Jason Momoa’s films and television series have taken audiences to completely unexpected realms, from the undersea kingdoms of Atlantis to the scorched deserts of Essos (in the show Game of Thrones). He likes to use his projects to take viewers on new adventures, and as he sat down with us to discuss his latest Netflix movie Sweet Girl, he opened up about why he chooses films like this, and the impact movies had on him at an early age.
Sweet Girl is a message movie, wrapped in an action thriller. This, also, is something that Jason Momoa aspires to accomplish. He looks for scripts that have a deeper meaning, slipping in ecological messages into blockbusters such as Aquaman, or exploring a survival story such as Sugar Mountain.
In Sweet Girl, the target is Big Pharma, or the mysterious organizations that over-charge for medications and make it extremely difficult for average citizens to afford the pills and treatments we need to stay alive. In this case, the victim is Jason Momoa’s wife, and when she passes, Momoa’s character Ray Cooper and his daughter, Rachel (played by Isabela Merced), seek revenge on the pharmaceutical execs who cost their loved one her life.
But when speaking to CinemaBlend about his role in Sweet Girl, Jason Momoa opened up about how important film was to him at a young age, and how it helped to shape his worldview, which is something he hopes his projects can do for people now. Moma told us:
When I grew up in Iowa, born in Hawaii, raised in Iowa, I was affected by films. I mean, film is how I saw (what was) outside of the Midwest. There wasn’t a race near me. So it’s just kind of like I fed alot off the information coming… Films helped me see the world. So I like being able to change peoples’ perspectives and minds and at least show them another side through film. It’s also the things that inspire me. I just try to write from what you know, and what you want to do.
You forget that Jason Momoa writes as much as he acts. And as he talks about in the above interview clip with CinemaBlend, he and his producing partners do look for features (or create features) that dig into issues that compel him. Momoa told us:
I think I invest into those things. I think a lot of the things I get into, my crew looks for things like that. I personally write from those kinds of places. I know my first movie was about the rapes on the Native American reservation so, you know, that’s the one me and Brian (Andrew Mendoza) did together, that he shot. I just feel like those things resonate with me.
You can see how Sweet Girl struck a chord with Jason Momoa now that his action-drama with a message is streaming on Netflix.
