TV series 'Chief of War' tells Hawaii's story from a Native Hawaiian perspective

Jason Momoa stars in Chief of War.

Today, a bit of history is being made with the debut of the series, Chief of War, on AppleTV-plus.

Based on true events, Chief of War follows warrior Ka‘iana, a real-life historical figure, who is portrayed by Jason Momoa, as he tries to unify the islands before Western colonization in the late 18th century.

The series is a passion project for Momoa and Thomas Paʻa Sibbett, both of whom share Native Hawaiian heritage, aiming to present a historically accurate portrayal of Hawaiian unification and the subsequent colonization from an indigenous perspective. This is a crucial step in countering the often Western-centric narratives of history.

        FYI: 'Chief of War' is being streamed on AppleTV Plus.

“This is definitely my dream. I mean to talk about representation. I’ve never had the opportunity to play anything like an ancestor,” Momoa tells Hawaii News Now.

The series features a predominantly Polynesian cast led by Momoa alongside Luciane Buchanan, Temuera Morrison, Te Ao o Hinepehinga, Cliff Curtis, newcomer Kaina Makua, Moses Goods, Siua Ikale‘o, Brandon Finn, James Udom, Mainei Kinimaka, Te Kohe Tuhaka and Benjamin Hoetjes.

The series emphasizes the importance of preserving and celebrating Hawaiian traditions, language, and history, offering a platform for native Hawaiians to reclaim their narrative. It highlights the impact of colonization and the struggles faced by the Hawaiian people, while also showcasing their rich cultural heritage.

The nine-episode epic delves into Hawaiian customs, hierarchies, belief systems, and the spiritual connection to the land and sea. The show features the Olelo Hawaii language and aims to authentically represent Hawaiian culture, including the roles of women and spiritual leaders.

Chief of War mostly features characters speaking another language, in this case ‘Olelo Hawai‘i, and subtitled in English, at least in its first two episodes. (No English is spoken until Episode 2 when “pale skins” return to one of the islands.)

“Jason and I have never intended on this just staying a singular season, but we do know the responsibility that comes with this,” Sibbet tells Tribl.Liv. “This is a story that’s never been told, and I don’t mean just the story. It is a culture, a language that has never been exposed to the world.

“We understand that there’s no demographic for it, there’s no market for it yet. But this is a universal story. This is not actually pitched as a Hawaiian story. It’s a really good story that just takes place in Hawaii. So let the culture be nuanced, let the costumes be beautiful texture. Let the language be something that you feel and experience for the first time.

“And if audiences can respond to that, then we absolutely will tell more, because the story only gets bigger. The story only gets better," says Sibbet.

“This is everything I’ve ever wanted to do, to do something for my culture and my heritage,” Momoa tells AOL. “To be honest, guys, I’ve never seen anything quite like this show.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge. Now on BlueSky.

TV's Fall season gives AANHPI viewers a chance to see themselves

'The Cleaning Lady' features a not-so-typical Filipino American family.

UPDATED: Sept. 12 to include 'Quantum Leap."

Labor day just passed and we're easing into television's Fall season, and, lo and behold, there's a a lot of AANHPI characters, at least, relatively speaking.

One of laments of many AANHIPI of influence has been that they grew up without seeing themselves on the big screen or on television. That can't be said anymore.

There are lawyers, chefs, first responders, a slew of doctors, reality show stars, high school students and  and even a superhero (or two) and an under-the-radar schemer on the immensely popular House of Dragons.

While there may seem to be a lot of AANHPI faces on television these days, AANHPI continue to be severely underrepresented, according to several recent studies on media diversity. But compared to five years ago, that shouldn't stop us from appreciating the increased presence as a sign of progress, small as it is. 

There's lots of room for improvement and it is why we need to continue to demand more representation in the media, which shapes the ideals and the American image to the world and to ourselves. 

I would love to see an Asian American version of Friends based in L.A. or San Francisco, or an Asian American family dramady without super powers that includes a responsible father figure. Until those shows matrerialize, we have a good foundation in which we are able to see ourselves:

The Cleaning Lady, Season 2, premieres Sept. 19. On Fox, 9 p.m. Mondays:

One of the most original series of last year, Thony de la Rosa, as played by Elodie Yung, who is an undocumented immigrant, came to the US seeking medical treatment for her son. Unsuccessful, she begins to live a double life, keeping secrets from her family, while cleaning crime scenes for Arman and dodging the law, including the smooth-talking FBI Agent Garrett Miller who is in pursuit. Using her cunning and intelligence to forge her own path in the criminal underworld, Thony does what is necessary to save Luca – even if it means sacrificing her own soul and values in the process. Last we saw Thony and her sister-in-law, played by Filipino Aussie Martha Millan, are about to embark on a path that will take them deeper into the underworld. Asian American fingerprints are all over this series developed by Chinese Canadian Miranda Kwok and produced by Filipino Canadian Shay Mitchell and Filipino American Rose Marie Vega.

NCIS: Hawaii, Season 2 premieres Sept. 19, 10 p.m. CBS

The NCIS franchise really is trying to reflect Hawaii's diversity with its casting. It features Filipino American Vanessa Lachey as Special Agent in Charge Jane Tennant, along with NCIS agents Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) and Jessica Knight (Katrina Law), track The Raven’s whereabouts to the island of Oahu and learn about his plans to attack RIMPAC (The Rim of the Pacific Exercises), the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise, on the exciting conclusion to the special crossover event and the season two-hour premiere. A warning to fans, the NCIS and NCIS Hawai’i season premiere will be a crossover event merging the two teams. The two-hour premiere event puts the teams on the hunt for a dangerous suspect and unveils a complex network and a larger sinister plan that will take the D.C. team to Hawai’i in a race to thwart the next large-scale attack. It also stars Filipino American Yasmine al-Bustami, Alex Terrant, Noah Mills and Jason Atoon. I would love to see Tennant cook a Filipino meal for her family and friends. It's the Filipino way, hindi ba?

The NCIS team in Hawaii reflects that state's diversity.

Quantum Leap, premieres September 19, 9 p.m. on NBC

Fans of the original Quantum Leap adventure series won't recognize the 2023 reboot. It's back and its features an Asian American in the lead role. Quantum leap, which ran for four seasons starring Scott Bakula, went off the air in 1993. The 2023 version stars Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song. It's been nearly 30 years since Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. Now, a new team, led by physicist Ben Song (Raymond Lee), has been assembled to restart the project in hope of understanding the mysteries behind the machine and the man who created it. Also on the ensemble cast is Nanrisa Lee playing Jenn Chou, a computer whiz.

The Resident, Season 6, premieres Sept. 20 9 p.m., Fox

We're including this show mainly because it features Maneshe Dayal as Dr. Devon Pravesh, and his apparent love interest, Anuja Joshi as Dr. Leela Devi unraveling the stereotype that Asian men can't be attractive to the opposite sex. Also of interest, Joshi's twin sister, Aneesha Joshi, plays Leela's free-spirited twin, whose role will get bigger as the surrogate mother of another doctor's unborn child.

'The Good Doctor' stars real-life Indian American twins Anuja and Aneesha Joshi.

The Good Doctor, Season 6, premieres Oct. 3, 10 p.m. CBS:

The series' fifth season ended on a number of ups and downs, with the most joyous moment being Dr. Murphy (Freddie Highmore) finally getting married to Lea Dilallo (Paige Spara) on the hospital rooftop with their friends in attendance. However, while re-entering the hospital to refresh supplies for the celebration, Dr. Lim (Christina Chang) finds Nurse Villanueva (Elfina Luk) stabbed and bleeding out. Nurse Villanueva warns Dr. Lim that she was stabbed by her abusive ex-boyfriend, but before Dr. Lim can react, she is stabbed twice, leaving her life in peril with her friends nearby, seemingly oblivious to her condition. Developed by producer Daniel Dae Kim.

Kung Fu, Season 3, premieres Oct. 5 9 p.m., CW

The action series had been a mid-season series but it has become part of CW's fall debuts. We left Kung Fu in a state of transition. Henry (Eddie Liu) decided to learn more about his father after the man died in his arms. It’s a journey that necessitated an end to his relationship with the central character Nicky Shen (Olivia Liang)  despite the two being split by life and circumstances and not a loss of love and care for one another Others in the predominantly Asian American cast include: 

• Tzi Ma as Jin Shen
• Shannon Dang as Althea Shen
• Tony Chung as Dennis Soong
• Kheng Hua Tan as Mei-Li Shen
• Jon Prasida as Ryan Shen
• Vanessa Kai as Pei-Ling Zheng
• Gavin Stenhouse as Evan Hartley
• Vanessa Yao as Mia

Olivia Liang stars in the new 'Kung Fu' action series.

Reginald the Vampire, Season 1  Oct. 5, 10 p.m. on SyFy

The series based on the comic book of the same name stars Jacob Batalon (Spiderman) as the world's first Filipino American vampire. Imagine a world populated by beautiful, fit and vain vampires. Overweight Reginald Andres tumbles headlong into it as an unlikely hero who will have to navigate every kind of obstacle – the girl he loves but can’t be with, a bully manager at work and the vampire chieftain who wants him dead.

Grey's Anatomy, Season 19, Oct. 6, 10 p.m., ABC

The longest-running prime time show will enter Season 19 with a cast that is being bolstered more Asian Americans at Seattle's Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital to reflect a more realistic and diverse medical setting. (See article here.)

Awkwafina is Nora From Queens, Season 3, 10 p.m. EST/ 7 p.m. PST, Oct. 12, Comedy Central

Not much is known about what's in store for our heroine in the series' third season. As the title subtly suggests, Awkwafina plays Nora Lin, an exaggerated version of herself in the comedy. It follows "a 20-something woman, who strives for a larger-than-life existence". Living with her cousin Edmund (Bowen Yang), dad (BD Wong), and grandmother scene stealer (Lori Tan Chinn), Nora must learn to navigate adulthood in New York City. The series appears to be a popular gig for AANHPI actors. Guests on the series have included Jaboukie Young-White, Michelle Buteau, Wai Ching Ho, Stephanie Hsu, Ming-Na Wen, and Awkwafina's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings co-star, Simu Liu. Awkwafins created the series with Teresa Hsiao.

Blockbuster, Season 1, Nov. 3, streaming on Netflix

Everybody's nice guy Randall Park (Fresh Off the Boat) is Timmy Yoon, the lead character in this situation comedy about the last Blockbuster store trying to a survive in a world being taken over by streaming networks. (For you youngsters, before Blockbuster rented out videotapes and DVDs of your favorite movies and TV shows.) The 10-episode series doesn't dwell on race relations but just presents Timmy Yoon as your average American small business entrepreneur with a dream. Kind of refreshing, but we'll see if viewers can relate to Park's character.

Young Rock, Season 2, Nov. 4 8 p.m. NBC

Late in the season, the adventures of your favorite WWE icon-turned-blockbuster movie star (a.k.a, Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson) returns to your small screen sooner. The comedy details the life of the very real celebrated movie star and WWE icon, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and the various stages of his life that lead to his (fictional) run for president in 2032. The series is both narrated and executive produced by Johnson himself. The returning cast of Pacific Islanders includes Joseph Lee Anderson (Rocky), Stacy Leilua (Ata), Lia Maivia (Ana), and all three actors who play younger versions of Johnson: Constant, Adrian Groulx, and Uli Latukefu.

In addition to the series mentioned above, a number of pretty good groundbreaking shows with Asian American leads and/or themes have premiered this summer on the streaming channels that are available at your convenience. They include:

• Partner Track, Netflix
• Paper Girls, Prime
• Ms. Marvel, Disney
• Never Have I Ever, Netflix
• See, Apple+
• Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, Netflix
• Bling Empire, Netflix
• House of Ho, HBO Max

In case you're wondering about my reference to dragons in the opening paragraphs: I throw this tidbit in because The House of the Dragon has a huge audience and it is a cultural phenomenon, I need to point out that there are no Asians in the fictional Westeros, except for Mysaria, played by Sonoya Muzuno. She  is the paramour of Prince Daemon Targaryen. Her role will grow as the plot gets more complicated.

It is notable that in the first few episodes, the casting for The House of the Dragon is more diverse than Game of Thrones, which was knocked because it was so blindingly white. It is a fantasy land after all and there is no reason for the lack of POC. The producers apparently didn't take the observation lightly when casting this prequel.

But the mysterious Mysaria had to come from somewhere, where there should be opportunities for more casting of Asian actors. Right? Just hoping.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter. Earlier versions of this post did not include the portion about House of the Dragon or the blurb on Quantum Leap.

Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista motion picture reportedly in the works.

Buddies onscreen and in real life: Dave Bautista, left, and Jason Momoa.

What started as a tweet teaser has turned a bidding war for a movie starring two big AAPI stars, Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista.

The duo enjoyed working with each other in "See," the dystopian action series that is airing its third season on Apple-TV.

The idea began as a tweet last August from Baustista, a Filipino American former wrestler.

“Just going to throw this out into the atmosphere and see what happens. Here we go…Me and Momoa in a Lethal Weapon type buddy cop movie directed by David Leitch. Ok! There it is. Now we wait,” tweeted Bautista, who made a strong impression in his role as the alien Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Momoa, the Aquaman star, responded," absolutely.!" Bautista's suggestion to film in Hawaii, Momoa's home state, just added to the appeal.

They didn't have to wait long. The idea, apparently, is selling itself.

Studios began bidding against each other to get the two action stars to co-star in a major film. MGM reportedly is closing in on the deal, according to Deadline.

Although they are not in any scenes together, both stars are in the latest iteration of Dune where both play warriors.

Dave Bautista joins Jason Momoa in "See's" season 2; watch trailer

APPLE / SEE

Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista play brothers in Apple's dystopian drama, See.

It's not often that both the leading man and the villain of a Hollywood production feature AAPI actors. That's what season 2 of Apple's See will feature.

Two of the biggest AAPI stars, Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista, will face off in the second season of the post-apocalyptic adventure drama, which takes place hundreds of years into the future when the world's population has lost the ability to see.

Filipino American Bautista will portray Edo Voss, the estranged brother of Baba Voss, the hero played by Momoa, whose father is Native Hawaiian. Also in the cast are Hoon Lee and Olivia Cheng.

In season 2, Baba is struggling to reunite his family amid the looming threat of war between two rival kingdoms. Despite his best efforts, his wife (Hera Hilmar) and sighted children (Archie Madekwe and Nesta Cooper) are pulled to the forefront of the conflict, where Edo's long-simmering hatred for his brother imperils them all even further. Turns out life in a desolate, primitive future where almost no one can see isn't so easy.

The first season was popular enough that a second season was granted. In the first season we are introduced to Momoa) is the Chief of the Alkenny tribe and his wife gives birth to a set of twins who, miraculously, are able to see. The queen of another tribe wants to capture Voss’ children so he must rely on his instincts and warrior skills to protect them.

Before the second season premiers on Aug. 27 on Apple TV+, the show has been given a third season.

What it takes to look like a superhero, six-packs and impossible diet

Simi Liu in shape for his role os Shang-chi and Kumail Nanjiani, ready for 'The Eternals.'

During the Unforgettable Gala honoring the work of AAPI actors and others in the entertainment industry, part of the entertainment was a comedic bit where host Simu Liu, Blues Clues host Joshua Dela Cruz, Grey’s Anatomy star Alex Landi and online personality Eugene Lee Yang all took the stage  to comment on mostly shirtless pictures of themselves from social media.

The six-pack, muscled torsos of the actors drew applause, ooh's, ahh's and nervous laughter at the apparent antithesis of the sexless, nerd stereotype draped on Asian men.

While shattering that stereotype is a worthy venture, we may be overreacting to that stereotype. We should be careful to not be promoting an image and standard that is impossible for most men to achieve. Like women have had to live up to the standards of skinny models with perfect skin promoted by fashion magazines, men can get hurt  trying to attain a new body image.

As if to underline the danger of living up to movie-star standards, a few days after the Unforgettable Awards, Kumail Nanjiani posted pictures of shirtless torso which drew a lot of "likes" from women and comments of approval and surprise at the previously healthy-but-normal bodied Nanjiani, who plays a tech nerd in Silicon Valley.

Nanjiani said he wanted a new ripped bod in order to look heroic for his upcoming role in Marvel's The Eternals. Along with the shirtless photos, Nanjiani made sure to let followers know that it took a lot of work and sacrifice to attain his new body.

"I would dnot have been able to do this if I didn't have a full year with the best trainers and nutritionists paid for by the biggest studio in the world," Nanjiani wrote. 

"I'm glad I look like this, but I also understand why I never did before," he continued. "It would have been impossible without these resources and time."

The desire to look like hyper-muscled supeheroes has also come at a cost: Male body image issues are on the rise, even among young kids.

The BBC reported in 2015 that health experts were worried about muscle dysmorphia, or so-called "bigorexia," among men.

"Muscle dysmorphia is a preoccupation with the idea that one isn't big enough, isn't muscular enough," Rob Willson, chair of the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Foundation, told the BBC.

“We know about 10 percent of men in the gym may have muscle dysmorphia,” he said.

Dr. Michele Kerulis of Adler School of Professional Psychology told The Daily Mail that rate may be even higher: She claimed as many as 45 percent of frequent male gym goers male suffer from disordered body image.

Jason Momoa's Aquaman body (left) vs. his normal everyday physique.

A few months ago, when photos of Aquaman's Jason Momoa appeared online that showed him with less than a six-pack, several trollers began body shaming him, calling his physique a "dad's bod," (to which I took personal offense).

To Momoa's credit, when TMZ pressed the Aquaman star if he was “offended” about the body-shaming at all, to which he responded, “No. Not at all.” 

“Tell TMZ I’ll show ‘em my dad bod soon,” patting his stomach.

In order to get into shape for Aquaman, Momoa has to undergo a grueling workout regime and stick to a high-protein, no-fat diet, which is not sustainable, not to mention, unhealthy for long periods of time.

While the new image of muscular Asian American and Pacific Islander men is a welcome 180-degree shift away from the image of Long Duk Dong from 16 Candles, those six-pack abs come with a dangerous unhealthy price.

When Henry Golding took off his shirt in Crazy Rich Asians, women in the audience swooned and judging from the admiring tweets in response to Nanjiani's new physique, that "look" is appealing to a lot of people. We need to realize and accept that most men find themselves between those two extremes. Not all of us look good in spandex. And that's OK.

What's wrong with a "dad's bod," anyway?

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Jason Momoa gives passionate speech at United Nations

UNITED NATIONS

Jason Momoaa concluded his UN speech making a hand sign indicating his support for the protests against the Thirty Meter Telescopee planned for Hawaii's sacred mountain Mauna Kea. 

When Jason Momoa isn't portraying heroic figures in films, he is an environmental activist and advocate for the preservation of his Hawaiian heritage. 

He made no bones about his island roots in an impassioned speech he delivered to the United Nations last Friday.

“The oceans are in a state of emergency,” he warned. “Entire marine ecosystems are vanishing with the warming of the seas, and as the waste of our world empties into our waters, we face the devastating crisis of plastic pollution.

The star of Aquaman and the soon-to-be released dystopian See for Apple TV was addressing a meeting concerning Small Island Developing States (SIDS) – which include the Bahamas, Barbados, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Haiti – at UN headquarters in New York. 

“Island nations contribute the least to this disaster, but are made to suffer the weight of its consequences,” said the Game of Thrones star.

The meeting which Momoa addressed was held five years after the adoption of the Small Island Developing States Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA Pathway) by UN member states.

The agreement outlined that the countries would acknowledge the “need to support and invest in these nations so they can achieve sustainable development.”

“We, the island nations and all coastal communities, are the frontlines in this environmental crisis,” he said. “Entire islands are drowning into the sea due to the enormous volume of emissions generated by first world countries.”

After he delivered his speech, Momoa tweeted:

“That was a life changing moment, a true honor to represent island nations at the UN,” Momoa wrote on Instagram. “It takes an amazing team and support system to pull off something like this. I am deeply grateful to my wife and children, my mother @lonelywhale@duneives @realdealmada @paakai97@maluhiakinimaka @UnitedNations@UN_PGA #kukiaimauna
#SAMOAPathway #SIDSSummit. Aloha j #purpsonpurpslookgood#wegotsomethingtosay #nomorehalf-assing #3kanakasandaMADA.”

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Sunday Read: Jason Momoa committed to Mauna Kea 'ohana'

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Actor Jason Momoa and police joke around with this photo.

Jason Momoa released a photo of his "arrest" for protesting the construction of Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT) on top of Hawaii’s Mauna Kea volcano. 

By the expressions on the faces of the police officers and the bemused look on Momoa, the photo was staged as a joke.

What is not a joke is Momoa's commitment to stopping the TMT, which would be 18 stories high and cover the area of a NFL stadium.

"It's kind of the umbilical cord to earth," the Hawaii-born actor tells CNN. "You know, if you think about the Hawaiian islands, that's the biggest mountain in the world, right? All the way up. So Mauna Kea is the most sacred. They call it the belly button, too. That's like our birth place. You can imagine that in the middle of the ocean. That's how our islands were formed. So how can that not be sacred?"

Since the plans for the TMT were unveiled in 2015, opposition has been building resulting in a blockade of the road leading up to the observatory site which was slated to begin July 16. Native Hawaiians and their supporters have thus far been able to stop the delivery of building materials.

In between photo shoots, TV appearances, prepping for "Aquaman 2," and spending time with his family, the 40-year old Momoa joins the protests when he can, often bringing his family and other celebrities with him.

In an Instagram post last week, he jokingly wrote, “Sorry Warner Bros we can’t shoot Aquaman 2. Because Jason got run over by a bulldozer trying to stop the desecration of his native land.”

He continued, “THIS iS NOT HAPPENING. WE ARE NOT LETTING YOU DO THIS ANYMORE. Enough is enough. Go somewhere else.”

Another joke? Momoa himself has often spoken about the cause and the sacrifice he is willing to make to fight for this cause:

“It’s definitely a fear of mine. You know, I, I love playing ‘Aquaman,’ and there may come a time where it happens that I’m on set on something that I really love and Warner Brothers, who has taken care of me and launched my career, and there’s a certain part of you that goes, ‘I’m human, this is something I care about, but it’s an injustice that I have to do something about,” he told CNN.

INSTAGRAM

Jason Momoa spends as much time he can on Mauna Kea. Above, he is holding the hands of son and daughter.

Scientists prefer the Mauna Kea site because of the clear and dark skies on the dormant volcano. That explains why there are already 13 observatories built on the mountain, some are no longer being used.

“We allowed astronomy to have a place on the Mauna Kea but they continue to ask for more and more and more, and we have to say no at this point. Because when we say yes it means saying yes to the destruction of our endangered lands,” said president of the Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, Kealoha Pisciotta, told the BBC.

"Most of them are outdated and they're not as big. They're just up there and they promised to remove them and they never have. It's just another one of those promises ... and we're done. We're over it," he says.

Nevertheless, recent negotiations between the demonstrators and scientists will allow access to the working observatories by bulldozing a temporary road that would skirt the blockade.

“The resolution to this situation will likely include accelerated removal of decommissioned telescopes and Hawaiian land rights and self-determination. TMT and the astronomy community should support these efforts,” says Thayne Currie, an astrophysicist at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, who uses Mauna Kea telescopes. 

“The state leadership really needs to be decisive, both on TMT’s access and on these broader issues faced in Hawaii,” Currie stated.

The demonstrations show no signs of abating. A community has formed, with shops, a cafeteria and a lecture program set up. At times, the number of protestors have been in the thousands.

The Aquaman star says he feels the anti TMT demonstrations are working and describes his part in it as a calling to do what feels right in his soul.

"There's massive progress that's bringing our people together," he says, adding, "I think there's a lot of problems in Hawaii. There's a lot of things that have happened in our history, a lot of injustice, and so we're shining a light on it. People like myself or Dwayne Johnson, Bruno Mars, trying to spread the awareness all around the world. For my soul I need to be there. If I'm not working, I'm trying to get over there."

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In case you missed it: Scenes from the Oscars

SCREEN CAPTURE

Ashley Graham, Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet on the Red Carpet of the Oscars.

Thanks to Crazy Rich Asians' success and the #OscarsSoWhite movement, there were more Asians seen at the Academy Awards Sunday night. 

RELATED: Asian and Asian American Oscar winners.

Here are some additional notes from the Academy Awards that you might not have seen answers why Crazy Rich Asians star Constance Wu wore a yellow gown, the most embarassing question of the night, and how director Jon M. Chu saw the evening.

Let's get straight to the embarrassing question first. Model Ashley Graham was interviewing Jason Momoa and his wife Lisa Bonet and things were going great until Graham asked Momoa to perform a "haka move."

The Aquaman star was taken aback and looked to his wife as if to ask, "Really? Did she just ask me to do a haka?"

The haka is a Maori war dance traditionally used on the battlefield to intimidate the enemy, as well as when groups came together as a gesture of greeting or honor.

At the premiere of Aquaman, Momoa did perform a haka with Maori members of the cast because the film used a lot of Maori elements. Other Polynesian groups have adopted the  tradition and adapted it to their culture. The haka was a way for the Maori cast members to launch the movie. Momoa is of Hawaiian descent.

“I gotta get a haka move,” Graham asked Momoa.

“I gotta get like one haka move, like come on,” she continued insisted, as Momoa had that moment of disbelief.

However, Bonet was not having it. She was seen putting her hand up and shaking her head in as if to say it was not appropriate.

Good sport Momoa eventually gave in and gave a half-hearted haka face with his tongue stuck out. By then the interview was over and Bonet pulled on Momoa and was seen giving an eye-roll at the ignorant request from Graham.

The Internet didn't take kindly to the insensitivity of the moment.

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Constance Wu look smashing in her yellow gown. Her choice of color wasn't just to stand out from the crowd. She wanted to make a statement based on the moving letter CRA director Jon M. Chu wrote to Cold Play for the permission of using their song "Yellow" for the movie.

She wrote in an Instagram post:

"I chose this color because it made me happy and also was inspired by @jonmchu‘s moving letter to @coldplay about our movie’s closing song cover of “Yellow” in @crazyrichasians,"

Chu asked the band Cold Play why the song Yellow meant so much to him because while growing up, "yellow" was used as a racist slur to demean East Asians. But, upon hearing the song "Yellow" it was the first time the color was associated with beauty.

"For the first time in my life, it described the color in the most beautiful, magical ways I had ever heard: the color of the stars, her skin, the love. It was an incredible image of attraction and aspiration that it made me rethink my own self image," the letter continued. It immediately became an anthem for me and my friends and gave us a new sense of pride we never felt before. We could reclaim the color for ourselves and it has stuck with me for the majority of my life," Chu added.

Cold Play immediately gave permission for the song's use in the film. It was at the end of the movie as the credits rolled and sung in Mandarin by Katherine Ho.

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Speaking Jon M. Chu ... here are some posts from the Chinese American director, Awkwafina, Gemma Chan and Constance Wu taken at the awards ceremony or immediately after.

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A father's pride: Jason Momoa performs a haka at 'Aquaman' premiere

SCREEN CAPTURE / YOUTUBE

Actor Jason Momoa, left, was joined by his children, right, in performing a haka at the premiere of Aquaman.

FOR ALL you fans of Maori haka's, this one's for you.

Jason Momoa, star of the Aquaman movie, performed a haka, a traditional Maori war chant, at the red carpet premiere yesterday (Dec. 12) in what's got to be a Hollywood first.

The Hawaii-born actor was joined by members of his cast in the Haka, but the most notable participants were his son, Nakoa-Wolf, 9, and daughter, Lola, 11. 

His two children that he had with his wife actress Lisa Bonet, were not bashful as they took their places among a squad of grown men from the movie's crew and cast and began chanting in unison and performing right alongside their father, reports USA Today."

The movie, directed by James Wan, has its general release Dec. 21.

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TGIF Feature: SNL host Jason Momoa Is the ultimate NBC page

JASON MOMOA, best known for his action roles, will be playing against type by hosting Saturday Night Live tomorrow, Dec. 8.

After playing Khal Drogo in HBO's Game of Thrones, the Hawaii-born Momoa won the role of DC superhero Aquaman. Ahead of the U.S. premiere of Aquaman on December 21. NBC put together a fun, kind of stressful promo prior to Momoa's SNL debut.

First posted on the official SNL YouTube page, the promo begins with an NBC Page - an intern that works in different departments at NBC to get experience in the field - telling Momoa to man the phones while he takes care of an emergency. 

Momoa seems thrilled with the task, and immediately gets a call regarding a question to which he doesn't know the answer. Momoa quickly sets off to figure out the caller's question, which includes a series of physical stunts that include punching Beck Bennett, breaking into Lorne Michaels' office, and breakdancing his way through security lasers. The promo ends with Momoa coming to the realization that the show is recorded live, which turns out to have been the caller's question. 
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