Smith spills about Bennifer

By Becky Howard, This is London

“The worst piece of advice I ever took?” Film director Kevin Smith leans back against the sofa in a suite at the Dorchester Hotel and mulls it over. “It must have been Ben (Affleck) saying ‘Dude, cast my girlfriend in the movie. She’ll be awesome.’ No, I’m kidding!”

You can’t blame the New Jersey auteur for being a little bitter, though. After a decade which saw him shoot to fame on the back of uber-low budget movie Clerks, and carve out a niche in making funny, faintly controversial movies, Smith decided to go mainstream. He’d already tackled Catholicism (1999’s Dogma), a lesbian ‘going straight’ (1997’s Chasing Amy) and become a cult hero as one half of stoner duo Jay and Silent Bob, so making a touching film about a father’s relationship with his young daughter should have been a breeze. Right? Wrong – Bennifer hit town.

Casting long-time Smith muse Ben Affleck as Ollie Trinke alongside Jennifer Lopez as his wife – a much smaller role – obviously smacked of box office gold two years ago when the 33-year-old began making Jersey Girl, a love letter to his family. But once tabloid coverage of the Affleck/Lopez union reached critical mass and their disastrous flick Gigli was roundly mauled, it became clear that Jersey Girl would become an undeserved victim of their over-hyped relationship.

A somewhat muted Smith, clad in his typical uniform of outsized sports t-shirt and cropped trousers, has obviously had to explain this story many times before: “A lot of people assume that I cast them and knew they were dating. But they weren’t. He called me up and was like, ‘I was thinking who would be good to play Gertrude: Jennifer Lopez,’ as they’d just wrapped Gigli and got on really well.

“So we put it into motion and got Jennifer Lopez, and it was quite the coup. But it wasn’t until he showed up to the set a month before we started shooting I learned they were dating. And I was like, “Ah… no wonder he was so supportive! No wonder he wanted her to play his wife!”

Even though Affleck and Lopez had split up by the time Jersey Girl hit American multiplexes in March, the public had already swallowed the unwarranted ‘Gigli 2′ tag which attached itself to Jersey Girl. The backlash has obviously stung Smith, although he recognises the point at which it all went wrong.

“Mosier (Scott, Smith’s longtime producer) saw it when Affleck appeared in Jen’s music video for Jenny From The Block. He said then that it was bad f****** news. He was like, ‘I understand what they’re trying to accomplish. The whole story of the video is about tabloid intrusion, but the point is lost and it just makes them look arrogant.’ And he was right. People just saw it as them going, ‘We’re so rich, and so successful, and so pretty – feel bad for us.’
“The moment I knew we were in trouble with their relationship was when we test screened the movie. In the focus group you ask people, ‘How would you suggest this movie to a friend?’ And one guy said, ‘I would tell my friends to go and see it because J.Lo dies.’ And it became clear that people just didn’t like her, and didn’t like the two of them together. It just created this enmity from the people. Weird.”

Bearing all this in mind, does Smith regret any of his casting decisions? “I don’t really have a regret. I mean, I regret the s***storm that surrounded our poor little movie because of their relationship, but I don’t regret their relationship because they were quite a cute couple together, and really into one another. And I don’t regret casting either one of them, because them being in the movie made the movie what it is. But having to follow Gigli did wind up affecting us.”

Moving away from Bennifer – and newly-wed Lopez certainly has – Jersey Girl itself is a little gem. A softer, more sentimental story than one might expect from the man who created the Poop Monster in Dogma, and the Clit Commander in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Smith tackles issues of juggling single parenthood with career needs skillfully. But thankfully it’s shot through with a healthy dose of his trademark sarky wit.

Did Smith feel that after years of dick’n’fart jokes, that it was time to grow up?

“Yeah, I did,” he asserts, getting comfy on the floor in front of the sofa. “I wanted to make this movie that’s been swimming around in my head for a while, because I wasn’t raised on movies like Clerks and Mallrats. Chasing Amy was more the type of ‘dramedy’ that I was raised on and that I was a big fan of. So sooner or later I was going to get to one of these – a feelgood tearjerker, so to speak.

“Thankfully, this wound up being good timing, because I couldn’t make a movie with Jason Mewes (Jay) again, because he was so knee-deep in heroin and OxyContin at the time. All the rehab counsellors were like: ‘You’ve got to cut him loose and turn your back on him and basically practice tough love.’ So that freed me up to pursue this.”

With Affleck, Lopez and Liv Tyler in place, Smith now had to find the titular Jersey Girl – the offspring of Ben and Jennifer’s characters. Searching for the right ‘look’ led him to Raquel Castro, a bright-eyed, natural actress with an uncanny resemblance to the former couple. But it wasn’t just the superficial sheen that charmed Smith – he wanted to avoid the ubiquitous stage-school brat.

“She had to come across like a real little kid,” he says. “I didn’t want to just cast a movie-cute kid, because so often they’re so cute you want to throw them through a f****** wall, you know? But for my money, I think most kids around that age (7), are starting to discover that adults are as full of s*** as anybody. They’re not always precious. Raquel really brought that realness to it.”

Add in a Will Smith cameo – “Nicest guy on the planet. I used to think Affleck was the nicest guy in the movie business, but Affleck is a f****** ogre compared to Will Smith” – and there’s a cast of top actors doing a sterling job in a quality movie. Yet the poor publicity afforded to JG led him to receive a drubbing from the British press, too. The night of the low-key UK premiere saw an caustically funny Smith lay into the Mirror’s 3AM girls, for printing a speculative story that day about an unwell Affleck’s absence from the event.

Smith won’t go back on his words: “The 3am girls piece was full of bulls*** – I mean, saying the movie was a disaster Stateside? It’s not! We made £25m bucks. A disaster is Gigli. So I hate s*** like that and calling it a turkey – why? Based on what source? It seemed just like sour grapes because Ben didn’t show up, and them saying he was ashamed of the movie. And meanwhile, a couple months ago when we released the movie in the States, that dude did more press on this movie than any other movie he’s done in recent history. Do a little f***ing research, that’s what I say.”

But despite his experience at the hands of the tabloids, Smith is entranced by our celeb culture: “Nothing compares with England’s fascination with celebrities. The one thing I find refreshing is to open up a British publication and see someone they’re insisting is famous and you’re like ‘Who the f*** is that?’

“I was looking at Hello or one of those and there was some girl there, some chick Jade from Big Brother? What’s that? A reality show? So, even though the show was a couple years ago, she’s still famous? Wow. That’s insane.”

For now, though, Smith’s “mired in the aftermath” of Jersey Girl, and freely admits that it will take him some time to enjoy it fully. “I love the movie and it means something to me, but I think it’ll be a while before I can kick back and appreciate it like I did when I first put it together. It’s been clouded by the s*** we had to put up with. But hopefully one day there will be a generation that’s never heard of Bennifer.”

And despite all the heartache Smith’s endured over his movie, he still vehemently sticks by the film’s ethos, which sees Ollie forswear a high-flying career for the sake of his child. But would he really give it all up for his kid? ”

Absolutely. Absolutely,” Smith confirms. “This is the one time where I’ve come up against journalists who get really dug in on this issue. Some people think it’s inauthentic, or disingenuous, or very Hollywood. My take on it is: most people who take issue with the idea of giving up a career for somebody feel like they’re being judged because they like their career. I say, ‘Do you have a kid?’ And they’re like, ‘No.’ So I say, talk to me when you’ve got a kid because then it’s a whole different story.

“Luckily I have this gig where I get to do both. But I would put my family ahead of my career in a heartbeat.” No doubt he would, but lets hope Smith doesn’t have to.

As well as the Bennifer backlash, Jersey Girl didn’t get much love from the US critics. Does that all affect the way you feel about the film now?

At the time, and still to this moment, I feel like it was a good idea. I love the movie and it means something to me, but unfortunately I’m still mired in the aftermath of all the **** that surrounded the release, so I think it’ll be a while before I can kick back and appreciate it like I did when I first put it together. About a year ago, when I had the first cut together, I loved the movie and I still kind of love it, but it’s clouded by the **** we had to put up with to get it into the theatres in the first place.

So I think, like with Mallrats – that got savaged by the critics and did really badly at the box office – it took a few years for me to able to appreciate the movie again. That movie found its audience eventually though. People rented it on video and wound up digging it, and it’s the gateway film for all our movies when you talk to the fanbase, because that’s the movie they saw first, and it led them to the other movies. So I wound up falling in love with it again, and I’m sure the same will happen with this.

Could you ever see yourself doing what Ollie does in the film, and sacrificing your career to take care of family commitments?

Yeah. Absolutely. For my kid? Absolutely. And it’s weird because this is the one time where I’ve come up against journalists who get really dug in on this issue. Some people think it’s inauthentic, or disingenuous, or very Hollywood. My take on it is: most people who take issue with the idea of giving up a career for somebody, they feel like they’re being judged because they like their career. I’m always like, “Do you have a kid?” And they’re like, “No.” So I say, talk to me when you’ve got a kid because then it’s a whole different story.

You’re trying to be a role model and shape their existence, and you get a small window to that, and it becomes of paramount importance. Luckily I have this gig where I get to do both. But you’re talking to me eight months after my father died and, believe me, if I knew my old man was going to die, I would have given up working for two years just to hang out with him. I would put my family ahead of my career in a heartbeat.

Who’s the biggest pain in the arse you’ve ever worked with?

The biggest pain in the arse I ever worked with… Linda Fiorentino. When we were making Dogma, the cast was working in a favoured nations type of affair where everyone was getting paid the same – scale, which is the minimum wage for the movie business. And we were all trapped out in Pittsburgh shooting this movie, which is the middle of nowhere, so whenever people had a few days off they would ask if they could go to New York, or back to Los Angeles, or elsewhere. I always said “sure”, because why would I want to make anybody sit in Pittsburgh if they’ve got something else to do?

Linda, on the other hand, had to work every day on the movie because she was in every scene, so she really never got to leave and she got irritated when cast members would go elsewhere. She got really angry about that and asked me to do something about it. And I said, “What am I supposed to do? I mean, they want to go away and they’re not working, so that’s fine.” And one day she stopped talking to me for a whole day, because she was so irritated by the fact that other people got to leave the set. That was kind of weird. The weirdest experience I had making a movie.

Do you believe in test screenings?

Only inasmuch as it’s great to watch the movie with an audience. I don’t believe in the process of filling out the cards and doing the focus group where they ask the very pointed questions about “what did you like?” and “what didn’t you like?” and “what could we change?” S*** like that. But I do like sitting there and watching with an audience, because you get a feel for what works and what doesn’t work, particularly if you’re working with a comedy – so much so that you don’t really need the cards. The cards muck up the process, and when they start breaking it down into percentages and whatnot, that’s when the movie starts to suffer.

Paul Ross – “It’s Afflecking Goodnight Out!”

Cracking comedy with a cute kid and a bevy of babes. There’s enough cynical squirts of lemon juice to make this thia a perfect night out for blokes as well as the birds. Unfolding at a fast and funny pace with a few tears on top. We have widowed dad Ollie (Ben Affleck) learning to cope with daughter Gertie brillianly played by Raquel Castro. And Ben’s a revelation in this: charming, funny and likeable. On paper this may look pretty predictable – a widowed dad, a cute kid, a new love- but this belter of a filmhas bitter core, courtesy of writer, director Kevin Smith. He’s the man behind mad flicks like Dogma & Clerks. So expect grown-up and at times, painful elements. And look out for comedy king George Carlin, a man whp makes Victor Meldrew look like a Prozac junkie. The good news doesn’t stop there. Even though J-Lo turns up, she’s not the female lead, nor Affleck’s love interest. Forget the horror that was Gigli, this time around Ben is with Armageddon co-star Liv Tyler and there’s a fruity fizzle to their shenanigans that outshines anything from that outa space blockbuster. So all in all, apart from the odd clunky chunk of dialogue this really works. It also makes me eager for Smith’s nex project – the Green Hornet. Bring it on…! 4/5

Shebah Ronay – “Sugary Sweet Suprise Guy”

The shock of the year for me because I was convinced I’d hate this. With dopey Ben Affleck as a single dad and old flame J-Lo as his dead wife, it didn’t bode well. But suprise suprise, I was gripped because the script is so unexpectedly funny. OK, it’s a tad sugary, bu there’s a painful edge to the writing that keeps you hooked. What’s more believe it or not Affleck proves that he really can act. And with feeling. At no point do you doubt Ben’s desperation, his heartbreaking pain, his lasting love or his timely discoveries. I’m not sure what’s happened maybe Ben thought this wouldn’t be a hit and so sat back and relaxed for onc-but he’s damn good. However, the real key to this flick is the fabulous Liv Tyler, whose natural acting ability brings out the very best in Ben. She plays a bang-up-to-date 21st century woman out to convince widower Ollie to get back in the sex saddle as soon as possible…with her help. As you’d expect, the course of new love doesn’t run smooth, with some very funny results. But on top of the laughs, there’s a farther-daughter tale that’s adorable. And Raquel Castro as Getie is as cute as they come. Sadley, the film can’t resist goping a little soppy right at the end, but at least we were spare any spontaneous rounds of applause. A real winner…who’d have thought! 4/5

…And perhaps resurrect Jay and Silent Bob?

“I think they’ll definitely be back,” he says to the sound of fandom cheers all round. “Jason has cleaned up considerably. It’s a year and two months of total sobriety for him. He hasn’t had a drink or done any drugs, he’s kind of turned his life around. And I always told him if he was able to get clean and stay clean I would think about doing more Jay & Silent Bob stuff. So now I might have to live up to that promise.”

WITH THE KIDS

Downward puppy, son of sun salute

By Jessica Hundley, Special to The Times

Read the statistics, peruse the headlines and heed the newscasters’ warnings — our kids are getting fatter. Where there once were fresh air and whole foods, there are now Xbox and Doritos Nacho Cheesier, the modern age resulting in a disturbing decline in the health and a staggering expansion of waistbands.

“Obesity,” says Hall Davidson, director of educational services for Orange County-based public television station KOCE, “is the new tobacco.”

So how to get the kids back into shape? For KOCE and PBS affiliate KRCB in the Bay Area, the answer is “Animal Yoga.”

Created by Los Angeles locals Bobbi Hamilton and Renée Humphrey, “Animal Yoga” is an animation and live-action mix that teaches a 4- to 10-year-old audience everything from “frog hops” to “power words” to the importance of good manners and hygiene.

Hosted by two cheery and brightly clad yoga gurus, Wasabi (Hamilton) and Lil’ Chi (Natalie Macias), “Animal Yoga” combines candy-colored landscapes with an impenetrably chipper attitude about physical well-being — imagine Richard Simmons landing a guest-starring gig on “Barney & Friends.”

The emphasis is on teaching the basics of yoga without the studied equilibrium of grown-ups’ classes. Instead, “Animal Yoga” is relentlessly upbeat; even the restful Savasana pose is underscored by a funky hip-hop soundtrack and framed by the simple Playskool-style animation made popular by “Blue’s Clues.”

“I think it has a lot going for it,” Davidson says, ” and I think it’s coming at just the right time.

“Using television time to improve the health of our young viewers, that’s something PBS as a whole is interested in. It brings physicality back to young people, because the program is interesting and crafted in a way kids really respond to.”

KOCE and KRCB have begun airing “Animal Yoga” as 2- and 3-minute interstitials, designed “to get the kids off the couch and up doing something active,” says Stan Marvin, director of broadcast operations at KRCB.

“We had a particular need for solid children’s fillers, and this was perfect,” Marvin says. “It’s getting great responses from viewers, which is no surprise here in California, where yoga is king. But I think it’s also in part that its style really appeals to kids.”

Hamilton and Humphrey began developing the “Animal Yoga” concept in 2001.

“I was living in Northern California at the time, doing breast cancer research and teaching yoga at various locations,” Hamilton says. “I remember wishing I had learned it when I was younger, and so I started teaching classes to kids. From there the idea just began to develop. I was interested in using methodology, in seeing how kids learned and working with their motor skills.”

For Humphrey, a film actress, producing and directing the first installment of “Animal Yoga” was a chance to explore another career.

“I had produced a short film,” she says, “and was interested in doing more of that when Bobbi and I formed the company. It just seemed the right time socially and culturally for something like this to be accepted and supported.”

In addition to their PBS spots, which air during morning children’s programming, Humphrey and Hamilton have produced a half-hour video and recently signed a national distribution deal for hotel in-room programming. Ultimately, they hope to develop “Animal Yoga” as a weekly series, bringing Wasabi and Lil’ Chi’s funky-fresh stylings to a large audience.

“We want to make it a part of as many kids’ and family’s lives as possible,” Humphrey says. “Yoga as part of my own life has been a balancing force and, these days especially, we all seem to need that balance.”

He explained the movie is Kevin Smith-esque. Smith has directed movies including “Mallrats” and “Clerks,” which “Speilburgh” takes after.

“Kevin Smith (”Clerks”) is hard at work writing “The Green Hornet,” but he’s not sure the comic flick will be his next project. “I actually want to make something a little smaller, a $250,000 movie,” said the director, who will write that script next. “I’m not telling anyone [the story line] yet. I like things that are more subtle. Probably a return-to-my-roots-type thing.” Smith added he was shocked to hear that “Jersey Girl” co-star Jennifer Lopez had married over the weekend. “It’s kind of shocking. I mean, who knew she would want to get married again so soon,” he said. “But whatever. She’s happy, I’m happy. I won’t bet on her. I understand there are odds [on how long the marriage will last].”