Game of Thrones actor Jason Momoa has revealed how he was terrified of having to learn Dothraki, after thinking he would just be doing a broken English accent. Jason also admitted that once he had mastered the language, there was still difficulty in reacting to what others were saying.
Momoa explained, “It was very scary, because when I auditioned for it I did it in a broken English. And I get there for the table read - 50 people there - and the writers are like, 'Hey, we got this great Berkeley linguist who invented this language... We just think it's better if the whole race won't know how to speak English, it's just this little white girl who learns to speak Dothraki'.”
He added, “I'm like, 'Right. Wait. So the whole monologue and the speeches I have - these war speeches and this great stuff - it's going to be in this language that's made up, is that right?' And they're like, 'Yeah, just wait until you get it, it's amazing. It's like German and Arabic'. I barely speak Spanish!”
Jason continued, “I get it and I'm just like, 'F**k! This is an honour but how am I going to do this?' I locked myself in with some Guinness and some pizza and went to work. It's the greatest thing I've ever done to date. I don't think I'll ever have a role quite like this ever again.”
Momoa concluded,” So you just memorise it and then once you get it in it's just knowing what you're saying. You've also got to memorise everyone else's lines as well - you can't sit there like a deer in headlights or fake it. You have to understand what they're saying so you can react. You really have to submerge yourself in the role."
Unfortunately for fans of the Conan the Barbarian actor, he will not be appearing in the second season of Game of Thrones, after his character Drogo was killed off. However, Jason Momoa has hinted in the past that, such is the level of fantasy about the show, he could appear in a later season. Game of Thrones season two is expected to premiere next April on HBO.
