This time, Chris talks with Jake Richardson. Jake appears in both “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” and “Clerks 2” as a teen buying weed from Jay and Bob outside of the Quick Stop (“fifteen bucks little man, put that shit in my hand…”) and later Mooby’s (with the great Ethan Suplee). He also made an appearance in Jeff Anderson’s “Now You Know”.

AN INTERVIEW WITH JAKE RICHARDSON

BY CHRIS GRAVES

CHRIS GRAVES: For those who do not know, what is your background and how were you introduced to the world of View Askew and Kevin Smith?

JAKE RICHARDSON: I have been acting since I was six. For as long as I could remember I’ve always wanted to be a character with the people I was watching on tv. I was so tempted when I was a kid to break my dad’s tv screen and hope to jump into some other parallel universe. Good thing I never tried…

I was introduced to Kevin Smith and the world of View Askew after seeing the movie poster for MALLRATS in a video store. It was one of those magic eye posters, but with a picture of Jay and Silent Bob in focus as if they were pasted to it. I loved those posters so I was intrigued. I had to know who they were, and the significance of the magic eye background. I saw the flick when it came out on video and obviously got the reference, and more than that, got a new favorite movie. And from there I was hooked and had to know more about this View Askew world. After talking to my older brother about it, he let me borrow CLERKS. He of course told me not to tell our parents. Being only eleven or twelve at the time, I did not get a lot of the jokes and couldn’t really appreciate the black and white, but still laughed my ass off the whole time. Partly because I played roller hockey, not on a roof, but still, I understood the frustration of losing the only ball.

CHASING AMY was too under my radar so I didn’t get to see that until DOGMA was released on video. I bought DOGMA and rented AMY and CLERKS again. Now a few years older and wiser to the ways of the world, I could appreciate “ALL” the jokes and loved it the way it deserved. AMY was amazing as well, but DOGMA blew my young mind. It was just so funny and didn’t pull any punches and described religion exactly how I felt about it. Just an amazing movie.

CG: Did you always want to be an actor? Any formal training?

JR: For as long as I can remember, I just wanted to hang with the characters in movies and tv. I mean who wouldn’t wanna go on adventures with Indiana Jones or just hang in a mall with the funniest slackers you’d ever meet? I took a lot of acting classes growing up but my most formal training is with a great coach named John Homa.

CG: Can you tell me about the television show FUDGE?

JR: It was a saturday morning tv show for Amblin Entertainment. It was based on a series of childrens books. I got the job when I was nine, which was a great opportunity. Unfortunately, when Disney bought ABC, it was cancelled after only two seasons.

CG: How did you become involved with JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK and Jeff Anderson’s NOW YOU KNOW? Any particular moments behind the scenes of these two movies that stick out to you?

JR: My mom told me that our long time family friend’s special effects company, B & B Effects, was working on the last installment (at the time) of the jersey chronicles. I told her to ask him to please get me on the set. Sure enough he did. Now being a huge fan, you can imagine how excited I was to walk onto the set of the Bluntcave, and see Jay and Bob in their Bluntman and Chronic gear. It was a fanboy’s dream come true. Then I was introduced to Kevin. Knowing he was directing and acting, I expected it to be a real quick intro, and thats it. But after talking to him for about five minutes, an assistant came over and said they needed him for a few minutes. He excused himself from me, but said he’d be right back. To my suprise, he really came back a few minutes later and continued our conversation. I was only 16 at the time, so for him to come back and talk to me about nothing, made me comfortable enough with him to let him know I was an actor, and would happily work for him for free given the opportunity being the huge fan I am. I just wanted him to know for future projects that I might hopefully get to audition for, but right there he told me there was a part at the beginning of the flick where I would have to buy weed from Jay and Bob, and to call the casting director to get put on tape.

After I was put on tape, the longest most stressed out week of my life went by until I got the call saying I’d been hired. I was more excited than when E.T. got to go home. Especially when I was told I would get to go to New Jersey to the real Quick Stop and RST Video for my scene. It was weird when I got there and it wasn’t black and white. Even though it was in color I was beyond excited. I really wish I could explain that excitement better. To get to be a part of something I love so much, and with all my favorite characters, was beyond a dream come true. I mean one scene with Jay and Bob, and one with Dante and Randal? I even kinda had a scene with Rick Derris. Really, who could ask for more? No one. So really, every moment on that set stood out to me. Brian O’Halloran and Jeff Anderson were awsome. At some point during the shoot, Jeff said he was making a flick called Now You Know and asked if I wanted to work a day on it. And of course I did. I couldn’t say no to Randal.

CG: You guest starred on shows such as MONK, BONES, HOUSE, NYPD BLUE, ER and the fantastic short lived JOURNEYMAN. What were some of those experiences like and do you see yourself being a regular on a series at some point?

JR: All the guest spots I have done have been great experiences. I have been very blessed in my career and have learned a lot from working with a ton of different talented people on many different sets. I wouldn’t be opposed to being a series regular if it was a good show, but I really wanna make lots of movies. But if the networks are thinking about makin some old school sitcoms like “WELCOME BACK KOTTER” or a show like “FREAKS AND GEEKS” then of course being a regular on something like that would be cool.

CG: Is there a character you have yet to play that you always wanted to?

JR: I really admire great character actors. Some actors are very cameleon like, like Gary Oldman or Sean Penn, and I would love to be able to play a big variety of charactors like that. And of course, I’d like to play a badass of some sort. The kind of character you want to be after seeing a movie, like Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction or something.

CG: What was it like being asked to come back for CLERKS 2 and what was it like working with the great Ethan Suplee?

JR: The call for CLERKS 2 was more unbelievable than anything else. I had heard about CLERKS 2 only a few days before and was just excited to see it. The thought literally never crossed my mind that I might be asked to do it. Not in the slightest. So when the call came I was obviously ecstatic. One of my favorite things about the flicks is the reoccuring characters in them, now I was one of them. And getting to do the scene with Ethan Suplee was an honor. He is, I think, one of every fans favorite characters, so that was huge.

CG: What is your favorite View Askew / Kevin Smith flick?

JR: That’s like asking which is my favorite child, if I had any, I love all my kids equally.

CG: Do you have any new projects coming up?

JR: At the moment I am just trying to teach myself to write, so I can hopefully start trying to make my own films. My girlfriend and I took classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and work with a comedy troop doing shorts and flash cartoons on the net, as well as other projects.

CG: And finally, do you still keep in contact with anyone related to the world of View Askew?

JR: Like I said, I am just a fanboy who got lucky. So I go to all the signings and events when they have them. And I’ve gotten really cool Christmas cards from View Askew!

Thanks to Chris and Jake for another insightful look behind the curtain of the Askewniverse. Miss a Graves review? See them all in our interview archive.

We just received another report that he’s continuing to work on a horror flick called “Silent But Deadly” up in Canada, where he will play a silent killer. We got some news on this a while back, but details sort of fizzled out, having us wonder about the project’s status. The film currently has a Myspace page, IMDB page (now listing the film is in post-production) , and an official site where the poster shows Mewes as the top marquee star. We’ll keep an eye on this project and let you know when and where you can see it. We’re also dropping the producers a line to see if we can get any stills or other details.

Now, here’s the new one – MTV Movies reports that Mewes will appear in a film called “K-11”, which is a prison-themed film starring Kristen Stweart (“Twilight”) and Nikki Reed (“Thirteen”). In the film, the two actresses will play two gay MALE roles. Strange, no? A snippet on the Mewes connection:

Although little else is known about the film, one of their co-stars will be Kevin Smith cult icon Jason Mewes, who recently confirmed his involvement with “K-11”in a radio interview and said that he’d dyed his hair black for the role.

We know nothing more on Jason’s role in that one at this time, but with high profile stars, we think we’ll be hearing more on that one soon, as well. Stay tuned.

Kevin Smith’s characters are all cut from the same, humble cloth. Just because you’re smart doesn’t mean you’ll make it big, and even though Smith’s characters may be brilliant people, more often than not they’re found behind the counters of convenience stores, coffee shops, and roving the hallways of strip malls. They talk without an FCC filter, flinging curse words with reckless abandon in the way that any guy in a bar might do, talking about the same stuff you’ve probably said yourself after a beer or two. They fall in love, they fight, they make friends, they break up, and they do it without Hollywood shine. They’re too broke to afford glamour. Not that they let that stop them. Broke doesn’t mean broken and with or without money Smith’s avatars have smart things to say and lives to live. They live those lives not in LA or New York, but in nowhere towns in New Jersey or in the frozen, bitterly cold suburbs of Pittsburgh. Even thrust into the weirdest of situations, Kevin Smith’s characters are still mostly just dudes. They hang out in bars, wander around comic book shops, and work in video stores. They’re pot smoking, porno making, lesbian courting dudes.