Momoa performed a Haka, an ancient war cry or dance of the Maori people of New Zealand, in the audition tape that landed him the role of Khal Drogo.
- Oct 20, 2014
AceShowbiz - Jason Momoa channeled his inner beast during his audition for "Game of Thrones". The audition tape was actually uploaded in 2012, but only recently gained attention, three years after he first appeared as Khal Drogo on the hit HBO series.
In the video which reportedly is the callback audition that Momoa received, the actor looked intense as he performed a Haka, an ancient ritual or dance that the Maori people of New Zealand performed before engaging in battle.
Momoa told AOL in August that he was actually asked to say "no" in a menacing manner multiple times during his "Game of Thrones" audition. After a suggestion from an actor friend, he did the aggressive dance which he described as "not a scene you do before a love scene."
It turned out the dance impressed writers/executive producers D. B. Weiss and David Benioff, who asked him back and performed the dance for the second time as captured in the video below.
