“I was sitting in a car opposite the Quik Stop the other day, and a woman shouted at me out of her car,” said the portly director.

“She said, ‘Kevin you’d be a lot more famous if you lost 100 pounds.’”

He’s still one of the most famous residents of Monmouth County, where he sets most of his movies – including his latest, “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.”

In this wild summer farce due out in August, he also pops up on screen as half of his now-famous grunge duo.

You have Smith and side Jason Mewes playing the goofy pair again and again in Smith’s film, from “Clerks” (1994) to “Chasing Amy” to his most recent, “Dogma” (1999).

This time around, the cast also includes Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Will Ferrell, George Carlin, Shannon Elizabeth, and Smith’s wife Jennifer and their 21-month-old daughter.

Jason Lee, who’s one of several actors in the cast playing multiple parts in the film, is currently shooting Cameron Crowe’s “Vanilla Sky,” in California.

But out of loyalty to Smith – who discovered the former skateboard champion and gave him a scene-stealing role in Smith’s second movie, “Mallrats” – Lee, who has gone on to star in films like “Almost Famous” and “Heartbreakers,” flew into New Jersey just to do a two-minute scene at the comic book store, owned by Smith in real life.

[START SPOILER]In this scene, Lee plays a wiseguy video addict, Brodie, who informs an incredulous Jay and Silent Bob that Miramax is making a movie about Bluntman and Chronic, comic-book superheroes based loosely on Jay and Bob.

The two stoners head to California and wreak havoc on the set – where their characters are being played by Jason Biggs and James Van Der Beek. [END SPOILER]

Most of the movie was shot in L.A., but Smith insisted on returning to his native New Jersey for the opening scenes.