Consider this date unofficial for now, though we’ll of course keep you posted on official news regarding the project — It’s been a while since a new Kevin/View Askew DVD crossed our desks, so we’re extra excited for the chance to get a glimpse at this one.

BRIAN [DANTE] O’HALLORAN TALKS KEVIN SMITH AND THE CLERKS ‘TOON


by John Delia

Actor Brian O’Halloran, best known to moviegoers for his character Dante Hicks in Kevin Smith’s Clerks, Clerks II, and the animated TV series with the same name appeared this past weekend at Super Con, a combination comic book and animation convention in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

O’Halloran first began working in film when he was cast in Kevin Smith’s debut film Clerks in 1994. The two became friends and O’Halloran subsequently appeared more of Smith’s films, includingMall Rats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, the Clerks animated series (2000-’01), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and of course most recently in a reprise of his Dante Hicks role in 2006’s Clerks II.

O’Halloran spent a few minutes chatting with Newsarama about being part of the Kevin Smith “ensemble”, the future of Dante Hicks, and his work outside the Kevin Smith school…

Newsarama: Brian, what is it like working with an icon in the genre community like Kevin Smith?

Brian O’Halloran: You now, working with Kevin Smith, he’s such a great writer and he is in tune with the Clerks type of comedy. He can think right off the top of his head. It is really awesome working with someone that has a likening for his comedic style.

NRAMA: Was Smith open to letting you develop your own character of Dante by the time you got to Clerk’s II?

BO’H: I think we all did by then. The first one was everybody’s first, so the first one was our first opportunity and chance to make a film. We were all newbies, as we would say, a bunch of newts making a film. And Clerks II was Kevin’s eight or ninth film at the time and it was a culmination of all he had learned in all those other films. In his growth and maturity as a person, as a father, and also just questioning where he was in his life now that he was in his 30’s.

I think it is one of his best and I can’t wait to see more of it. So, yes we personally able to do more with our characters.

NRAMA: On that note, do you think there is going to be a return by Smith to the franchise beyond Clerks II?

BO’H: I don’t doubt that there might be a return to the Clerks franchise, and in one of the ways there might be an animated version beyond the ‘toon one that we did for TV. We did the Clerks cartoon years ago and it’s an effective format that we totally enjoy using. So if we don’t do the live version of it, most likely it will be the animated version.

NRAMA: Recall for fans the events that led up to the TV animated series?

BO’H: The Clerks’ toon, the animated series was so great and was so much fun. Kevin was living out in LA and he had Dave Mandel who was one of the producers of Seinfeld come on board. It was to be episodic work. And these four characters Jay, Bob, Dante, and Randal were so great to write about because they could say and do anything. Animation was a way to bring these characters into an outlandish world, situations, and scenarios that only an animated format would allow.

So first they shopped the idea around to people, and UPN was interested immediately and wanted a full season. But the higher ups at Disney (they had distributed the original Clerks under their Miramax label) had found out about the idea and they counter offered, and said ‘look we will do 6 episodes, but on a bigger network.’ With all the coaxing and they gave us a Superbowl ad and everything, they went with that (Miramax Television).

NRAMA: So what’s it like doing a voice characterization for animation and how much different is it from live action?

BO’H: It was a great experience because #1 you go into a studio with a bunch of friends and you start running dialogue left and right. I got to work with some really great people like Michael McKean (as the Creepy Old Guy) and Alec Baldwin playing Leonardo, Leonardo. I mean some really great actors came in to do the voicing stuff, which was really a lot of fun. Each day was such a great day, you would get up, clear your throat … you don’t have to do your hair, don’t have to shower [smirks] … you just get to the studio and record the dialogue and boom you got a paycheck.

NRAMA: Do you see a future of you acting in more animation?

BO’H: I would love to do more animation; it’s a genre that is expanding more and more as we see with the success of Adult Swim for the Cartoon Network. And just the Cartoon Network in general and Comedy Central and you got channels like G4 that are starting to shop around for Anime and things like that. As for the future of animation, I think it will be more of the crossover of traditional anime with more Asian anime. It’s going to be a stronger influence on American entertainment.

NRAMA: Finally Brian, you’re in a new film (this one not connected with Kevin Smith) called Cluster a comedy/drama directed by Vincent Scordia. What is your role in the film?

BO’H: Cluster is a film featuring myself, Bronson Pinchot and Corey Feldman. I kind of compare it with an American Pie type of teenage sex romp. I actually play Dr. Jordan, the principal of the high school were a lot of the action takes place. We have the film over at Cannes film festival as we speak trying to get distribution.

Anchor Bay and VideoETA have announced a DVD release for “Brutal Massacre”, O’Halloran’s new horror-comedy. The flick hits home on July 22nd. Interestingly enough, the press release also reveals an O’Halloran appearance in the upcoming big summer horror release “The Happening” — Likely a small part, since this is the first we have heard of it, but still, great news. Perhaps Brian will drop us a line from some details if he’s able to break any of the secrecy on the M. Night Shyamalan project.

SPACED: THE COMPLETE SERIES BONUS FEATURES
* New exclusive commentary with director Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes (nee Stevenson) and guests Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Bill Hader, Matt Stone, Patton Oswalt and Diablo Cody.
* Exclusive Spaced On Stage reunion Q&A recorded at the National Film Theatre, London in October 2007.
* “Skip to the End” – Exclusive feature length documentary
* “Spaced Jam” by Osymyso
* Outtakes
* Trailers
* Deleted scenes
* Raw footage
* Photo gallery
* Homage-O-Meter – An onscreen feature that tracks each pop-culture reference
* Newly updated cast and crew biographies

You can check out the entire press release and box art right HERE. Reserve your copies now!

“…I like the pilot, it’s shooting in Vancouver, I love Kevin Smith…just let me meet with him.” So I went there, we sat down, and we chain-smoked his bad menthol cigarettes, and he was, like, “I love you for it, man, as long as you don’t want to do a Jack Black impression.” And I was, like, “Dude, if I hear one more person say that to me in this town…” I said, “Look, me and you, we’re both fat and have beards. Does that mean we’re both Jack Black?” And he said, “I like you. Okay, let’s go.””

“…Kevin was such an open, collaborative guy that he would just sit behind the monitors and yell stuff for you to say, and you’d be, like, “Screw you, I’m gonna try this!” And then you could just say whatever, and it was almost like…as long as you could get a laugh and people were digging it, it could fly. And I love a set environment like that, where we can collaborate and the writers aren’t getting their backs up about their words or whatever.”

BE: Your Wikipedia entry mentions that you’re in “Zack and Miri Make A Porno.” I presume the “Reaper”/Kevin Smith connection is what got you into that.

TL: Yeah, he just e-mailed me and was, like, “Would you like to come out and play, sir?” And I was, like, “Could you be a little more specific, sir?” (laughs) He said, “Come out to Pittsburgh, shoot a couple days on my new movie.” And I’m, like, “Yeah! I’ll fucking be there, man!” So I went out there and shot a really great cameo scene that he put together for me, and he told me it was because I play the best drunk he’d ever seen.

The entire review is quite candid and good, so be sure to surf over to Bullz-Eye and check out the whole thing.

“He’s our generation’s J.D. Salinger,” says Smith, whose film “Dogma” shows its heroes, Jay and Silent Bob, on a pilgrimage to Shermer, Ill., a mythical town that only exists in Hughes’ films. “He touched a generation and then the dude checked out. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be doing what I do. Basically my stuff is just John Hughes films with four-letter words.”

These are 2 exclusive clips from the comedy, both featuring Brian’s character Jay, who is the assistant director on the movie being made IN the film. You won’t find them anywhere else on the web, and they come to us with thanks to the film’s producers.

The first one of there happens later in the movie, where Jay explains a movie of his own that he’s writing.

The second one is earlier, when the camera crew is interviewing Jay about how he started working for Harry the director (played by “An American Werewolf in London’s” David Naughton).

Visit the official site for more details on the film, or look above for the way meet Brian in person in Jersey and chat up the film with him this weekend.

“Perhaps the most playful and stylish version of the Almighty we’ve ever seen, pop-rocker Alanis Morissette’s God, decked out in a flouncy white skirt and silver jacket, stops to smell the flowers and kick up into a handstand in a church garden. This after her mostly mute character lets out a destructive roar that blows the head off of vengeful angel Bartleby (Ben Affleck).”