- Normally a story like this would just be a newsbite, but we just love hearing stories about Jay for some reason. If you ever see Kevin live, the highlight of the appearances always seem to be the amusing anecdotes about the wacky stuff that Jay says and does. This one’s no exception, as Kevin chats a bit about Jay’s acting career and some funny stuff surrounding their upcoming “Scream 3” cameo (thanks to the wonderful IGN Movies for the story):
Kevin Smith wrote Dogma. He directed Dogma. And he acted in Dogma, playing Silent Bob, one-half of New Jersey’s infamous duo introduced in Kev’s first flick, Clerks. The other half — who more than makes up for Silent Bob’s quietude — is Jay, the on-the-prowl motormouth played by Jason Mewes. From what Kevin told IGN Movies in a recent interview, there’s a thin line between Mewes and Jay. If one exists at all.
IGN Movies: Mewes really does a great job in Dogma.
Kevin: He does hold his own really well in the movie, and that’s a strong testimony to his performance. There are a lot of good actors in the film, and when Jay’s on camera he commands the screen.
IGN Movies: Does he act in any other films besides yours?
Kevin: No. He should. But he doesn’t. He’s weird.
IGN Movies: Does he get many offers?
Kevin: I think after Dogma we’ll see a lot more. But, generally, no. Sometimes people call up: “We’re doing a skiing comedy, do you think he would want to do it?” And Mewes is like, “Alright, I’m going to go to the audition.” And he never winds up going.
He’s not like most actors. He’s not like Affleck and Damon. Of course, they’re career-oriented, they like to build a body of work. Mewes is always asking, “When are we doing the next movie?” Generally it’s about three things. Number one, getting paid. Number two, he gets to keep his wardrobe — it’s free clothes. And then you get breakfast burritos in the morning, and he likes that. We’ll sit around, off season, not making movies, and invariably, sooner or later, he’ll say, “Wouldn’t it be great if we had those breakfast burritos?” And we’ll go, “Yeah, it’d be kinda cool.” And he’s like, “Those are so awesome. Man, I miss that. When you making another movie?”
He’ll say weird things. He called up today, and he said, “I’m thinking about doing what you do.” I do Q&A’s at colleges, and sometimes I’ll bring him with me. He said, “I’m thinking about doing that, but I don’t really want to speak ’cause I don’t that much to say. I just want to go out there, maybe sign autographs or something. Do you think they’ll pay me for that?” He’s always trying to figure out harebrained ways to make money. And I’m like, “Dickhead, why don’t you just go be in a movie? Make $50,000 or $60,000, and then you’ll be set.” And he’ll say, “Yeah, I mean I guess we could do that, too.”
We did a day on Scream 3. When we got there, they gave us T-shirts in the trailer. And Mewes was ecstatic: “We got free shirts!” And they gave us per diem living expense money, which was two hundred dollars. “And cash! We got cash!” Never mind the check for his acting, that’s not concrete, that comes in two weeks. But the two hundred dollars and the shirt were in his hand, and he was saying stuff like, “You and me should do this all the time. We should go to all the horror movies and pop up for a scene, and we get this kind of money! And a T-shirt!” I said, “I think you should really start thinking about acting for a living, and stop thinking about popping up in horror movies for a scene.” He’s going to be like Lou Ferrigno [TV’s The Incredible Hulk]. [Laughing, shaking his head] Go to comic book shows, charge $25 for a picture with Jay.
