Kevin Smith Talks Ben Affleck’s Clerks III Cameo

Director Kevin Smith discussed his reunion with star actor and frequent collaborator Ben Affleck, who will make a guest appearance in Smith’s upcoming sequel, Clerk III. Speaking to Variety, Smith described working with Affleck again as “happy” and gave several details about how Affleck will consider the proceedings.

“He was like, ‘I’m here. It’s going to be awesome.’ It was so happy. He came for an hour.

Kevin Smith and Ben Affleck have already teamed up on several occasions for projects such as Chasing Amy, Mallrats, Dogma, Jersey Girl, and both Jay and Silent Bob strike back and Jay and Silent Bob reboot, with Affleck clearly keen to start all over again in Clerk III. Smith then revealed details of Affleck’s role, which will largely involve a joke between the two.

“I had written a part for him that was based on this old message board we had on Viewaskew.com. He was always fascinated by the time I spent there, and he said to me, ‘Who are these people? Why are you talking to them? I was like, ‘Because these are my bosses; they actually buy the tickets. It doesn’t matter what a reviewer says. He’s the person who paid to see the movie.

The filmmaker went on to reveal that Affleck couldn’t help but engage with fans himself on the message board — which he did under the name “Boston John.”

John from Boston. » « [Boston John] go, ‘Kev, the board sucks. It’s not what it used to be. Close it.’ And Affleck found it hysterical. He said, ‘This guy named Boston John is literally telling you what to do with your life!’ So when we went out to do the audition scene, I handed him the pages and he looked [at his character’s name] and he was like ‘Boston John, the pimp!’ »

Clerk III should be out next month

Kevin Smith has talked about making a third installment in the Clerks saga for years, and finally, Clerk III is now imminent. The sequel will mirror Smith’s real life, with one of the two leads, Randal Graves, returning to the scene after a massive heart attack. Once recovered, Randal enlists his friends and fellow clerks Dante, Elias, Jay, and Silent Bob to make a film documenting his life at the convenience store that started it all.

Written, produced, directed and edited by Kevin Smith, Clerk III will follow both the first Clerksreleased in 1994, and the follow-up Clerk II from 2006. All three films center on Brian O’Halloran as Dante Hicks and Jeff Anderson as Randal Graves, two guys who start out as store clerks dealing with customers while chatting about movies and into lazy, who go on to work at a fast-food joint, Mooby’s, in the sequel.

Clerk III brings back several mainstays of Kevin Smith alongside Ben Affleck, including Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Trevor Fehrman, Austin Zajur, Rosario Dawson, Justin Long, Sarah Michelle Gellar, with Jason Mewes and Smith himself reprising their respective roles as as beloved duo Jay and Silent Bob.

Clerk III is set to have its world premiere on September 4, 2022, before receiving a wide release on September 13, courtesy of Lionsgate.