy when you think about that
imagine you're laying there
and you open up a little and it's just some Filipinos dude and they're just
singing something nice to
you i mean it sounds nice that's a portable hawaii dude i just hope my kids are
there and they're
looking after me but i'm gonna put that shit on them you put me in a home i'm
gonna haunt your ass
i'm gonna fucking haunt your ass you put me in a home dude i'm gonna have my
fans break me out you
think you'd be a good ghost though dude there's another script right there me
and you old we'll
just get all do all the old makeup yeah yeah just us and our dying ages in a
nursing home yeah
our fans break us out and they break us out and then what i don't know yeah we
go to a comic-con
for like the for the old time days yeah and you interview them all yeah
we do like the hangover we just relive all the good times
yeah it sounds just like the hangover at least we'll go see you
yeah it sounds just like the hangover at least we'll go see you guys
yeah it sounds just like the hangover at least we'll go see you guys
yeah it sounds just like the hangover at least we'll go see you guys
yeah it sounds just like the hangover at least we'll go see you guys
yeah it sounds just like the hangover at least we'll go see you guys
yeah it sounds just like the hangover at least we'll go see you guys