AT HOME WITH JASON MEWES

By Janna Silverglade

“You’re going to visit Jay Mewes, right?” asks Barbara, the taxi-driver, as she speeds through the town of Keansburg, New Jersey. “He’s a great guy, that Jay. He stays home and takes care of his sick mom. And you know what else, hon? You won’t get any of that Hollywood bullshit from him. No, not Jay. I went right up to his house after he made that last movie and asked him to sign an autograph for my daughter. We fought for ten minutes about me coming inside. He insisted. He’s just that kind of a guy.” Jason Mewes, the actor who stole the screen in all of Kevin Smith’s movies, stars in a comic book series and even has his own action figure, is just a regular guy. Well, maybe not exactly regular.

Mewes made his first film appearance in 1994’s Clerks, Kevin Smith’s sharp-witted writing and directorial debut, which received critical acclaim at both the Sundance and Cannes film festivals. Mewes played Jay, the hilariously lewd, wisecracking stoner alongside his gentle henchman, Silent Bob (Smith).

When Smith was writing the script for Clerks, he mentioned to Mewes that he was creating a part for him, but Mewes didn’t exactly start running his lines. “I knew that he [Smith] liked to write and shit like that. He told me he wrote a script,and I was like, ‘cool.’ But then I pretty much forgot about it. Two months later he was like, ‘Remember that script? You gotta memorize your lines. We’re starting in two weeks.’ I had totally forgotten about it.”

According to Mewes, Smith created Jay’s character based somewhat on Mewes as an adolescent. “Yeah, that’s all pretty much stuff I used to say when I was younger. I used to be that obnoxious. Pretty much everything was the same except I didn’t sell drugs. But I smoked weed everyday. I used to run around calling the girls sluts and pullin’ my pants down in front of them on the street, and shit like that.”

A lot has changed for Mewes since his mooning days. While he may still play the foul-mouthed character in all of Smith’s movies (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy and Dogma), in person Mewes is very polite and reserved. He also recently moved home to Keansburg, New Jersey to take care of his sick mother.

Despite the fact that Mewes had no formal acting training and basically just showed up on the set of Clerks ready to go (with the help of a six-pack and a few bong hits), his performances have earned him critical acclaim, most notably in Dogma. In Variety’s review of the film, Todd McCarthy said, “Mewes generates more laughs than anyone.” When asked what he thinks about the critics’ rave reviews Mewes replies with refreshing modesty, “I don’t know, it’s cool. But it’s because I had funny dialogue written for me.”

In addition to Smith’s movies, Mewes has appeared with Smith’s Silent Bob character in a series of short films, directed by Smith for MTV. Mewes also had a role in the 1996 independent film Drawing Flies, in which he played a role other than Jay for the first time. Silent Bob and Jay more recently joined forces to make a cameo appearance in Scream 3, which Mewes was thrilled about because he got to meet the creator and the cast. “It was awesome. Kevin and I went out there for one day. We got to meet Wes Craven, Courtney Cox-Arquette, David Arquette and Parker Posey. We got pictures and talked with them all. It was great!”

Mewes approaches his new life like a kid in a candy shop. He’s not shy about asking his favorite celebrities to pose with him in pictures, even thought they don’t always say yes. At an AIDS benefit a couple years ago, Mewes asked Jack Nicholson, a longtime hero of Mewes’, if he would mind posing for a picture with him. Jack responded, “Yes, I would. But thanks for asking.” Mewes sees the pitfalls of fame and swears that he’ll never metamorphose into an egotistical monster. “No matter what, I’m going to be just like I am now. Why would I be any different?” Things may change a bit for Mewes, however, if Smith’s new “Clerks” cartoon, due out in May on ABC, does well (which, given the insanely clever dialogue and humor of all of Smith’s work, we can expect a hit). For one thing, Mewes will have to leave his hometown for the part. But Mewes’ priorities don’t seem to shift. “If the cartoon does well and I have to move out to L.A., I’ll bring my mom with me,” he says. “The warm weather will be good for her.”

Even though Mewes is constantly recognized, he still sees life through small town glasses. “Filming Mallrats was the happiest time ever. Being in a different state, staying at a hotel. It was so awesome. I had never really been out of the state, let alone staying in nice hotels. Motel Six, that’s it. I never had car services coming to pick me up. It was really cool and different.”

Mewes’ small town glasses stay on when he discusses working with such big names as George Carlin, Chris Rock, Salma Hayek and Alan Rickman in Dogma. “Everyone was really cool. I’d seen them in movies before and it was odd hanging out withthem, but Alan Rickman was the only one I was nervous about working with. I just think he’s awesome. He’s older and experienced. I don’t know, there’s just something about him that made me nervous. But then we rehearsed together and when we were doing my lines, he was laughing at my stuff. That totally made me feel comfortable. It was great.”

While many celebrities have teams of publicists, stylists and assistants making them fabulous and answering their fan letters, Mewes does everything himself. “I get a lot of fan letters and I try to respond to as many as possible. Sometimes I don’t respond, but not because I’m being a dick. I forget because I’m a procrastinator. Like my DVD player broke and I was supposed to send it back with the warranty. I mean, it’s been broken for about a month now, and I haven’t sent it back, just ’cause I’m like that. I need people to hold my hand through stuff a lot of times.”

Mewes obviously doesn’t need much hand-holding when it come to his career. Along with the comic book series and action figures, Mewes and Smith will appear in a new PlayStation football game, in which gamers can choose Jay or Silent Bob as one of their players. Mewes has four of Smith’s movies under his belt, but looks forward to expanding his acting career beyond the Jay character. In fact, Mewes has a specific idea of exactly the kind of role he’d like to play in the future, “I would love to play some sicko dude. Maybe a mob guy, some sick dude who cuts people’s fingers off and shit. It would be awesome if De Niro was the mob boss, and I was his main man. That would be cool.”

COMPLETE ‘DEGRASSI’ AVAILABLE TO OWNThe entire library of DEGRASSI episodes will be released on video from WGBH BOSTON Video on April 11th.A 25-episode set of THE KIDS OF DEGRASSI STREET will retail for a suggested $149.95, the 42-episode DEGRASSI JUNIOR HIGH will retail for $199.95, and the 28-episode DEGRASSI HIGH will sell for $149.95. Individual two-episode tapes will also be available for $19.95 each.