Performed by a predominantly Polynesian cast led by Jason Momoa, Chief of War follows the epic and unprecedented telling of the unification and colonization of Hawai‘i at the turn of the 18th century.
An epic historical drama starring, written and executive produced by Momoa and co-created by Thomas Pa’a Sibbett, Chief of War is set amidst the beautiful backdrop of the islands of Hawai’i, as it follows warrior Ka’iana, portrayed by Momoa, as he tries to unify the islands before Western colonization in the late 18th century.
Told from an indigenous perspective, the show is a passion project for creators Momoa and Sibbett, who share native Hawaiian heritage. The series features a predominantly Polynesian cast, led by Momoa alongside Luciane Buchanan, Temuera Morrison, Te Ao o Hinepehinga, Cliff Curtis, newcomer Kaina Makua, and Moses Goods.
As Chief of War arrives on Apple TV+ this week, Peter Gray was fortunate to speak with the cast of creatives involved with the show, discussing their roles as storytellers, their connections to their ancestors, and if it shifted any understanding of their culture.
You’ve built a body of work together that often explores outsiders, survival, and cultural identity. I wanted to ask you both, Jason and Pa’a, how did your creative shorthand evolve on Chief of War? Was there anything new you learned about each other as storytellers this time around?
Thomas Pa’a Sibbett: I would just say the shorthand was immediate. There was something about the way Jason’s mind works and the way that we translate story. It was immediate. We’ve never really had to work and try to really fine tune that. It’s really just us being true to a story and true to ourselves and our perspectives. I don’t know, it just generally works. We got a great team, just with our partnerships and the people that we work with. I think, if anything, what we learned is that we were related on the show. That’s what we learned. Jason was telling me a little more about his actual Hawaiian lineage, and my Hawaiian lineage, and it was just bringing us together. We realised, “Dude, we’re family!”
Jason Momoa: I think that the one thing I was really proud of is that me and Thomas have always worked as director and writer. Kind of always in that territory. But I’ve watched one of my best friends…his destiny is to be a showrunner and completely take over that world. So I got to watch him grow so much, so quickly. It’s a very beautiful thing to go, like, “Wow, now it’s a next level.” Our other partner, Brian Mendoza, he was my DP and then slowly became a director, and now he’s producing. You’re just watching your best friends, and the goal that you want is for them to succeed and be on the highest level. So this is pretty much as big as it gets. Hopefully, people enjoy (Chief of War) and we can do more because this is the dream come true for both of us.
Temuera and Cliff, when it comes to this show and its depiction of Hawaiian warfare or everyday life in that era, did you both discover anything surprising that changed your understanding of your own ancestors at all?
Cliff Curtis: That we’re all connected. We share the same language. We have great lineage. We have the same ancestral names.
Temuera Morrison: Yeah, right across the board, really. Even in terms of what you see in the show, with the Polynesian martial arts, as well as the weapons they had.
Cliff Curtis: Yeah, the fighting style and the strategic nature of the leadership. We have a great heritage around warring, but also we cultivated art. We weren’t just killing one another or fighting one another. If you look at the series, you’ll see the beautiful adornment of our other artistry, the regalia of our costumes, the architecture, the design of the villages, the gardens, the ships that were built. These great fleets of ships taking hundreds of thousands of warriors across the ocean. It speaks to our relationship with the stars in the ocean. We’re great navigators. We had a great understanding of astrology and marine biology. All of those things are a part of the series.
Temuera Morrison: I think it just re-awakened us to all the things that we have in common. For example, we’ve just finished our Māori Mew Year, which we call Mata Ariki. They have the same thing here (in Hawaii), Makahiki, just a few letters different. So there are ancestral sites on this island that connect New Zealand to Hawaii and Tahiti, things like that. There are some places here that are portals to the stars, to the people up there, (New Zealanders) call it the Rangi. They call it the Lani. It just blows my mind that there’s these connections.
Culturally, we were finding out more about some of the things that happened on these islands while playing these characters. At first I was very nervous. But once we got into it and we found confidence, and we had special people around us to teach us the Hawaiian language, it was just a few adjustments. Understanding it all has been quite fascinating and educational. At the beginning of the project, I was very nervous, but now that we’ve travelled all this way, we can stand alongside Jason and Pa’a, the creators and writers, and stand tall and proud as Polynesians. This project required the four winds of Polynesia to come together to support this project. Very proud moment for us and for Jason to finally make something from his homeland.
Cliff Curtis: Jason’s not just starring (too). He’s writing and directing and producing. Right through the value chain, from the sea up. It’s a great moment for us that this is all owned and driven through a Hawaiian sense of agency, and that Apple have supported the (original) language to be revived, and for all the cultural elements to be supported by the many, many creative talents that have come around it.
With this show, were there ways that it changes how you, Luciane and Te Ao, saw your own connection to the land and your cultural identity? Did it shift anything for you while filming?
Te Ao o Hinepehinga: I don’t know if it was a shift. I can only speak on behalf of myself, but I’ve been very privileged in that I was born into a community that is so rich in culture and so proud in that. I’ve always felt deeply connected to my culture and to the āina (land). I think what I learnt was just how strongly I feel about indigenous representation. I always knew it was something that mattered to me, but I never knew how hard I would be willing to fight, and how many people I was willing to cross to make sure…
Luciane Buchanan: She really is the character (laughs)
Te Ao o Hinepehinga: (My character) Ka’humanu really gave me a lot of history. I’m very grateful for that. What about you?
Luciane Buchanan: Totally, yeah, there was so many things, same as you, I think there’s a way in which they were trying to write these characters, and rightfully so, where we have to tell a story here, but I think we were really steadfast in our creative decisions. These women are powerful in themselves. I don’t want to ruin anything, but for my character, she’s thinking about her legacy and what that’s going to look like. And for someone so young and having that kind of guidance from an early age was really important. And that kind of trickled into my life, where if I’m playing this woman than I have to stick up for myself and figure out what I want to do. I think when I was younger in my career, I was just trying to please directors and be like, “Oh, you want it that way? Great.” As I’ve gotten more comfortable and safer in my craft, I feel like it’s an exchange. I think I learned a lot from (my character, Kupuohi) in this job.
And for you, Kaina and Moses, did it shift how you see your own responsibilities to tell Hawaiian stories now and in the future?
Moses Goods: It just propelled me further. I’ve been telling these stories for almost 30 years. I’ve been waiting for a moment like this to happen for a very long time, and the moment came, and I like to feel like I was ready for this moment to improve my storytelling and allow this story be told on a global scale.
Kaina Makua: For myself, we’re all Hawaii. We are storytellers. Hawaii is a storytelling place, and making connections to our stories is why we are very different and unique in this whole global scheme of life. I feel like this is the tippet of the spear that’s going to launch everything indigenous throughout the world. And that is beautiful.
Chief of War will make its global debut on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes on Friday, August 1st, 2025, followed by new episodes every Friday through September 19th.
