Jason Momoa says 'On the Roam' spotlights 'people who inspire me'

NEW YORK, May 14 (UPI) --Game of Thrones, Aquaman and Dune icon Jason Momoa says his HBO Max adventure docu-series, On the Roam, spotlights the artists and craftspeople whose skill and knowledge leave him awestruck.

And, unlike many other reality shows, it doesn't need to capture conflict to make it compelling.

"It's challenging just to be able to pull off a lot of these things, these feats that we're doing," Momoa, 46, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.

"We're not trying to make anything up. We want to celebrate the craftsmen. We want to celebrate the technicians who have done all this. It's also what we want to watch. I don't want to hear me bitching or bickering," he explained. "People see that, but it's not the show I want to make."

Director and executive producer Brian Andrew Mendoza added with a laugh: "There's a little bit of conflict behind the scenes and we just choose never to [emphasize it]. It's about celebrating artists and crafts. It's not about dramatizing it."

Season 1 followed Momoa across from Hawaii to North Carolina as he studied with a master swordmaker, worked with a group to restore vintage motorcycles, learned how to make one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces and collaborated with photographers and musicians.

Season 2 premieres Thursday. Episodes will feature Metallica's Kirk Hammett, the band the Bobby Lees and painter Julian Schnabel.

"I absolutely want to be inspiring, but I feel like these are the people who inspire me. So, to me, I'm just trying to use my platform to showcase these things. I think that's what people are really connecting to," he said.

"I wish I could do way more people. It's just such a hard thing to shoot where you have to come up with an idea, meet that person, and then take time to then make that and then take time until you get the final product. So, it's such a huge evolving piece."

The biggest challenge is fitting the show into his schedule, which has been incredibly busy thanks to starring roles in the upcoming movies Street Fighter, Supergirl and Dune 3.

"I would love to be there, for instance, for the Bobby Lees. You work so hard to get to this point where you're like, 'I want to be at the recording and I'm shooting Lobo [in Supergirl] in London and I absolutely cannot leave.' And it's a bummer."

Momoa said under those circumstances he listened to the band by phone from his hotel room to show his support.

"I want to just at least be with them. So, some things don't unfold, some things do unfold," he added. "We just have to kind of take it as it goes."

He pointed out that luck and timing can just as easily swing in his favor.

"If the stars align and the universe opens up, you see something completely different," Momoa said.

"Because we start with this whole idea and it really morphs into, 'I'm off hosting Ozzy [Osbourne's farewell show.]' We didn't plan that [expletive]," he recalled, noting how a conversation with Hammett led to Momoa emceeing what would turn out to be Osbourne's final public appearance. "It's just my life."

"It's cinema verite," Mendoza quipped. "We're getting out of the cars, cameras on."

Momoa joked that the biggest reason for any bickering is how slow the film-making process takes to complete.

"I'm moving so fast, but you guys take FOREVER. They're like, 'Slow down,' because I'm just uber-excited and I want to jump into it. I don't want to re-enact anything," Momoa said.

Small, unique items people he actually knows have crafted for him helped Momoa build his characters in Street Fighter, Supergirl and See.

"I think you try to bring everything to a character, but I'm not going to cry about it if it doesn't happen," Momoa said about bringing his own small accessories or props to a film set.

"I will make suggestions and it's really cool having these little parts of me with my friends," he added. "Sometimes I really need to lean on it."

While some of the people Momoa features on his show are public figures, not everyone with rare talents and businesses craves fame.

Asked how regular folk react when he reaches out to them, Momoa laughed and said, "There's a lot of doubt, actually.

"People are like, 'What?' The Bobby Lees were definitely confused at what I am trying to do, even, I guess, I was, to a certain extent," Momoa said.

"I was so naive about the music industry and I think that took me time just to sit with them and, also, for them, to get to know me and trust me," Momoa added. "Now, those guys are like family to me, but it takes time."

The actor had a similar experience with Schnabel, who is a filmmaker as well as a painter.

"We got some of the first times of me meeting Julian and I'm real nervous in his house," Momoa said.

"Three years later, I've been in a movie. I know all his kids and am considered a family member and, so, it's really kind of evolved over that time. So, I think some people in the very beginning are like, 'Hell, yes, I'm very, very excited.' Some people are a little unsure," he added.

"We came back this season to people that we really love and who are just dear friends and we wanted to make a crazy journey and just kind of go, 'What's the next level?'"

As a huge heavy-metal fan, becoming friends with Hammett and using Metallica's "Wherever I May Roam" as the show's title song have been thrilling for Momoa.

"Kind of freaking out," he said. "We plan other things and then Kirk's just like, 'Come over,' and the next thing I know, he's cooking me fricking omelettes and showing me the rarest guitars on Earth."

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This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 10:24 AM.