There is something inherently grounded about Jason Momoa. It might be the way he speaks about nature as a living entity or the grit that comes from spending a decade chasing an idea that the industry initially dismissed I caught up with the actor, producer and environmental advocate on January 27th at Hilton, where the energy was electric and the man of the hour was every bit as authentic as the brand he’s brought to Dubai.
Jason has been coming to the UAE for years, well before his latest visit to Dubai for Meili Vodka, a premium spirit created in collaboration with his good friend Blaine Halvorson. Together, they set out to create a vodka meant to be enjoyed on its own rather than being buried under mixers. That philosophy shaped both the brand and the conversations he led during his time in Dubai.
While this trip coincided with the brand’s experiential activation at Hilton, Jason speaks about the country with the ease of someone who knows it beyond hotel lobbies and red carpets. While many visitors flock to the city’s glitz, Jason’s heart belongs to the elements, though he admitted Dubai’s “extravagant” choices are hard to beat.
“My favourite thing about any country, especially the UAE, is definitely the people, food and nature,” he told me. “I spent quite a bit of time filming Dune here and having five to six weeks to really live and experience the desert was incredible. To see how expansive it is and how peaceful, how quiet, it’s a special place that is like nowhere else.”
The story behind Meili Vodka (pronounced may-lee) isn’t your typical celebrity brand play. Jason is quick to point out that starting a brand is far more difficult than playing a character on screen.
“The idea came before anything else,” he told me. “We believed in something that wasn’t really proven by the industry. We were naive in a way but we believed it should be different.” That belief was not widely shared in the early years. Support was limited, progress was slow, and the learning curve was steep.
What sustained the project was conviction and friendship. “It took a long time, but we stood by it together. We believed the water would make a difference. A really beautiful water has to change the quality of everything.”
That obsession with water became Meili’s defining challenge. Creating what Jason describes as “living water” within an alcohol brand took years of experimentation and patience. “It’s very hard to put living water into alcohol,” he admits. “That’s what took us ten years to finesse.” While Meili has been on the market for two years, the groundwork stretches back nearly a decade of trial, error, and persistence.
For Jason, the experience fundamentally changed his understanding of effort and scale. When asked whether preparing for demanding film roles compares to building a business, his answer was immediate. “Starting your own brand is way more difficult,” he says.
Unlike acting, where teams, structures and support systems are built in, business offers fewer safety nets. “You can play a role for years and it can be challenging and fun,” he says, “but it’s not as hard as building something that you are passionate about and want to last.”
He is also candid about the temptation to compromise along the way. “You can sell out your brand, be the face of something you don’t believe in,” he says. “But doing it by your rules, staying authentic to your dream, that’s not easy.”
That insistence on doing things his own way is what makes Jason an unexpectedly grounded presence in person. In that sense, Dubai feels like a fitting backdrop. A city defined by ambition and reinvention, but also by landscape and contrast.
Meili Vodka is on a thrilling global expansion, including a growing presence in the UAE. A brand built slowly, deliberately and without shortcuts, it captures the essence of meaningful growth and authenticity. Much like Jason himself, who believes in substance over superficiality, Meili Vodka is all about staying true to its roots while making every moment of this journey exciting.
