Jason Momoa has said working on A Minecraft Movie was "almost life-changing" for him, as he credited his co-stars Jennifer Coolidge and Jack Black with giving him the comedy bug.
The American actor, best known for his roles as the aquatic superhero Aquaman in the over €1 billion-grossing Warner Bros. movie and as Khal Drogo in Game of Thrones, shows fans a different side in A Minecraft Movie, the big screen, live-action adaptation of the video game which has become a worldwide phenomenon since its release in 2011.
With Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess at the helm, A Minecraft Movie is outrageously goofy and good fun - something that Momoa welcomed with open arms.
Playing against type, he stars as the nerdy, flamboyantly dressed Garrett "The Garbage Man" Garrison, the proud 'Gamer of the Year 1989' who now owns a rundown game shop.
Speaking to RTÉ Entertainment alongside his co-star, the brilliant Jennifer Coolidge, Momoa said he knew what he was signing up for when he joined this wild Minecraft world, but that he didn't anticipate the effect it would have on him.
"I didn't expect it to be almost life-changing for me," Momoa said. "I've never done a comedy. What I felt like every day going to work, excitement, the amount of laughter I had...
"It was just something I've never experienced - where I loved the job and then you love watching the movie. I'm very excited for people to see it.
"Sometimes you do your job, you want nothing to do with it, you don't know how it's going to come out, [it’s] outside of your hands, but this was just like... every day was beautiful.
"I laughed so much and I'm kind of hooked - addicted to comedy."
Gesturing to Coolidge, he added jokingly: "I want to be with her and Jack [Black], they're cheating. They've been cheating the whole time."
Comedy genius Coolidge, known for her work on the American Pie and Legally Blonde film series, as well as her Golden Globe and Emmy-winning turn as Tanya McQuoid in the HBO anthology show, The White Lotus, admitted that her small but no-less memorable role as Vice Principal Marlene in the movie was "an unusual job".
"I've had some pretty great jobs in this last sort of decade or whatever, but I have to say, being invited to be in New Zealand with Jason Momoa and then of course Jared [Hess] at the helm of this epic, very complicated movie that he had to put together... I was in such a state of shock," she told RTÉ Entertainment.
"I mean, I know Jared's really talented. We all know Jared's really talented, but what he put together... First of all, I thought it was the fastest movie I've ever seen, I mean the movie just went by in seconds, but it was mesmerizing, it was hilarious, it was a little bit frightening at times.
"Everybody just slayed in this movie and I was very lucky to get this call out of nowhere to have this strange part that I really ended up enjoying. And I had a very handsome co-star that I got to make out with who is almost attractive as Jason Momoa," she added jokingly.
Momoa previously said that Irish actor Michael Fassbender advised him to put a bit of himself into Aquaman. Did he use that advice here?
"Yeah, because I'm very silly," he agreed. "If you were friends with me, you’d know I'm not very serious, I love to play. And so I think it allowed me to [go to] all those silly places.
"I don't try to be macho or cool, I have that playful nature to me. We've never really seen that side. So I guess yes, in a sense I was I was able to just let my freak flag fly!"
"It's hard to be funny when you're this handsome," Coolidge interjected. "People don't see that it goes together. But you really get to see Jason do his thing. I'm so happy for him."
A Minecraft Movie is released in cinemas in Ireland on Friday, 4 April.
