Jason Momoa is less than a month away from having his stamp on “Conan the Barbarian” unveiled for the masses, but he revealed to Access Hollywood he never saw the original movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“We haven’t seen ‘Conan.’… No, none of us have seen the Arnold film,” Momoa told Access Hollywood as he promoted his battle-heavy fantasy project on the floor at Comic-Con 2011 in San Diego, alongside co-stars Rachel Nichols (Tamara) and Stephen Lang (Khalar Zym).
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“But we’re not — I’m not a fan of that, I’m a fan of Frank Frazetta,” Momoa continued, referring to the artist who created some of the modern depictions of the legendary fantasy figure. “I love his paintings, I don’t need to see [Arnold’s] film.”
Momoa explained the type of movies, like the original “Conan the Barbarian,” which was released in 1982, and starred a young Arnold alongside James Early Jones, were banned in his household while growing up.
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“It came out when I was 2 years old,” Jason said. “My mom — I was raised by a single mother – [she told us], we’re not watching orgies and [seeing people] getting their heads cut off… at that time.”
The actor said his upcoming movie, which follows Conan, bent on avenging the destruction of his people by Khalar Zym, is inspired by years of stories from the original author.
“With the books, there’s eight decades of Conan material, so it’s just so much greater than that. We tried to stick really clear to the Robert E. Howard fans and the comic book fans. So, I mean, that’s what we want to do on this,” Momoa told Access. “Arnold’s has been done and that’s great. I mean Bond — Sean Connery’s right there and you’ve got Daniel Craig. And they’re both really fantastic.”
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Momoa’s “Conan” co-star, Lang, said when he walked on set, the Hawaiian-bred hunk was the embodiment of the legendary avenger.
“This dude is Conan the Barbarian. Totally. He captures the role,” Lang said. “It could not have been better. The first day I walked on the set and I saw him there, I said knew I had my hands full.”
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Momoa too had his hands full working out on set with “Avatar” alumn Lang, who had a workout routine that impressed the younger actor.
“I’d be in the gym with him, and he’d do these skull crushers… and I couldn’t do as much weight and I’m like, ‘Come on! You’re Conan! Don’t let him beat you.’ But he’s so strong, man,” Momoa laughed.
“Conan the Barbarian” hits theaters on Aug. 19.