Jason Momoa has shared details of an unsettling surfing incident that endangered his life.
The American actor, 45, first rose to fame starring on Baywatch: Hawaii in 1999.
Earlier this week he spoke about his love of Hawaii, where he was born and then returned to for college after his family had relocated to Iowa when he was a baby.
‘I love other places, and I would probably live in other places more, but this just feels like home,’ he said.
However, Jason has now also spoken about a near-death experience that also sparked him to make a massive life change.
During an appearance on the SmartLess podcast, he told hosts Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes, that he once nearly drowned while surfing with friends off the coast of Maui.
’10-foot waves’ (Picture: Flightrisk/ Etso/ Backgrid)
He recalled they paddled ‘about 13 miles down the coast’ and ended up ‘almost a mile offshore’.
However, after the leash that connected Jason to his surfboard snapped, he was left facing ‘10-foot Hawaiian waves’.
‘It’s so windy on Maui, and so the board just went. I couldn’t even see it anymore,’ he said.
Although he was ‘trained pretty well’ for rough ocean conditions, he ‘took quite a few to the head’ as the waves hit.
‘So, I was stuck in this crazy spot, which is probably the outer reef, and unknown to me, I was really on the outer reef, and they couldn’t see me, and I had my paddle, and I was waving it, and they couldn’t see me. And the waves were so big, it basically took my shorts off they were so big,’ he said,
‘Like I literally gave up, and I’m screaming inside, and my foot just hits the outer reef.’
‘I dig my feet into the coral, and I’m literally in the middle of the ocean, and I’m just, I could barely put my lips above it just to breathe and get a break, but I had already given up. So, it’s like, you’ve already given up and died and have a second chance at it.’
He said one of his friends came to the rescue, but it was “brutal” getting out to safety, adding that his feet were ‘covered in blood’.
‘My daughter at that time was three months old. I just — I lost it, I was like “Oh s***”.
Although Jason’s ‘arms and legs gave up’, one of his friends was then able to come and help rescue him.
Jason said he used to smoke two to three packs of cigarettes a day before the experience. What unfolded also led Jason to quit smoking altogether.
‘And we get in, and I used to smoke. I used to smoke like, two, three packs a day,’ he admitted.
‘I couldn’t stop for my kids. Couldn’t stop for my ex. I couldn’t stop smoking. And the moment I came out, I never smoked again. I just died. I tried, I tried, but I couldn’t do it again because I just gave up. I gave up my life.’
Jason, who shares daughter Lola, 18, and son Nakoa-Wolf, 16, with ex-wife Lisa Bonet, said that he ‘was pretty hard on myself that night’ after getting home safely.
‘I did a lot of stupid s*** and I just really was pissed at myself for the position I was in and probably tortured myself even more for the stupid s***that I did. So, I don’t know. It was a bit of a hard learning curve, but I feel like I’ve always had that where it’s just like my learning curves are pretty hard on me,’ he explained.
The actor is currently promoting his new Apple TV Plus series Chief of War, which tells the story of the unification of the Hawaiian Islands from an indigenous perspective.
Speaking to Metro about the show, Jason explained how it enabled him to explore his roots and bring an awareness to his culture.
‘I just want [viewers] to embrace it. Really, just seeing what happened in our islands. I think people come and they don’t know what happened to our people. We want to be seen,’ he said.
‘There’s a lot of change and a lot to bring back of a culture that was… Our language is banned from us and we’re getting it back. A lot of our art…we’re part of America and I don’t think anyone really knows anything about us.’
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