First Look: Jason Momoa Discovers His Irish Heritage In Guinness St. Patrick’s Day Video

Momoa, who keeps a keg of Guinness at rental properties while filming movies, directed and starred in the Irish stout-drenched commercial.

If not from an early role in 1999’s Baywatch: Hawaii or even as successor to Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2011’s Conan the Barbarian, you likely got to know Jason Momoa as Khal Drogo, the ruthless and impeccably mascaraed leader of the Dothraki on Game of Thrones.

Since then the chiseled, life-loving star has exploded across countless cinematic universes, taking on marquee roles in Fast X, Dune and, most famously, DC’s Aquaman. 

We recently had a chance to chat with Jason about all sorts of things for an upcoming issue of Maxim. Among the topics discussed was Momoa’s co-writing and directing of a comical commercial for Guinness about him discovering he’s part-Irish. Spoiler alert: It’s a very small part. We’ll be saving most of the interview for the print issue, but today we’re going to share details about what he dubbed his “dream gig.” 

“Guinness is it. These are the companies that I adore,” Momoa told us from location in New Zealand while he films Minecraft. “Being able to shoot something for them and being able to make something that’s funny—going out during St. Paddy’s Day, shooting with my mother, shooting through my lens in my eye with all my friends—it is it. I mean that’s top-five of all time dreams is to work for this company. It’s just so much in my blood, more than the people who work there. It’s a big honor to do this.”

With many, if not most, celebrity collaborations it’s all about the cash, so effusive praise like Momoa’s can often induce jaded eye rolls. But a mutual friend who knows Momoa confirmed that while filming the man demands a keg of Guinness on-tap at his home-away-from-home. The dedication and love is not simply a commercial endeavor, it is as authentic as the Polynesian tattoos that line his body. And it comes through in the enthusiasm in his short. 

“I love showing people Guinness, I love watching them drink their first pint and they’re like, ‘Oh my God, I didn’t know it tasted like that!’” he laughs from across the continents.

“I’m like, ‘It’s fucking great!’ Everyone thinks it tastes like something else because, oh, they think it’s dark, it’s thick. I’m like, ‘No, it’s light. It’s great.’ I mean, there’s only 4% alcohol in it, man. You know what I mean? There’s more in a kombucha!”

Enjoy the video above with a cold pint to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Sláinte!

Follow Deputy Editor Nicolas Stecher on Instagram at @nickstecher and @boozeoftheday.