Jason Momoa may not have graced us in Game of Thrones for long, but he was no doubt among the biggest players in Westeros and became one of its most bankable breakout stars.
The 40-year-old starred as the colossal Khal Drogo before he was killed off in the season one finale. If anyone was gone too soon, it was Khal.
But the leader of the Dothraki became one of the most prolific figures through eight season on Game of Thrones, not because he was bursting with character, but because Momoa embodied everything fans could have asked for – which wasn’t a coincidence.
Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss recalled casting the star, which was proving almost impossible until fans had their say.
‘It was really hard to find a good Khal Drogo,’ Benioff told the crowds at the Austin Film Festival on Saturday afternoon.
‘We had all these auditions and no one was quite right. And then we’re looking at some website that had “Fan Casting of Game of Thrones.”
‘A lot of it was kinda knuckleheaded, but some of it was really smart. And there was one person, or maybe a few people, who said, “Oh, it should be this guy Jason Momoa.”
‘And we’d never heard of Jason before — and I apologise to the Baywatch fans — but I haven’t gotten around to it.
‘But I saw a picture of him, we both did, and I thought, “Well, that really does look like Khal Drogo
Game of Thrones would go on to make Momoa a household name, later leading his own superhero franchise in Aquaman and taking charge in Apple TV’s first big blockbuster, SEE – which cost a casual $15 million an episode so expect a spectacle.
But, as Momoa has stressed time and time again – don’t compare to Game of Thrones.
Game of Thrones is available to stream on NOW TV. SEE launches this Friday on Apple TV+.
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