“She’s the one that introduced Guinness to me,” the ‘Aquaman’ actor tells PEOPLE of his mom, Coni

Jason Momoa is raising the bar when it comes to beer commercials.

The Aquaman star, 44, had a special guest star in his new spot for Guinness: his mom, Coni.

“I’ve been calling them up for a decade now,” Momoa tells PEOPLE of his eagerness to work with the brand. When they finally connected on a concept, the actor was set on including Coni, because “she’s the one that introduced Guinness to me. It only made sense for us to be together,” he says.

But once on set, “she was terrified,” he laughs. “She did a great job, but it was really cute to see my mom kind of panicked on the lines.”

Jason Momoa with his mom, Coni, on location in New Zealand for his Guinness commercial. JASON ROMAN

Momoa is currently on location in New Zealand filming Minecraft, where he says they “change lines” in the script all the time. “I’m like, ‘See, Mom, it’s a guideline. The script is a guideline, too. You’re playing a character. It’s okay, Mom, we’re just going to do this,’” he adds. “She’s just so nervous.”

Momoa also produced and directed the commercial, which kicks off with the star discovering he’s actually 2% Irish.

Jason Momoa reading his ancestry results to find out he’s 2% Irish in his Guinness commercial. JASON ROMAN

In reality, “I’m probably a little more,” says Momoa, who is also Hawaiian on his father’s side. “My mom’s German and she’s got Irish, but it’s predominantly German. But yeah, Grandma definitely had Irish in there, so my mom did all the stuff,” including celebrating St. Patrick’s Day every year.

“I mean, it’s another day for my mom,” says Momoa of the holiday. “We’re drinking Guinness.”

In the ad, Momoa eagerly runs into a bar to announce his ancestry results. In a play on the phrase “kiss me I’m Irish,” Momoa plants one on his mom (and a few other people).

Jason Momoa on location in New Zealand for his new Guinness commercial. JASON ROMAN

Filming the ad in New Zealand, which Momoa calls “his favorite place ever,” was just another added bonus. Plus, the spirit of the commercial was inevitably rooted in fun, he says.

“It’s funny, it’s comedy. It’s the absolute passion and spirit that I have, that’s what’s important, so that’s what we kind of put in there,” Momoa explains. “I wanted something to get people together and celebrate. It doesn’t matter what race you are, it’s [about] coming together. It’s hugging, and telling stories, and celebrating life, and that’s what the whole point of it is.”