Jason Momoa recently opened up about a brutal experience he had while surfing that nearly killed him, and also led him to finally quit smoking. The life-changing incident happened in his native Hawaii, and it forever changed how the actor looked at life. Momoa recalled this experience in a recent podcast appearance.
Jason Momoa gives reason behind why he quit smoking
The Aquaman star recently sat down for a conversation with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett, where he spoke about this one life-changing incident that prompted him to quit smoking.
Jason Momoa revealed on the Smartless podcast that he went to the renowned big wave surfing break Pe’ahi in Maui. Almost a mile offshore, his surfboard’s leash broke. “It’s so windy on Maui, and so the board just went. I couldn’t even see it anymore,” he recalled.
Though Momoa hails from a family of surfers, this incident found him unprepared. Despite his experience, he could not steady himself against the 10-foot waves. The 46-year-old actor explained, “It’s actually, this place is called S——–, and it’s literally because there’s all this water that pulls out … and it just pulls you out and you just get hit with these waves.”
Momoa continued explaining the incident, “So I was stuck in this crazy spot, which is probably the outer reef, and unknown to me, I was really on the outer reef, and they couldn’t see me, and I had my paddle, and I was waving it, and they couldn’t see me. And the waves were so big, it basically took my shorts off, they were so f—— big.”
The Dune actor almost gave up at this point and even began to think about his daughter. “I dig my feet into the coral, and I’m literally in the middle of the ocean, and I’m just, I could barely put my lips above it just to breathe and get a break, but I had already given up. So it’s like, you’ve already given up and died and have a second chance at it,” he elaborated.
Thankfully, one of Jason Momoa’s friends came to his aid at this point. Though it was still a tough route getting back, they did make it. He further recalled that his feet were all bloodied when they came back. Earlier, Momoa was a very regular smoker, but following this unnerving experience, he decided to quit smoking.
“The moment I came out, I never smoked again. I just died… I tried and tried, but I couldn’t do it again because I just, I gave up. Like, I gave up my life,” the Game of Thrones alum explained.
Originally reported by Sourav Chakraborty on Mandatory.
