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Jason Momoa revealed the Hawaiian Island reaction to his upcoming mini-series Chief of War.
The Aaquman actor’s new project follows the story of a Native Hawaiian worrier Ka’iana (Mamoa), the son of Maui’s great war chief, as he united the Hawaiian islands before the era of colonialism.
The series was filmed in lava fields in town of Kalapana, Hawaii, and honored the culture with a sacred cleansing ritual before starting filming.
Momoa revealed that two volcanos, the Mauna Loa and the Kīlauea, erupted when the miniseries was nearing the end of it’s filming, and he took it as a response from the island.
"I just knew that the volcano was going to go off, and everybody laughed at me and didn't believe me," Momoa shared.
"Sure enough, the night before we went to shoot, I told Brian [Mendoza, fellow producer], ‘Dude, the volcano's going to go off.’ He called bulls---. About four hours later we got a call at 3 a.m., Mauna Loa went off," he said.
When the production restarted after conditions were back to ok, the Kilauea erupted.
"So that was two active volcanoes," he said.
"You can't write that s---," he said, noting how the volcano eruptions coincided with the end of filming. "You're obviously stirring up a lot of spirits and mana. It was unbelievable, but there was a really positive energy."
Once the filming concluded, he explained his take on the unique experience, “he island itself is alive, and it responded to what we were doing. That's what separates a traditional production from a production that's led by culture.”
Momoa continued, “We had a mandate to lead this production with culture. We did that with traditional blessings [and] ceremonies, and we took that as a hōʻailona, which is a sign or omen that you're doing the right thing."
Chief of War premieres with two episodes on Aug. 1. New episodes will be released every Friday on AppleTV+.
