Many of us may have seen Ben Affleck on screen for the first time in a movie by Kevin Smith. The two were friends once upon a time, but a few years ago had a Batman shaped falling out. They have had a reconciliation, however, that brought Affleck back for a small appearance in Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, and we know the new friendship is holding as Affleck will be back for Clerks III.
Kevin Smith had been fairly open about the fact that he and Ben Affleck had stopped speaking for a time. He credits Reelblend’s Kevin McCarthy for helping get the pair back together, resulting in a last minute cameo from Affleck in Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. Getting Affleck to come back for Clerks III was apparently much easier, as Smith tells THR, the two are real friends again, so it was easy to ask his friend to appear. Smith explained…
No, I actually felt like Reboot was the new beginning of a beautiful friendship. It was like, ‘Oh, we’re back. Now I can reach out to Ben anytime.’ In Reboot, he has a beautiful show-stopping scene, and he gives an amazing performance. Even if you don’t like that movie, that scene is bliss. It transcends the movie itself, and that’s all because of him. He doesn’t get that in this movie; he gets to make some jokes and then move on and stuff.
From his first appearance in Mallrats, Ben Affleck was a regular part of Kevin Smith’s View Askewnaverse starting in the late ‘90s, with starring roles in movies like Chasing Amy and Dogma. After a few years away Kevin Smith has returned to where it all began with Jay and Silent Bob Reboot and now Clerks III. Smith has plans for a sequel to Mallrats as well.
Ben Affleck has become a massive star, an Oscar winner, and more in the time since he worked regularly alongside Smith, but his presence would have been noticeable had he been missing entirely from these new films. Luckily, even in a small role Affleck is apparently more than willing to drop in and hang out with his new old friend for a while. Smith continues…
So he showed up for Clerks III. Ben was also there with us for a quick scene in Clerks II. And since we reconnected from Reboot forward, it didn’t seem like a big thing to be like, ‘Hey man, you want to come play for a minute?’ So he came and hung out with us for an hour and said some funny shit. We spent more time bullshitting than we did actually making the movie. But I was glad; it just felt like things were right.
Fans of classic Kevin Smith will certainly be happy to see him and Ben Affleck “play a little” once again. Although, critics are promising Clerks III is something different from Smith. Clerks III opens September 13 with a limited theatrical run with Fathom Events.
