Jason Momoa challenged a reporter over an “icky” Game of Thrones question during a recent interview.

Times writer David Marchese asked him about a notorious rape scene featuring his villainous character, the brutal warlord Drogo, from the premiere episode of “Game of Thrones.”

While the show is based on novels and some of the violent scenes are necessary for the storyline, it has also been chastised for its gratuitous use of violence and nudity, particularly in relation to female characters. This criticism persisted throughout the show’s lifespan, and Momoa departed after one season in 2012. Prior to Game of Thrones, he was relatively unknown.

When Marchese asked whether Momoa “thinks differently about those scenes today,” he replied, “Well, it was important to depict Drogo and his style. You’re playing someone that’s like Genghis Khan.”

“But my job was to play something like that, and it’s not a nice thing, and it’s what that character was.”

Then he clarified that his role was to perform, not to change the story.

“It’s not my job to go, ‘Would I not do it?’ I’ve never really been questioned about ‘Do you regret playing a role?’ We’ll put it this way: I already did it. Not doing it again.”

The scene was heavily panned by fans at the time for departing from George R. R. Martin’s original story, in which the two characters were together consensually.

That was the end of his response, yet the awkwardness continued throughout the interview. And that seemed to affect the rest of the discussion, with Momoa “seemingly giving Marchese the cold shoulder for the remainder of their chat, often offering only terse answers to the reporter’s questions about other roles,” according to the New York Post.

Marchese then moved on to Momoa’s forthcoming projects, including “Sweet Girl,” a film in which “big pharma” is implicated, he said.

“[I’ve] never researched anything like that before. Big pharma’s pretty scary, buddy ,” Momoa said of his new role. “I don’t really want to talk about big pharma right now,” Momoa said when asked what kind of “research stood out” in preparation for filming.

Jason returned to the initial question at the end of the interview, stating it had “left a bad feeling in my stomach.”

Jason Momoa’s starred as Khal Drogo in HBO’s “Game of Thrones” between 2011 and 2012.
©HBO/Courtesy Everett Collectio

“When you brought up Game of Thrones, you brought up stuff about what’s happening with my character and would I do it again,” the 42-year-old mentioned. “I was bummed when you asked me that. It just feels icky—putting it upon me to remove something. As if an actor even had the choice to do that. We’re not really allowed to do anything. There are producers, there are writers, there are directors, and you don’t get to come in and be like, ‘I’m not going do that because this isn’t kosher right now and not right in the political climate.’ That never happens. So it’s a question that feels icky. I just wanted you to know that.”

“So it’s a question that feels icky,” Momoa closed. “I just wanted you to know that.”

In 2017, a video of Momoa commenting about his Game of Thrones role on a panel at San Diego Comic-Con in 2011 began spreading on the internet. “As far as sci-fi and fantasy, I love that genre because there are so many things you can do, like rip someone’s tongue out of their throat and get away with it and rape beautiful women,” Momoa said at the time.

However, he eventually apologized for his remarks in the unearthed video. “I awoke in Australia to the justified reactions by many people to a distasteful joke I made years ago in Hall H for which I am sorry,” Momoa wrote in an Instagram post. “I am still severely disappointed in myself at the insensitivity of my remarks that day. I know my sincerest apology now won’t take away those hurtful words. Rape and sexual harassment can reach anyone and I have seen first hand its painful torment among members of my own family and friends. I made a truly tasteless comment. It is unacceptable and I sincerely apologize with a heavy heart for the words I said.”