Jason Momoa Revealed He Felt Like an Imposter in ‘Dune’
Jason Momoa was recently cast in the hit sci-fi series Dune. But the fact that he’d gotten a spot in such a highly coveted movie gave Momoa a bit of imposter syndrome.
Jason Momoa felt like he took someone else’s job in the movie ‘Dune’
Momoa was a part of an ensemble cast of actors who starred in the Denis Villeneuve film adaptation. But initially, he was just excited about working with Villeneuve himself, regardless of the movie. The actor recalled in an interview with IndieWire how he ended up cast as Duncan Idaho.
“I got a call from my agent literally on top of a mountain, and I was shocked, and he was like, ‘Denis Villeneuve wants to talk to you right now,'” Momoa recalled. “I thought it was a prank. He said, ‘He wants to talk to you right now. He wants you for a role. He won’t tell anyone what it is.’ Me and my best friend, who loves Denis, ran down the mountain, into the room, FaceTimed him, and he had everything laid out. He had this whole department there in costume. Everyone was staring at me, and he had a whole book. It was this manifest. Pictures, everything. It was almost like he was pitching it to me, and I was taken aback. He asked if I would play Duncan. That’s never happened before.”
In the midst of playing the role, however, Momoa started to wonder if he was truly the right actor for the job.
“I was literally sitting in someone’s dream job, knowing that he picked me to play this role,” Momoa said in a 2021 interview with Men’s Health (via Femalefirst). “I felt like an imposter.”
Jason Momoa felt like the worst actor in the room in ‘Dune’
Momoa was surrounded by several well-known and intimidating actors when starring in Dune. He gave particular praise to co-stars Josh Brolin and especially Javier Bardem. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Momoa described what it was like working alongside that level of talent.
“My favorite day on set was definitely when we were all together, when Javier walks in and we meet Stilgar. It’ll go down in my top-five moments because I got to work with those heavy hitters,” Momoa said. “I never stood and acted with that level of talent before. I’m definitely the s***ttiest one in the whole room, and I was really afraid that they’re going to find out. We were all very close, they were so sweet. But when the scene starts, he’s a whole different dude.”
Momoa couldn’t help but further praise Bardem’s acting chops during their scene. But as impressive as it was, a part of Momoa worried how bad Bardem would make the Aquaman star look.
“He walks into that scene with so much mana, so much power. He didn’t miss a beat, just struts right in and eyes everyone down. I’m like, ‘I can’t. This guy’s rolling in like Mick Jagger, just so much confidence.’ He gets to me and looks at me, but we’re supposed to be friends, so I just have a little smile,” Momoa continued. “He looks at everybody else, and that’s when he spits. It was just amazing to watch him stare down everyone. Him and Brolin, they’ve done films together, so they’re great. They’re locking horns and I’m just standing there pinching myself and praying Denis is not going to go, ‘Uh, is it too late to recast?'”
What made Duncan Idaho different from Jason Momoa’s other roles
Momoa was also appreciative to Dune for allowing him to play the type of character he wasn’t quite used to playing. Duncan Idaho was very different from roles like Khal Drago in Game of Thrones.
“I love the idea of serving something greater than yourself,” he explained. “I play a lot of outcasts and men who do bad things, so it was nice to play this knight who does everything for this family. I love that relationship between me and Timothée. I really felt like I had those men in my life when I was younger, who went off mountain climbing and explored and came back. As a little kid in Iowa, I would hear these great stories and feel excitement to get out there. I really feel like I was the explorer going out and bringing this gold back to Timothée.”
