Joseph Jason Namakaeha Momoa was born on August 1, 1979, in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Coni Lemke, a photographer, and Joseph Momoa, a painter, who is of Native Hawaiian and Samoan descent. His mother, from Iowa, is of German, Irish, and Native American ancestry.
Jason was raised in Norwalk, Iowa, by his mother after his parents' divorce. After high school, he moved to Hawaii, where he landed a lead role in the TV series Baywatch (1989),beating out thousands of hopefuls.
