Fast X: Jason Momoa was told to go even bigger as gleefully theatrical villain

Jason Momoa’s new role is big, like theatrically and flamboyantly big. Even he was surprised at how outlandish they made him be.

Jason Momoa has done many things. He’s played a reformed tribal leader, a lifeguard, a superhero, a warrior – many warriors actually – and now, an unhinged and flamboyant baddie.

As the villainous Dante in Fast X, Momoa is drawing on a different side to his talent – a more playful and goofy persona who delights in being the chaotic presence in any scene. It’s an energy that’s hard to ignore, and you don’t want to because a character that is pure Id is seriously fun.

Is it problematic you find yourself rooting for a villain whose path is littered by destruction and death, overwhelmed by Momoa’s off-the-charts charisma? Probably.

Momoa told news.com.au Fast X director Louis Leterrier really encouraged him to let loose and go big.

“A lot of other people I’ve worked with, they kind of – and rightfully so – keep you in a bit of a mould,” he explained. “But Louis would encourage me to go off.”

When Momoa found himself pulling back, thinking it was too much, Leterrier would ask him to bring it back.

“And I was like, ‘Oh f**k, you like that? You want me to do more?’ He’s like ‘Yes, yes, yes, and even more.’

“I was shocked that they kept certain things in.”

The result is one of the most memorable villains in the Fast movies’ 11-picture history, a bombastic scoundrel out for revenge against Dom Toretto and his family, and one who drives a flashy lavender Impala – Momoa had to fight for that colour.

As the gleefully theatrical Dante in Fast X. Picture: Universal

And there’s plenty more left in the tank because if you think Dante is a maniac now, Momoa said, with a mischievous grin, what they’re “probably using is a nice four, we did a lot of pretty crazy stuff, and maybe the next one will be a little bit more of an eight”.

Momoa is in most scenes by himself, plotting or threatening Vin Diesel’s sombre hero over the phone with gleeful theatrically. But it does mean the actor doesn’t have a scene partner to bounce off. That led to a close bond between Momoa and Leterrier.

“We like making each other laugh. If he giggles behind the monitor, I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, that was the one’.”

Momoa raved about his experience of collaborating with Leterrier, who was brought on as director after Justin Lin quit only days into filming.

“I will work with him for the rest of my life and pretty much do anything he needs. I have a bunch of projects and I’m like [to Leterrier], ‘pick one’,” he said.

“We’re going to be doing Fast for a while but ‘please, let’s do something on our own’. I think we’ll definitely have a long, long working relationship, and friendship.”

While actors are lauded for their prowess, the performance is usually an alchemical mix of the instincts of both actor and director.

Some directors really know how to elicit a different dimension out of actor who may have been typecast or hadn’t been empowered to explore something out of the box.

Jason Momoa says he’ll do anything for director Louis Leterrier. Picture: Universal

And though the character of Dante has an edge and menace – it’s all that homiciding – it’s also a very comedic performance from Momoa.

The actor said he’s aware that movies such as Fast X and even Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, helps with everything else in his career.

“A director has a vision and they might be like, ‘Hey, let’s get Momoa,’ and hopefully they’ll see this and go, ‘Oh, Jason can do comedy, he can do this.’ I’ve never done a romantic comedy before, you know what I mean? That’s crazy.

“I hope someone out there will be like, ‘Oh, f**k, I didn’t know he did stuff like that.’ And they give it a shot. I don’t know what’s out there but I’m excited to be a little more playful and do comedy and things like that.”

Before he can dive fully into a comedy career, Momoa has quite a bit coming up. He’s currently in New Zealand on production for Chief of War, a streaming drama he co-wrote and produced, as well as starring in.

The series will tell the story of the unification and colonisation of Hawaii, from the point of view of the islands’ Indigenous peoples. And, of course, there’s the next Fast movie, which is part two of the story kicked off in Fast X.

“Vin announced that we’re going to be doing two more, which is news to me. So, hopefully I’ll make it in those. You never know.

“I know I’m in one more, and I already have my ideas.”

Fast X is in cinemas from Thursday, May 18.

Originally published as Fast X: Jason Momoa was told to go even bigger as gleefully theatrical villain