Chief of War, a new Apple TV+ series written and executive produced by Jason Momoa and co-created by Thomas Pa’a Sibbett, is set against the lush backdrop of Hawai’i and based on true events.
The nine-part historical drama follows Ka’iana, a Hawaiian warrior played by Momoa, as he fights to unify the islands in the late 18th century, just before Western colonisation.
The series features a strong Polynesian cast, including leading Māori actors Temuera Morrison, Cliff Curtis, Te Kohe Tuhaka, and Te Ao o Hinepehinga, casting that has drawn questions around cultural representation.
Speaking to Te Ao Māori News, Morrison front-footed the perceived question of representation and said he was initially hesitant to take the role, unsure whether his level of ōlelo Hawai’i (Hawaiian language) would be enough.
“I told Jason, ‘Bro, bro, get Hawaiian actors. You need Hawaiian actors,’” Morrison recalled. “So, I was hesitant. I wasn’t quite sure if I was able to meet the standard of the ōlelo Hawai’i, so a fluent Hawaiian speaker could watch and go, ‘ae kei te pai tēnā, ae kua ea, kua pai, kua tika.’”
He also anticipated backlash.
“We’re going to get that… ‘What are you Māori doing playing Hawaiian roles?’ And Jason said to me… tāua, tāua! We’re the same people. And I think, ‘that’s right… That’s right.’ We descend from Kahiki. One went to the north, some of us, we headed south. Some, the Rapanui, went east. In the beginning, eh, we’re the same people.”
Fellow actor Cliff Curtis echoed those sentiments, saying the series has rekindled deep ancestral ties across the Pacific.
“Our tūpuna, our ali’i, our ariki – they’re connected. Our whakapapa runs throughout Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, and we have very strong connections with Hawai’i. It rekindles and reawakens us in a unified sense.”
“That’s the vision of Pa’a and Momoa. They cast us purposely and consciously wanted to reawaken our connections.”
