KJ Apa is more than just an actor!
The 28-year-old actor was recently a guest on Today where he talked about a traditional Samoan title that’s been passed down through his family.
The actor revealed that he was recently named a chief in his Samoan community, a title that was passed down to him by his father in a traditional ceremony.
Keep reading to find out more…
KJ told the hosts about the tradition while a guest on the show. He said, “The title that my dad has is a very old title that’s in our family called Tupa’i. He got his title — I think it was about five, six years ago. And his father had it, so it was bestowed upon him after his father passed away.”
The actor revealed that in 2022, he was honored with the title of Savae during a special ceremony within his community. The title Savae is a title given to chiefs within the Samoan fa’amatai system and KJ talked about the “beautiful” ceremony and tradition.
“It’s an honor to be able to receive that from my village too,” KJ said on the talk show.
KJ went on to share that he’s mostly focused on his acting career, meaning that he spends a lot of time away from his New Zealand home. Luckily, they’re in good hands.
“I give all the responsibilities to my dad. He goes over there a lot for me,” KJ joked.
He went on to share that he feels like he’s able to honor his community in other ways through his career. He said, “I just think Samoans are so proud of me kind of showing my work to a world stage and [the fact that] I get to do that is so amazing.”
If you missed it, KJ recently talked about how becoming a father changed his life.