“Conan doesn’t drink milk,” guffawed Jason Momoa, kicking the bucket of beer at his feet. It was a truly barbaric way to start an early screening of his new film Conan the Barbarian 3D last night.
Even though the 6′ 5″ Hawaiian is a pretty serious dead ringer for Robert E. Howard’s sword-wielding Cimmerian, this was not the easiest project to get going. As he told the crowd, his time on Baywatch: Hawaii was a strike against him getting a leading role: Then his turn as barbarian warlord Khal Drogo in HBO’s Game of Thrones came along and made life a lot easier for sword and sorcery.
If this film is a success, then he hopes to revisit Cimmeria for a sequel that explores Howard’s world more. “Everyone was fussing about having a Conan and what his world would look like. Now we have that,” Momoa said. That makes the next film all about getting the right villain and the right part of Hyborian lore (his personal choice: Either Queen of the Black Coast or The Frost Giant’s Daughter, two short stories that both add Norse elements to Howard’s mythos.)
One thing he will not be looking forward to? Having to deal with horses again. When it comes to life in the saddle, he deadpanned, “I’m a fantastic actor, because I look like I know what I am doing.”
Of course, the inevitable comparisons to the 1982 version by John Milius and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Or, as one wag in the audience asked, “Conan, what is best in life?”
“That’s not my movie, motherfucker,” replied Momoa, laughing.
In typical Alamo fashion, before the film and the Q&A Momoa found himself the unexpected guest judge for a barbarian pose-off (which, equally unsurprisingly, ended with Tim League with his shirt off.) And if you wondered what a barbarian pose-off looks like, here’s some footage, courtesy of the Drafthouse and Arts & Labor.
This article appears in August 12 • 2011.
