Jason Momoa’s epic miniseries features Maui resident Branscombe Richmond as a Hawaiian chief

Maui actor Branscombe Richmond says his mother Alice Kamano Pelayo was born in Kipahulu but left the islands when she grew older because her mother urged her to seek new opportunities.

“You go to the continent and make something out of yourself. Create a career. Get a job,” she told her daughter.

So Kamano Pelayo moved to California, met a movie stuntman from Tahiti and gave birth to Richmond in Hollywood in 1955, becoming part of the Hawaiian diaspora living on the Mainland.

As fate would have it, decades later Richmond would connect with a fellow “Hawaiian transplant” — O‘ahu-born, Iowa-raised film and TV star Jason Momoa — on an Apple TV+ miniseries, “Chief of War.” The show, which debuts globally today, explores a pivotal period of Hawaiian history and gave both Richmond and Momoa a chance to tell the kind of story rarely seen on mainstream platforms.

“It’ll open your eyes to see what can be done about historical figures in Hawaiian culture,” said Richmond, a 51-year veteran of the entertainment industry who now lives in Kula.

Richmond’s bigger-than-life smile was everywhere on July 27 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center as he made the rounds with the 700 people who came to see the Maui premiere of the first episode of the nine-part series. The first two episodes are in ʻŌlelo Hawai‘i with English subtitles. 

“Chief of War,” which has been 15 years in the making, is set during Hawai’i’s wars of unification in the last decades of the 18th century — and following Capt. James Cook’s arrival to Hawai‘i in 1778. 

At the time, the islands of Maui, Oʻahu, Kauaʻi and Hawai‘i island were different kingdoms, each ruled by rival chiefs. Some of the chiefs came from the same familial bloodlines, and considered themselves entitled to their rivals’ kingdoms.

The “Chief of War” debut happens to fall on Momoa’s 46th birthday. The first two episodes dropped last week and new episodes will follow each Friday through Sept. 19, all airing on streaming service Apple TV+.

Momoa was born in Honolulu in 1979, but was raised in Norwalk, Iowa, by his mother Coni. After high school, Momoa moved to O‘ahu, where he landed a lead role, beating out of thousands of people trying out for a part in the TV series “Baywatch Hawai‘i,” in 1989.

Richmond was raised in a Jewish neighborhood of Encino, Calif., in the 1950s and ‘60s, a community he calls “a blessing for me.” Richmond, who turns 70 on Aug. 8, has lived on Maui for the past 22 years on a homestead with his wife, Leialoha Ma‘a, who was Miss Hawai‘i 1979. They met on the set of the television series “Hawaiian Heat.”

Richmond is the son of movie stuntman Leo C. Richmond, who was born in Tahiti, and Alice Kamano Pelayo, who was born in Kipahulu, Maui, when Hawai‘i was still a territory. His parents were “like so many people from Polynesia looking for a life that gives them opportunity.”

When his father immigrated from Tahiti to San Francisco at the age 18 in 1932, customs officials saw his Tahitian paperwork and labeled him “negroid” on his entry papers.

“The ignorance of who we are … ran deep then,” Richmond said.

His father gave him advice that he would carry with him throughout his life.

“My dad told me this: ‘Timing, chance, good fortune, persistence, talent,’” Richmond said. “When the time comes, you better take a chance on yourself.”

Richmond said “Chief of War” is driven by Momoa’s desire to explore the place he is from.

“He’s looking for love, Jason is, in his life. He came back for a love of where he came from — to understand who am I, what am I, where am I going, where have my people been?” Richmond said. “It’s so important. It is just so important.”

Momoa executive produces the series and stars in the lead role of Ka‘iana, a warrior chief of Kaua‘i who joins a bloody campaign until, at the last minute, he rebels against the unification of the islands. The first episode shows that Ka‘iana must wind through the demands and conflicting ambitions of the rival chiefs. Ka‘iana is soon ensnared in what he feels is an unjust war. 

“Chief of War … may not ring a bell to some guys in South Dakota, but in many ways, we’re running the lane of what ‘Dances with Wolves’ was for Indian country, what ‘Shogun’ has done (for Japan),” Richmond said.

The first episode of “Chief of War” was a powerful 60 minutes of action that sets the stage for the remainder of the first season, which has been estimated to have cost $340 million to produce.

Richmond stands 6-foot-3 and has regularly played the bad guy on-screen. He’s been punched by Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Commando” (1985), been pummeled by Carl Weathers in “Action Jackson” (1988) and fought with Steven Seagal in “Hard to Kill” (1990).

Richmond and longtime Hawai‘i watermen Brian Keaulana and Archie Kalepa all assisted with the “Chief of War” project. Richmond appears in the third episode as Kalaniʻōpuʻu, one of the warring island chiefs.

“Naturally, I wanted to play a warrior, but they didn’t let me,” Richmond said. “They needed a certain stalwart elder. And I am so blessed and so happy and so thankful and grateful that they picked me.”

Richmond, Kalepa, Keaulana and Makalapua Kanuha, a prominent Hawaiian cultural practitioner, held a talk story session after the premiere of episode 1 in the Castle Theater. 

They emphasized the cultural impact of the miniseries and the hope that it could be a spark plug to energize the Hawai‘i film industry, which is also a goal of Momoa.

“ ‘Chief of War’ is an angel project that Jason Momoa has had in his heart for a long time,” Richmond said from his Kula home on July 24. “So, the association with Apple TV+ that Jason had …  He found the right partner.”

Richmond emphasized that he believes the production has a chance to go viral. The first episode was an epic, edge-of-your-seat thriller with several bloody battle scenes.

“When you’re over there playing Aquaman, then all of a sudden somebody says, ‘Well, let’s do another show.’ And Aquaman says, ‘What I would like to do is a story about my people.’ And they go, ‘oh, that’s a great idea, but can we do another superhero?’ ” Richmond said of Momoa.

“We all understand … that we’re in a business that means revenue. And so here’s always the key: Is Polynesia, are Hawaiians applicable to those (revenue) questions? And I believe they are.”

Richmond believes the Hawaiian language spoken in the first two episodes could be the key to drawing in an audience.

“It’s going to be a ride and a half, man, of people watching this (series),” Richmond said. “And I think it’s going to be the first time that you’re going to hear ʻŌlelo Hawai‘i worldwide.”

What put a big smile on Richmond’s face was that his three sons — Maro-uo, Fairai and Terani — were all employed as stuntmen for the production. Richmond’s daughter, Leiohu, also works in the industry as a production coordinator, but was not involved in “Chief of War.”

“We’ve never been able to tell our stories on this level with a generational star like Jason to get everybody’s attention and on a streaming app like Apple TV+,” said Terani Richmond, a 33-year-old 2010 graduate of Kamehameha Schools Maui. “We were given the best budget that any TV show of this length has gotten. And we put our best foot forward and made sure we were telling the stories correctly. There were so many kumu (teachers) involved to make sure we were getting the history right.”

Shooting for the big-budget series began in 2022. The cast and crew spent several months on Hawai‘i island, then shot most of the production in New Zealand. 

Terani Richmond said he did all seven months of his stunt work in Hawai‘i.

“We’ve never done it like this before,” he said. “The world has never seen our stories told like this, in this capacity, in our language. This is big for our kids growing up. To let all of the people around the world who love Hawai‘i know, this is how Hawai‘i came to be.” 

For Branscombe Richmond, the show holds deep meaning among the many roles he’s held. He first broke into film and TV in the early 1970s with minor roles in shows such as The Rockford Files (1974), Bionic Woman (1976) and Magnum, P.I. (1980). 

He received perhaps his biggest break in early 1991 when he scored the key role of “Bobby Six Killer” in the bounty hunter-themed television series “Renegade” (1992), starring alongside Lorenzo Lamas and Kathleen Kinmont. He played the role in more than 100 episodes in the series.

Now, his focus is on roles that he can pick. Richmond was honored to be part of the “Chief of War,” but emphasized he was only a part of the entire, massive project.

“It’s never been about me,” Branscombe Richmond said. “It’s been about us. And our responsibility is to share that aloha. Somebody’s hungry, you feed them. You don’t know them, but you feed them. And you share your wealth.”

Branscombe Richmond is also the official spokesman for Indian Motorcycles, is in the motorcycle hall of fame in Pickerington, Ohio, and the lead singer for the band “Branscombe Richmond and the Renegade Posse.”

In Momoa, Richmond finds a familiar story. They both came back to the islands to reconnect with their roots and a place that part of their family left behind.

“Jason Momoa is a transplant Hawaiian,” Richmond said. “And like so many of us, I’m a transplant Hawaiian.”

Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen, a Native Hawaiian who was in attendance at the premiere, said Richmond brings a level of legitimacy to Maui with his half-century in show business.

“I think the most important thing is that we’re telling story about Hawaiians, through the lens, the eyes, the voices, the language of Hawaiians,” Bissen said. “Branscombe is a veteran, he knows his way around, he’s been involved in the ups and the downs of this industry.”