With the third season of See now streaming on Apple TV+, I recently participated in a group interview with Jason Momoa to talk about the making of the final season. During the interview, Momoa talked about why the series ended with Season 3, how they shot Season 2 and 3 back-to-back before he made Aquaman 2, what he learned about acting while making See, bringing in Michael Raymond-James, and having to loop the entire final fight scene and why he hated the process. In addition, he talks about filming the big final fight scene with second unit director Damon Caro, and why people like watching him punch villains in the face.

If you’ve never watched See, the series takes place in the future, after a deadly virus decimated humankind. Those who survived emerged blind. The series follows Momoa’s character, Baba Voss, the father of twins born with the mythic ability to see, as he tries to protect his family from those that would use or kill his children.

See Season 3 also stars Sylvia Hoeks, Hera Hilmar, Christian Camargo, Archie Madekwe, Nesta Cooper, Tom Mison, Olivia Cheng, Eden Epstein, and David Hewlett. Jonathan Tropper returns as showrunner and he executive produces with Steven Knight, Francis Lawrence, Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, Jim Rowe, Jennifer Yale, and Anders Engström.

QUESTION: This is the third and final season. How much was the decision to end with the third season because your contract for the show was up? How did the decision come for this being the final season?

JASON MOMOA: I think about a little bit of both. I think three seasons is pretty perfect. I mean, just depending on the show, but I feel like this was the perfect time to kind of wrap it all up. I feel like a lot of shows I've been part of didn't plan for that. And then those seasons and everyone's always bummed out and the fans are bummed out, and I think that's the thing where I'm like, "Yes, let's wrap this up. Let's do it." And truth be told too, it's like we've got so many projects coming up too, that we're doing. It's like, let's focus on See. So we shot back-to-back Season 2 and Season 3 before I went to go do Aquaman 2 so.

Across working three seasons with Joe Stretchay, what would you say was the biggest acting lesson that you got to walk away with in your toolbox forever?

MOMOA: Well, the training that Joe put us through in the very beginning was wonderful. I didn't go to too many acting classes or courses, but learning and understanding what it's like or what it would be like to basically just depend on your other senses was a huge for me [...] Sorry, this list may go long. We can stay out longer, but you asked this so. We did the scene where me and Hera, we don't really have these love-making scenes. How do you do husband and wife? And so not to get too personal, but when you're with your partner, generally, you love your person's smell. And women are definitely way more into pheromones than men are. And so with that, we were talking to Joe, I'm like, "Wow, there's this one thing where she likes my smell and I hate my smell," so you put deodorant on.

But they love that pheromone smell. And so we did this little workshop where Hera is just trying to smell me, and I'm trying to get away from her smelling me. It's become this intimate to the point where I'm laughing, and she's like dive-bombing my armpit. And I'm just trying to push her away from everything. But it becomes so intimate and loving that from that little exercise, it just was this intimacy that is like, I've delivered our children. It was something where I didn't have to kiss her or know what it's like, or have those awkward things on set. It becomes like I grab her hand, and she's my wife, and it made it really comfortable, these little exercises we did that Joe helped us find and inspire to. So I'm sorry. That's a little example of things that we just don't have a chance to do. I haven't done yet so.

So last season Baba was up against his brother and this season everyone's up against Maghra's sister, Queen Kane. What do you think is the most compelling aspect of having the protagonist's sibling be a villain?

MOMOA: Well, she's been the villain the whole goddamn time she's been hunting my children's whole life. So, I mean, I hate that woman. So the great thing is some of the scenes are that were in Season 2 where I just got to sit there and bite my tongue as she speaks, and she's in my house. These are wonderful scenes when I was reading it, when I was reading these scenes, I'm literally biting my tongue. And so I wanted to do that in the scene where I'm like, I'm literally chewing my tongue because I'm so pissed at what I have to go through. Even this season, it's insane what Maghra does to me and what I have to go through and what he finds out. There's one scene where I go, "Where is this? Where's Paris? What do you mean? Who is this? Why is she put... What?" And this whole scene, this guy is just getting punched in the face over and over. And as a father, if that should happen, I'd be freaking out. Anyways, I love that it's her. I love the way that this season ends, I'll say that.

So question about how Baba starts the season, because obviously he's been in exile, he's been changed by things that happened and then there's of course a canine.

MOMOA: So just the cool thing about this season is my best friend, the godfather of my children, the reason why I booked every job. I booked Drogo, I booked Aquaman because of Michael Raymond-James. So my best friend, who's now the godfather of my children. I got to hire him in to play my best friend who I trained with, and we have a big history together with, and then I wanted my dog in, and it was just really expensive for the dog. We were trying to get him in Season 2, but finally, let me do it in Season 3. Rama, who was one of the puppies from the first season, from the bad dogs, raised him, and trained him to be my support and to fight with me. I thought it'd be beautiful to have Rama in there. So we just came up with it. We're going to have his name be Rama, but then I was like, no, it's called No because he won't listen to anything else but no. And so just a dog named No and my son's name's Wolf. So a boy named Wolf, a dog named No, and I just thought it'd be funny, and then they'd let me do it. And so that's wonderful.

Then actually there's a role that's been playing the scientist and is David Hewlett, who we worked on Stargate: Atlantis, and also Joe Flanigan, who was in it too. So my two friends from Stargate are in that and my mother [on the show], she's in there too. So these people I work with that you go like, "Oh my God, I had so much fun with you. I want to work with you again." And David, who plays a scientist, he's so good at certain things.

He's such a wonderful actor. When the role came up, me and David may have our own little personal dramas between each other. I just want to put that shit aside and went "You? No one's going to beat this guy. Put him on tape. See what happens." I was like, "Denise, put him on tape, see what happens." And I talked to Tropper, and they go, he destroyed everyone. He was amazing. I'm like, "He's the fucking best at what he does." And he's got that. He's a wonderful actor, and it was amazing to have him on, and I'm very proud of him to play the villain so.

With a shoot like this, there's got to be a lot of balls being juggled, a lot of plates spinning in the air, and potential for unexpected, crazy things to happen while you're shooting. Is there a particularly memorable, crazy moment that happened for you on set?

MOMOA: So tough to go back and there's always so many crazy things that happen on set. I mean the show has put me through some doozies, bro. I mean, I've looked up and see the grizzly bear on its hind legs above me, and I'm going, I hope this ground doesn't just give away cause then I would have an 800-pound grizzly on my head. I've been through some fucking doozies on this show and the fight scenes are... I mean, they're the best fight scenes I've ever been a part of. So trying to think of it aside from just being injured. God-damn. I can't, I'm sorry buddy. I can't think of anything that's just crazy off the top of my head. I wasn't prepared for that. So I apologize. We'll go with grizzly falling on my head.

I, like many people, enjoy watching you punch people in the face. I think you do it very well. And I'm just curious, what do you think?

MOMOA: My agents looking at me, he's going like this and I go, I'm laughing, and I go, Steve's like, "I, like many other people, enjoy watching you punch people in the face" and I'm just like, "Thanks bro." That's a wonderful compliment.

I'm being very sincere when I say this. Can you talk a little bit about how you sort of pull it off where people really buy into wanting to watch you kick ass on screen?

MOMOA: That's a great question cause I have no idea. But I mean I love doing it. The older I get, it's getting harder and harder, but I just watched the season finale last night, and it is my dream come true to do this fight scene. I was like, "I want to stand up in the frame." He does these certain things. He says what he says to his children and he goes down and it was so much fun to shoot. We had our amazing stunt coordinator, and he's our second unit director, Damon Caro. I did Justice League with him and Zack Snyder and called him in, and he just killed it this season. It was wonderful, just called in all favors. But this last fight scene is unbelievable, and it hurt like hell, and it's worth every bit of it. And I hope everyone will be very entertained. And you, my friend Steven, are going to love it.

I mean, I've already seen it.

MOMOA: You've already seen it?

I watched the whole season to get ready for this interview.

MOMOA: Do you guys watch the whole season of Season 3?

I'm not sure about the rest of the people on the thing, but I watched all of Season 3, yeah.

MOMOA: Bro, how great's the fucking ending?

It is a great culmination of three seasons of the show and it's a great fucking fight scene, and it's a great closing to the show.

MOMOA: It's a great closing to the show. It was very emotional. So check this out. I was very, very angry. Sorry. This is a great piece. I'm sorry if you don't get an answer to any questions. So I'm shooting Fast 10, and I'm in Rome. I have to get called in for looping, and they call me about, I have to do the last four minutes of that scene. They're like "We have to loop it." I'm like, "What are you talking about? I have to go through all that again?" It was said I went to the hospital when I was doing Fast 10 because I had this brain aneurysm—I don't want to say that. Cause it's going to show up in the news like "Jason has a brain aneurysm." I basically, I yelled so loud that I blew up my head and I gave too much to a performance that actually hurt myself. Fast-forward to about two weeks before that, I rewind it two weeks before that I was doing this scene and I had to do that last scene in its entirety.

Well probably took five days to shoot it. I had to go emotionally go and loop four and a half minutes. I was so pissed. I went outside, and I was just bummed that we didn't get it. And I had to deliver all that emotional stuff. But not only that I had to go and say goodbye to Baba again. I already said bye to Baba a while ago, and I went and shot Aquaman. This is years it went by. I had to go back in, emotionally go through that rollercoaster, and hit all the marks but all at the same time, give it 110%. Cause if I gave it any less, I would be fucking over everything that I worked hard for three seasons. So I knew I was screwed. Went out, and I called my mom—like any man does, calls their mom—cry to my mom, be bummed out about it. And then I called Julian Schnabel, who is a dear friend who loves the show. He loves See so much and it's so rare.

And I called him up, and he goes, "Well, listen, you're going to go in. You're going to do it. And then you're going to go about your day, and you're going to have a great day, but you're going to go in, and you're going to give everything to it." As much as it was justified, “I'm like, damn it, I don't want to do this.” I went back in, I taped it. I'm going to release this at some point.

I'll have my friend tape it. It's like eight minutes. And I walk in, I do it. I'm just quiet. I start going about it. And I emotionally go through it, do all the action, go through all the breathing, do everything I need to do. And I'm a fucking wreck. I'm emotionally drained. I say goodbye to Baba. I walk out to the car, and I'm hysterical for a very long time. For the rest of the day, it was brutal. I'm excited for people to see it, because I had to say bye to him again. It was like, oof. It's what a wonderful gift to be able to play Baba Voss and the show and to be able to wrap it up in three seasons instead of like, oh just getting canceled or something like that for the fans that have watched it and to the future fans who are going to hopefully watch one and two and continue on the three. I'm very thankful to Apple to put it all together.

Jason, you've got Anders behind the camera on this season, top to bottom. How is it having him behind the camera to kind of usher this farewell?

MOMOA: Me and Anders are like this. Me and Anders like this so much that on my next series that I'm doing, I'm trying to get Anders to do it. Obviously, Anders deserves to do his own pilot, have his own show, but I need him. I love him. He's a massive inspiration and the things that I don't have, he has so we can lean on each other. And my goal is to always make him to blow his mind. And he is a wonderful safety net to go play. And yeah man, he did all of it. I'm so very proud of him. I hope he's here at the premier tonight and lots of kisses come to him and Michael, our DP who was phenomenal, and he's went through the whole thing together. We all did it so.

What will he have to learn before his story can conclude? In order to land the ending, what kind of emotional journey does Baba have to go through?

MOMOA: Baba has to learn how to. I'm not sure if he learns this, but he is trying to learn how to pause and let things go. Because things are going to end up the way that they are and whether that be his children, and they're now taking their own journeys and hope and trust that he has done a good enough job that they're going to be just fine. And he has to let go of what is destined for his wife. He has to let go of the people that he loves, that got him to where he is. So it's really Baba's transformation is you see him let go and pause and let go into what is meant to be in the universe.

Okay, so Jason, tell me what your reaction was when you read the series finale script, if you can sort of talk about what you went through.

MOMOA: I have a very phenomenal relationship with our showrunner. Me and Jonathan are very tight and are allowed to work differently than showrunner and actor. I asked him and if I don't know the season ender, I definitely ask him and I ask him theme-wise what I would want, how I want, and what I want him to hopefully fuel him with inspiration, because I'm like, "Here's this amazing character. This is what I'd like to go on. Can you sit with that?" And that goes for the last season, Season 2, I'm like, "I want this huge battle cry. I want this speech, I've never had an opportunity to do and give this moment where I can just rally and do this in a sense of haka where it's this small group of warriors against this massive army and how we can rally and how we can use this."

Even in the end of Season 2, how I wanted to do this or what I wanted as a job, these movies that I grew up with, and I wanted to [have]Toshiro Mifune moments. I just put in my wishlist to my showrunner, and we really tried to elevate it to a place where it hasn't been done or hasn't been done like that. Cause everything's been done, but just trying to do things that even personally, that I've never had the opportunity as an actor to go through. So that answers that.

See Season 3 is now streaming on Apple TV+