As a first-time visitor to Hawaii, one thing surprised me most
I should know better than to underestimate a place. I blame The Brady Bunch, my childhood TV viewing where an episode featured a family visit to Waikiki. Teenager Peter Brady was plagued by a tarantula for picking up a cursed tiki. These were dreadful production blunders: tarantulas are not endemic to Hawaii, tikis represent gods and deities.
I admit that I, too, got it wrong: my five-day trip blows me away. Culture is as embedded as the island's Le'ahi volcano (Diamond Head) that forms the stunning backdrop to Honolulu. Stick your head up from behind a Mai Tai cocktail at a Waikiki Beach bar, and you'll uncover – as I do – rich traditions.
My arrival onto Oʻahu, the third-largest and most populated of Hawaii's eight major islands, coincides with the annual Lei Day, which celebrates the spirit and meaning of the lei, the necklace of flowers (or shells, nuts or feathers) placed over my head on arrival by my host, Noelani.
'Lei is truly about aloha in its purest form,' she says. I'm about to discover what she means.
The first stop is Kapiʻolani Park, site of the 97th Oʻahu Lei Day Festival, where hundreds of locals and Native Hawaiians mingle at the craft stalls and lei-making tables that are surrounded by Indian banyan and monkeypod trees. Most attendees wear beautiful lei or lei po'o, a floral crown, that remain vibrant and fresh despite the humid breeze. Many are milling around a mature-aged gentleman, Master Lei Maker Bill Char. I'm privileged to meet this festival star, a talented ambassador of the ancient cultural practice.
Suddenly, officials start scurrying (usually, locals are delightfully calm and leisurely) and cry 'The queen is coming!' I'm temporarily confused; the Hawaiian Kingdom was overthrown in 1893 and the islands were annexed by the US in 1898 as part of its expansion into the Pacific. Instead, this is royalty of another kind: it is the Lei queen, Ku'uleialoha Llanos, the year's elected 'monarch' who organises the event to keep traditions alive. This custom is far from contrived. Surprisingly, nor is our next stop: Ala Moana Centre, known as the largest open-air shopping centre in the world.
Amid the chain stores, the centre's best shops are owned and run by Native and local Hawaiian designers (Native Hawaiians are indigenous, with Filipino, Japanese and other backgrounds, while local Hawaiians are generally those who live, but are not born of Hawaiian ancestry. Both will distinguish themselves as such). Malie Organics offers an array of beauty products; Noho Home is crammed with a gorgeous range of homeware items, and Big Island Candies, makes shortbreads and the likes of chocolate-dipped dried cuttlefish (the latter, a popular Hawaiian snack). I'm smitten with Manaola, where contemporary fashions feature geometric tribal motifs and Hawaiian flora. Our next stop, 'Iolani Palace, takes us into the past.
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Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘We're the same people': How a Kiwi legend and Hollywood superstar bonded over history
Eight years have passed, but the emotion still rises in Temuera Morrison's voice when he recalls the defining compliment his fellow actor Jason Momoa paid him. In 2017, the two stars were on the vast Gold Coast set of Hollywood superhero blockbuster Aquaman. Momoa, the rising Hollywood success story, had the title role of the heroic undersea warrior, while Morrison, the New Zealand veteran with an eclectic CV, was playing his human father. Aquaman 's script may have crafted a father-and-son bond for the duo onscreen, but one day Morrison learnt just how deep their connection ran in real life. Momoa, an indigenous Hawaiian, had his then two young children, daughter Lola and son Nakoa-Wolf, visit him on set. What Momoa chose to share with them was how important Morrison, a fellow Polynesian actor via his Māori heritage, had been to him long before they met. 'I heard him tell his kids, 'See that guy there' – and he's pointing at me – 'I saw his movie Once Were Warriors and that's what excited me to become an actor and get into this business',' Morrison says, referring to his breakthrough role in the 1994 New Zealand classic. 'Just quietly, that made me very proud.' Fast forward to today and Morrison is again working with Momoa, but the stakes are very different. An epic nine-episode historic drama set on the Hawaiian Islands in the late 18th century, Apple TV+'s Chief of War is a bloody, impassioned epic about the unification of rival Indigenous kingdoms into a single nation. Deeply versed in the island chain's history and with Olelo Hawai'i as the principal language spoken, it's Momoa's long-held passion project. It's where the chips he accumulated for Aquaman and Fast X, Dune and The Minecraft Movie get pushed all in. Momoa co-created the series, has a starring role, directed the finale, and according to an admiring Morrison, did plenty more. 'He's a 100-miles-an-hour and a hundred things going on. Not many people can do that,' Morrison says. 'When Jason directed his episode, he had multiple cameras going. He had actors and stunties and muskets firing, all on top of a real volcano erupting. That's a whole lot of energy. He's been preparing himself for this project. He's learnt everything technical, and he's learnt quickly. But he doesn't give himself credit.' It's late summer in Hawaii, the day before the red-carpet launch of Chief of War, and while he's fighting a chest infection, Morrison is full of enthusiasm for Momoa, the show, and what it will mean for Hawaiian culture. Morrison, one of the most commanding 64-year-olds you can encounter, knows what he wants to do after his interview schedule – it involves 'a couple of schooners' – but right now, he's got praise to share. Loading 'This was totally different to Aquaman,' Morrison says. 'There was a sense of pride in being Polynesian. A sense of connection. Here we are: Hawaiian and Māori together, speaking your language. This was something culturally significant. This was something Jason had always wanted to make. Something about his people.' As with Shogun, the hit Disney+ series set in 17th century feudal Japan, Chief of War is immersed in a deeply traditional culture just starting to have contact with the outside world. But here there is no European character to serve as the audience's proxy. You're thrown – quite literally, in the first scene – into the deep end, with the stunning landscapes and historically accurate production design setting up a paradise beset by conflict. Momoa stars as Ka'iana, a Maui chief living in exile, with his wife, Kupuohi (Te Ao o Hinepehinga), and brothers, who is recalled to his home island by Morrison's ambitious king, Kahekili. The dynamic between the two is fraught, setting in motion events that speak not only to personal power but also to spiritual conviction and national survival – the destructive colonial powers, bearing gunpowder, silver and disease, are edging closer to the Hawaiian Islands. Morrison comes from a family of performers and singers, appearing on New Zealand screens since the late 1980s and taking up Hollywood roles after Once Were Warriors ′ international acclaim. He's played bounty hunter Jango Fett and his son Boba in various Star Wars releases, from the movie prequels to the 2021 series The Book of Boba Fett, but he demurred when Momoa first came calling, worried he would let his friend down. 'You need Cliff Curtis,' Morrison told Momoa, citing his New Zealand friend and Once Were Warriors co-star, who had just featured in Avatar: The Way of Water. But Momoa already had another role in mind for Curtis, rival chief Keoua, so he kept pressing Morrison, who then replied that he was worried he was taking a role from a Hawaiian actor. 'Jason's words to me were, 'Bro, we're the same people'. That did it. He was right. We have 'aroha' for love, they say 'aloha',' Morrison says. 'I could tell from the excitement in his voice that he wanted me onboard his waka [canoe]. He's got this ability to sell you anything. I heard he pitched Chief of War over the phone to Apple TV+ and they took it on.' Loading Once he said yes, Morrison was at ease playing Kahekili. He knew how to carry himself like an absolute leader, and understood the warrior ethic through his own Māori lineage. The challenge was learning Olelo Hawai'i. Chief of War was too important, to Momoa and every other native Hawaiian, for outside actors to simply recite the lines phonetically. The cast had to be able to talk to each other. This gig came with historic responsibility. 'I still remember my first day on set where the boom operator, who holds a big microphone above us actors, looks at me and she says, 'You're playing my ancestor',' Morrison says. 'I didn't know how to respond, but I knew that if I didn't get it right she would probably bang me on the head with her microphone.' Starting with the scripts co-written by Momoa and fellow creator Thomas Pa'aa Sibbett, Chief of War has a comprehensive level of anthropological detail. The costume department was in pre-production for eight months, re-creating the feathers of extinct birds for the individual Ahu'ula (cape) and Mahiole (helmet) worn by each chief. Historically accurate weapons, for male and female warriors, were duplicated. Morrison himself started the day at 3am, having Kahekili's extensive facial tattoos drawn on. 'We had all of Polynesia involved: we had Samoan actors, we had Tongan actors, Tahitian actors, a few Māori actors, and, of course many Hawaiian actors. The whole cast came together with a responsibility to do the best we could,' Morrison says. 'That reconnected us as Polynesians. It brought us together in a very close-knit way. A lot of love shared. It was quite wonderful.' Loading Some challenges for Morrison required a veteran actor's cunning. Momoa is almost two metres tall, and Morrison, who's quick to joke about his lack of height, is not. When the two shared a scene walking along a path, Morrison stood on the track's edge, to add a few centimetres. Whenever a scene took place on volcanic rocks, Morrison would check with the cinematographer if his 'soft feet' were in the shot. If not, he could wear padding. But these cheeky workarounds never got in the way of the show's mission. From Momoa on down, everyone involved with Chief of War was committed to showing audiences the Hawaii that existed for 1000 years before its annexation by the United States in 1898. 'Hopefully, Hawaiians will feel a sense of pride and a sense of reclaiming their identity, in having their culture reflected back to them,' Morrison says. 'We've been doing that for a little while in New Zealand, but we've all got a lot to learn about Hawaii.'
The Age
a day ago
- The Age
‘We're the same people': How a Kiwi legend and Hollywood superstar bonded over history
Eight years have passed, but the emotion still rises in Temuera Morrison's voice when he recalls the defining compliment his fellow actor Jason Momoa paid him. In 2017, the two stars were on the vast Gold Coast set of Hollywood superhero blockbuster Aquaman. Momoa, the rising Hollywood success story, had the title role of the heroic undersea warrior, while Morrison, the New Zealand veteran with an eclectic CV, was playing his human father. Aquaman 's script may have crafted a father-and-son bond for the duo onscreen, but one day Morrison learnt just how deep their connection ran in real life. Momoa, an indigenous Hawaiian, had his then two young children, daughter Lola and son Nakoa-Wolf, visit him on set. What Momoa chose to share with them was how important Morrison, a fellow Polynesian actor via his Māori heritage, had been to him long before they met. 'I heard him tell his kids, 'See that guy there' – and he's pointing at me – 'I saw his movie Once Were Warriors and that's what excited me to become an actor and get into this business',' Morrison says, referring to his breakthrough role in the 1994 New Zealand classic. 'Just quietly, that made me very proud.' Fast forward to today and Morrison is again working with Momoa, but the stakes are very different. An epic nine-episode historic drama set on the Hawaiian Islands in the late 18th century, Apple TV+'s Chief of War is a bloody, impassioned epic about the unification of rival Indigenous kingdoms into a single nation. Deeply versed in the island chain's history and with Olelo Hawai'i as the principal language spoken, it's Momoa's long-held passion project. It's where the chips he accumulated for Aquaman and Fast X, Dune and The Minecraft Movie get pushed all in. Momoa co-created the series, has a starring role, directed the finale, and according to an admiring Morrison, did plenty more. 'He's a 100-miles-an-hour and a hundred things going on. Not many people can do that,' Morrison says. 'When Jason directed his episode, he had multiple cameras going. He had actors and stunties and muskets firing, all on top of a real volcano erupting. That's a whole lot of energy. He's been preparing himself for this project. He's learnt everything technical, and he's learnt quickly. But he doesn't give himself credit.' It's late summer in Hawaii, the day before the red-carpet launch of Chief of War, and while he's fighting a chest infection, Morrison is full of enthusiasm for Momoa, the show, and what it will mean for Hawaiian culture. Morrison, one of the most commanding 64-year-olds you can encounter, knows what he wants to do after his interview schedule – it involves 'a couple of schooners' – but right now, he's got praise to share. Loading 'This was totally different to Aquaman,' Morrison says. 'There was a sense of pride in being Polynesian. A sense of connection. Here we are: Hawaiian and Māori together, speaking your language. This was something culturally significant. This was something Jason had always wanted to make. Something about his people.' As with Shogun, the hit Disney+ series set in 17th century feudal Japan, Chief of War is immersed in a deeply traditional culture just starting to have contact with the outside world. But here there is no European character to serve as the audience's proxy. You're thrown – quite literally, in the first scene – into the deep end, with the stunning landscapes and historically accurate production design setting up a paradise beset by conflict. Momoa stars as Ka'iana, a Maui chief living in exile, with his wife, Kupuohi (Te Ao o Hinepehinga), and brothers, who is recalled to his home island by Morrison's ambitious king, Kahekili. The dynamic between the two is fraught, setting in motion events that speak not only to personal power but also to spiritual conviction and national survival – the destructive colonial powers, bearing gunpowder, silver and disease, are edging closer to the Hawaiian Islands. Morrison comes from a family of performers and singers, appearing on New Zealand screens since the late 1980s and taking up Hollywood roles after Once Were Warriors ′ international acclaim. He's played bounty hunter Jango Fett and his son Boba in various Star Wars releases, from the movie prequels to the 2021 series The Book of Boba Fett, but he demurred when Momoa first came calling, worried he would let his friend down. 'You need Cliff Curtis,' Morrison told Momoa, citing his New Zealand friend and Once Were Warriors co-star, who had just featured in Avatar: The Way of Water. But Momoa already had another role in mind for Curtis, rival chief Keoua, so he kept pressing Morrison, who then replied that he was worried he was taking a role from a Hawaiian actor. 'Jason's words to me were, 'Bro, we're the same people'. That did it. He was right. We have 'aroha' for love, they say 'aloha',' Morrison says. 'I could tell from the excitement in his voice that he wanted me onboard his waka [canoe]. He's got this ability to sell you anything. I heard he pitched Chief of War over the phone to Apple TV+ and they took it on.' Loading Once he said yes, Morrison was at ease playing Kahekili. He knew how to carry himself like an absolute leader, and understood the warrior ethic through his own Māori lineage. The challenge was learning Olelo Hawai'i. Chief of War was too important, to Momoa and every other native Hawaiian, for outside actors to simply recite the lines phonetically. The cast had to be able to talk to each other. This gig came with historic responsibility. 'I still remember my first day on set where the boom operator, who holds a big microphone above us actors, looks at me and she says, 'You're playing my ancestor',' Morrison says. 'I didn't know how to respond, but I knew that if I didn't get it right she would probably bang me on the head with her microphone.' Starting with the scripts co-written by Momoa and fellow creator Thomas Pa'aa Sibbett, Chief of War has a comprehensive level of anthropological detail. The costume department was in pre-production for eight months, re-creating the feathers of extinct birds for the individual Ahu'ula (cape) and Mahiole (helmet) worn by each chief. Historically accurate weapons, for male and female warriors, were duplicated. Morrison himself started the day at 3am, having Kahekili's extensive facial tattoos drawn on. 'We had all of Polynesia involved: we had Samoan actors, we had Tongan actors, Tahitian actors, a few Māori actors, and, of course many Hawaiian actors. The whole cast came together with a responsibility to do the best we could,' Morrison says. 'That reconnected us as Polynesians. It brought us together in a very close-knit way. A lot of love shared. It was quite wonderful.' Loading Some challenges for Morrison required a veteran actor's cunning. Momoa is almost two metres tall, and Morrison, who's quick to joke about his lack of height, is not. When the two shared a scene walking along a path, Morrison stood on the track's edge, to add a few centimetres. Whenever a scene took place on volcanic rocks, Morrison would check with the cinematographer if his 'soft feet' were in the shot. If not, he could wear padding. But these cheeky workarounds never got in the way of the show's mission. From Momoa on down, everyone involved with Chief of War was committed to showing audiences the Hawaii that existed for 1000 years before its annexation by the United States in 1898. 'Hopefully, Hawaiians will feel a sense of pride and a sense of reclaiming their identity, in having their culture reflected back to them,' Morrison says. 'We've been doing that for a little while in New Zealand, but we've all got a lot to learn about Hawaii.'
7NEWS
4 days ago
- 7NEWS
Ozzy Osbourne remembered by stars from Elton John to Jason Momoa in touching posts
In life, Ozzy Osbourne was dubbed 'The Prince of Darkness'. And as word of his death Tuesday spread, rock's royalty bade farewell to the irrepressible Black Sabbath singer. 'He was a dear friend and a huge trailblazer who secured his place in the pantheon of rock gods — a true legend,' Elton John posted on Instagram. 'He was also one of the funniest people I've ever met.' Another British singer with a distinctive voice and offbeat sense of humor, Rod Stewart, also weighed in with condolences. 'Bye, bye Ozzy,' Stewart posted on Instagram. 'I'll see you up there — later rather than sooner.' Osbourne was an avid Beatles fan and credited the Fab Four with inspiring his musical career. The official X page of the late Beatles great John Lennon sent a bit of love Osbourne's way by simply posting 'OZZY,' accompanied by a black heart. 'Farewell to the Prince of Darkness,' the official X page of the late guitar god Jimi Hendrix posted. Heavy metal singers Osbourne inspired, like David Coverdale, formerly of Deep Purple and Whitesnake, Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe, Dee Snider of Twister Sister and David Draiman of Disturbed, who referred to Ozzy as 'my dear teacher', also paid their respects online. Loading Instagram Post So did other masters of heavy metal, like Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of Kiss, as well as groundbreaking rappers like Ice-T and Flavor Flav. 'Man, real heart broken over the passing of OZZY OSBOURNE,' Flavor Flav posted. Pop star T-Pain, champion of auto-tune vocal processing who covered Black Sabbath's War Pigs in 2023, expressed sorrow on X, where he used a devil's horns hand emoji as a tribute. 'Heartbroken by the news,' the artist said. 'I was blessed to be able to cover War Pigs and get your recognition. Ozzy Forever 🤘🏿' Actor Danny Trejo described Osbourne as a man of 'pure light' despite his trademark reputation for darkness. He said the icon had a heart bigger than any stage he graced. 'Save me a seat backstage up there, carnál,' Trejo said on Facebook. Actor Jason Momoa, who emceed Osbourne's last performance earlier this month, posted expressions of 'aloha' and 'ohana,' Hawaiian for 'family,' for Sharon Osbourne. There were also bipartisan expressions of grief from prominent U.S. politicians. 'Ozzy Osbourne was a man of multitudes: larger-than-life, yet honestly human,' California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, posted. Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., posted photos of herself and her family on X with Osbourne. 'Ozzy was a true pioneer of heavy metal and an enduring symbol of the rebellious, freedom-loving spirit that resonates across our nation and throughout the world,' Spartz wrote. 'He will be missed.' Osbourne gained a whole new generation of fans when he and his madcap family became the subject of a reality TV show called, appropriately enough, 'The Osbournes.' It ran on MTV from 2002 through 2005, and that, coupled with his heavy metal showmanship, earned him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Fittingly for a rock icon who came from the bleakest corner of Birmingham, England, it was placed on Hollywood Boulevard in front of the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum. And as word of Osbourne's death spread, flowers were placed on the star and fans stopped to express their condolences. 'Ozzy Osbourne was more than a rock legend—he was a cultural icon who reshaped music and defied expectations,' Ana Martinez, who is the producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, said in a statement. 'His star on the Walk of Fame will now shine even brighter as fans from around the world come to honor his incredible legacy. He will be deeply missed.'
