Sounding husky after a bout of bronchitis, Affleck enthuses about working with director Kevin Smith again on the romantic comedy Jersey Girl after Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma and other movies.

“I would be a great and avid fan even if I wasn’t in his movies,” he says. “And personally it’s much more fun and rewarding to work with someone you really care about and love, and is a friend of yours.”

• In director Kevin Smith’s world, Jay and Silent Bob are the inspiration for a comic book featuring pot-smoking superheroes Bluntman and Chronic. The characters have tripped through six films, including a cameo in Scream 3. As the stoner stars of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), they pay tribute to the Scooby gang when Jay offers a vanload of teens “Doobie Snax.”