Summary

Collider’s Steve Weintraub talks with Jason Momoa and Brian Andrew Mendoza for HBO Max’s On the Roam Season 2.

Momoa discusses how Season 2 highlights the punk band The Bobby Lees and painter Julian Schnabel, and major tech leaps with vintage bikes.

Momoa also teases a future for Apple TV’s Chief of War series.

As fans gear up for Season 2 of HBO Max’s docuseries On the Roam with Jason Momoa, the DC star and jack of all trades took some time to chat with Collider’s Steven Weintraub about what to expect this time around. Talking alongside director and executive producer Brian Andrew Mendoza, Momoa shares the art, adventures, and bonds he explored while juggling his “manic schedule” (on top of filming Supergirl), plus an exciting tease for more from Apple TV’s hit series Chief of War. On the Roam Season 2 takes viewers across the country with Momoa once again for even more artistry, craftsmanship, and pushing technological boundaries for the sake of passion, admiration, and curiosity. This time around, Momoa chronicles the resurfacing of garage punk band The Bobby Lees, spotlighting the struggle of artists and the state of the music industry; meets and collaborates with yet another “top hero,” painter and filmmaker Julian Schnabel; and breaks down the innovative mechanics that make Season 1’s Rolls-Royce look easy. Don’t miss the full conversation in the video above, or the transcript below.
Jason Momoa Says ‘Chief of War’ Is at a “Standstill”

But he’s eager to tell more stories from the hit Apple TV series.

Image via Apple TV

COLLIDER: You guys know that I love Chief of War, and before I get into On the Roam, I think you envisioned it as a one-season show, but did Apple ever tell you how it did? Is there more in that world you want to explore, or other stuff that you want to explore from Hawaiian stories? JASON MOMOA: No, absolutely. We sold it as a one-shot with the inspiration to hopefully do more. We’re just waiting for it to do its run and hopefully get some more words. But basically, right now, it’s kind of at a bit of a standstill. But yeah, there’s definitely high hopes to do more with that storyline because there’s so much to tell.

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‘On the Roam’ Turned Heroes Into Family

Momoa discusses working with The Bobby Lees and meeting Julian Schnabel.

If you make more, I would watch more. Jumping into why I get to talk to you guys. On the Roam feels like a love letter to things that take time in a world that moves too fast. So after two seasons of meeting these masters of time, how has that changed your relationship with time and with your work? MOMOA: Great question. BRIAN ANDREW MENDOZA: There’s not enough time. Realizing there’s not enough time. One of the things I really love about this is that the people that we get who let us go into their homes are really good at knowing how to control their time. They’re artists. They’re craftsmen. They’re fulfilled by what they’re able to complete at the end of the day, if it’s a song or if it’s just part of an engine or it’s a piece of art on canvas. I love being able to get in these spaces because each one of them really knows how precious that time is, and they do a really good job of slowing down and making sure that the world moves at their speed. They’re not moving at anybody else’s speed, and it’s a good thing to see. MOMOA: I love watching the show, and the sense of where we start with our idea and where we were at. For The Bobby Lees, for instance. We just read that I was doing SNL, and in between doing SNL, which is the hardest thing you could ever do in your life, I’m literally trying to meet this band to try to pull something off to shoot their last show, and then get up to see them in their hometown. So, we’re trying to plan all this stuff, and in between, probably doing Lobo at that time. It’s just a manic schedule. But you get to see that section of time that, if I just were doing that passion without shooting it, it would be just in pictures and maybe lost, but you get to relive that moment, like, “Holy shit, we had so much going on.” I mean, Sam [Quartin] literally got knocked up, had a kid, had a baby. We went through a whole thing with them. We went to record the album. I didn’t get to be there because I was doing Lobo. Brian was there. MENDOZA: [Julian] Schnabel made a whole film.

Image via Everett Collection

MOMOA: Yeah. I mean, I was scared meeting Schnabel in the very beginning, and now he’s, like, frickin dad, the great uncle you got. So, everything changes so much. Even the thing with Kirk Hammett, like, “Bro, tonight?” We’re on camera having my first conversation with Kirk, and trying to just talk about this guitar that we want to talk about that’s so special, getting invited over to his house. He’s cooking fucking breakfast omelets for us and wants to go surfing. We’re talking about this amazing guitar that then we’re going to make duplicates of it so that we can auction it off. Next thing you know, the person who shot his book, they call us, and Sharon Osbourne wants us to be a part of the fucking Black Sabbath concert. Then that thing opens up, and now it’s turned into this huge thing, and we’re here in Hawaii, I just wrapped this movie, and we’re doing a benefit thing. I’m playing with my band, who I didn’t have in Season 1 because all this happened, and now I’m playing music, and then Kirk Hammett is going to come play fucking “For Whom the Bell Tolls” with us for flood relief! All this shit is happening right now. So it starts like this, and you talk about time, you get to go, like, “Wow, I get to relive all this shit.” You’re like, “Wow, this started as, really, this idea of like, ‘I hope, hope, hope he’ll pick up the phone.’” Now I’m like, I hope he fucking leaves me alone because I just want to play guitar with my friends. Like, leave us alone, Kirk. You already did it. We’re playing your song our way. [Laughs] It just keeps evolving. It’s just a really cool marker of time. And for us just to go, “I have an idea,” and then to see what the universe offers us, and then see if it opens up and we’re making the right steps. Jason, have you thought about playing the lottery? Because you have clearly won life. MOMOA: I’m the most unlucky fucking person! I gamble on my life in the things that I do, so I’m lucky that way, but man, if you see me at a poker table, sit next to me because I’m going to lose. If I pick black, pick red. You’re going to win.
‘On the Roam’ Addresses the Real Cost of Being an Artist

“We literally can’t buy a fucking sandwich.”

Image via Warner Bros. Discovery

Being serious, is On the Roam, the entire series, really just a covert thing for you to become friends with Julian Schnabel? MOMOA: Well, he’s actually kind of our hero. Same thing with Todd Hido. He was our hero. If we were to think, “Who are our top heroes?” It’s Tom Waits, Julian Schnabel, and Todd Hido. Those were our holy grail. And through that, he’s almost like a dad, man. He’s like a fucking uncle to us. Just mutual respect. Then he forced me to do a movie I did not want to do. It’s a weird thing to say that, but I had to play this crazy character, and I was like, “I cannot do this, Julian. I cannot do this.” And he literally made me do it, and we killed it. But I’ve never had a bigger fan believe in me. Because he was stoked on See. That really hit it off for him. Then, when we were doing Chief of War, [Brian]’s directing and I’m producing, we’re both producing, we’re doing everything, and he’s watching us do it behind the scenes, and he’s going, “You motherfuckers…” Like, Julian couldn’t believe it. He was so stoked to be watching us do Chief. I’m like, “We’re just your bastard children now. You are our inspiration.” He’s like, “How do you have time to do all this?” I’m like, “Motherfucker, you have a book this big of paintings by Taschen, and then seven films and fucking seven kids. What do you mean you don’t have the fucking goddamn time? He’s got one, I got two. I’m barely trying to make good cinema, you know? You fucking just decide to go, like, “Oh, painting! Let’s try cinema,” and just pop out four… I mean, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly — what the hell? Before Night Falls, Basquiat. I haven’t made that. Sure, we did Chief of War, but I ain’t you, man. How did you do it? So yeah, I think all of it just comes down to, like, we want to do stuff that is like, what are the dreams? But at the same time, showcase small things, big things. Just the idea of talking about the music industry. Until I talked to Sam, like, “What’s going on? You look so great on Instagram. Blah, blah, blah.” And she just explains, “We don’t make any money. By the time we come back, there’s nothing left. We’ve been gone for two years.” She’s like, “We literally can’t buy a fucking sandwich.” You’re just like, wow, and she’s like, “Yeah, if you don’t sell this and this and that, you’re not making any money.” We pay $4 for a coffee every day, but you won’t buy your artist’s fucking favorite songs. It hit me, where I’m like, oh my god, we gotta explain this to the world so they understand art is not free. We need to support the arts. So, it was nice to make an episode without bitching at someone just to go, like, “Hey, this is what state some artists are in. Support your artists. Get that shirt, buy that sticker.” If you love it, do it. No, 100%. This is a whole bigger conversation, but I want to ask a specific question.
Jason Momoa Breaks Down the Ambitious Tech Behind ‘On the Roam’ Season 2

“The Rolls-Royce was easy compared to what they pulled off.”

In Season 1, the 1927 Rolls-Royce Phantom electric conversion was a highlight of technical rule-breaking. Is there something in Season 2 that pushed the boundaries of what you thought was possible with craftsmanship?

MOMOA: The shit that we pull off for our electric, the stuff that we went for, the technology has never gone to. We fucking did it. I’m like, “It should be easy, right? Blah blah blah blah.” He’s like, “This is the hardest…” Dude, the Rolls-Royce was easy compared to what they pulled off. So, Electrogenics, we do four different types of things, whether it’s solar or whether it’s batteries, but basically just working on green energy. We took all these old bikes…. Say your grandfather had a 1920s bike, right? A 1920s bike doesn’t work. It’s frozen. You take that back wheel off, you put a wheel on. That hub will basically power it. You put the batteries, like, on the side, and that bike from the 1920s is all E. That’s with it not even running, the motor. We also did, it could be gas and oil, so say you’re an 80-year-old guy that can’t kick his bike over anymore. You basically switch it over; you’re just changing out the back wheel. It’s still gas and oil, and it goes E. So the hub works as E, then you pop the clutch and it kicks over in and goes into gas. So you can ride it in gas. Say you break down and don’t have enough gas, switch it over to E, and it’ll get you home. Or if you wanted to combine it at the same time, where it’s E and gas, which I wouldn’t recommend because those bikes weren’t meant to go that fast, but we did it, is to go gas and E at the same time. So you’re taking something that’s a historical piece, keeping it in its original form, adding just the rear wheels so if you wanted to take it off, you can go back to the way it was, but you just put that tire on, and that tire would be E technology. So you can ride all these really beautiful old things and not hurt the planet. MENDOZA: Also, the technology in some of the places that we went, like we went to Poland, with this company called Sunreef that is pushing the boundaries of solar panels. MOMOA: Basically, having the whole mast and the whole side of the boats all solar panels. It’s called solar skin. So being able to run the whole fucking boat, just going off sails for your energy, and then you’re going off of your motors. So it’s only getting better using the marine motors. But when that gets to a certain level, it’s like, oh my god, we’re not putting all that shit into the ocean. So it’s just touching on everything that we’re moving and shipping being able to have E motors. There’s just a lot of stuff that I’m curious about where things are at, and so we talk about a lot of those things. On the Roam Season 2 premieres on HBO Max on May 14. Episodes will release weekly.

Release Date

January 16, 2024

Writers

Ben Holmes, Adam McClaughry