The longtime Kevin Smith collaborator talks about the film, the controversy behind it, future projects and much more

It doesn't seem like 15 years have gone by since Jason Mewes first appeared as the Jay to Kevin Smith's Silent Bob in Smith's breakthrough debut film, Clerks, which exploded onto the indie scene at Sundance in January 1994. Since then Mewes and Smith have gone on to collaborate frequently, and Mewes has gone off to do some work on his own with roles in such films as Pauly Shore is Dead and Feast, to name a few. Mewes is back with his old Jersey pal again in Zack and Miri Make a Porno, which just hit the shelves on DVD and Blu-ray this week, on February 3. I had the chance to speak with Mewes over the phone today, and here's what he had to say about his new film.

So, how long had Kevin been working on Zack and Miri Make a Porno and how did you first find out about it, and your character, Lester?

Jason Mewes: I didn't find out - I mean, I knew that I was going to be in the movie and I was playing a character Lester months and months before, but I didn't know anything about the character or what I was doing until, I'd say, about a month before. Kevin doesn't let the script out of the house, really, so I had to go to his house to read it. So I didn't wind up going there until probably a month before we went out and started shooting that I went over to the house and started reading it. And then he gave me the script. So yeah. It wasn't way ahead of time that I knew.

You've played other characters in the past, but you're mainly known as Jay. Was it kind of odd to work with Kevin and not be Jay for the first time?

Jason Mewes: I wouldn't say it was odd, but it was nice to do something different and do it with Kevin. I just love working with Kevin in general. Everyone we work with, (producer) Scott Mosier and {director of photography) David Klein and everyone who works on it, it's really comfortable and I say I wish he would do more movies. But I wouldn't say it was any different than normal. It's the same interaction, asking him if this is what he wants and all that. I wouldn't say it was much different, except for him not standing right beside me, to interact with him.

You have a lot of new additions to the View Askewniverse with Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Craig Robinson, Traci Lords, Brandon Routh, Justin Long. Kevin usually has a lot of the same guys for most of his movies and this is a really diverse cast so what was it like being around all these new faces?

Jason Mewes: It was nice, but even though he uses a lot of the same people, I always feel that there are some different faces. Not so much in Clerks, but in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, we worked with Will Ferrell and we had Rosario Dawson in Clerks II, Alan Rickman in Dogma. Even though he brings back a lot of people, there's always a new face, it seems, and there are a little more this time than usual, but it was great. Everyone was really cool. Ricky Mabe is a really nice guy and Seth's nice and Elizabeth is too. It was nice. To me, it wasn't much different than the other ones, really.

So you have quite the revealing moment at the end of the film. Was that always in the script like that, and what did you first think of that when you read it?

Jason Mewes: It wasn't really explained, and I just assumed the whole time, really up to about two days until we were about to shoot it, I just assumed it would be one of those shots where I came out and there'd be like a table there or something, blocking my business. It was getting closer on the schedule and they were shooting it in a day or two, so I go, 'What are we going to do? Is there going to be a vase there on a table? How are we doing this?' He said, 'Well, you know, I've been thinking about it and what do you think about just coming straight out naked?' I was like, 'Whoa.' I don't know, I was a little leery about it for a little bit. My nieces and nephews watch the movies, my sister lets them watch them. And then also just some other people that would see it, family members and stuff, that I wasn't so sure I'd want them to see. I wasn't 100% into it, but the more we talked about it, I said, 'Well, lets shoot it once for that scene and then if it's funny, then let's do it.' We did it and I did a couple of takes where I covered myself and, I don't know, I think it works so it was what it was.

I read that your lisp for the character was due to like a dental surgery. Did you think that added a little bit to your character?

Jason Mewes: Yeah. I think it did a little bit. At the time, we were discussing if it would be all right or not, it was worse. The swelling was going down and it was going away and, honestly, I wanted it to be more, but it started to go away and, at that point, I was just going with what it was. I wish, honestly, it was more, because at first, for weeks, it was really swollen and it was even worse than what you hear. I was like, 'Well, what do you think? Is that sort of how he talks?' And Kevin was like, 'Well, if it's normal, then yeah. It'd be great.' So, I'd say a little bit, but I don't think it was that much. It wasn't as strong as I wished it was, to be honest.

I'm actually originally from Minnesota and I read that Kevin had originally wanted to shoot this film in Minnesota, but there was budgetary reasons and that's why he went to Pittsburgh. What was the whole experience like shooting in Pittsburgh? I talked to Traci (Lords) and she said it was very very cold, so what was that whole experience like?

Jason Mewes: I honestly like Pittsburgh. For one, they had us put up in these really nice lofts, so that was awesome because last time we were there shooting for a couple of months, we were in this hotel and it wasn't the greatest hotel. It wasn't a horrible hotel, and I like hotels, don't get me wrong, but after a couple of months... It was nice we had our own little loft and I liked Pittsburgh. I wouldn't say I want to move there, but I did enjoy it. We went there for Dogma years and years ago, but I enjoy Pittsburgh. But I think it would've been nice to go back to Minneapolis again and go see the Mall of America. It would've brought back, because that, to me, is really memorable with Mallrats, when we shot that, because that's what I consider the first movie. Not that Clerks wasn't, but this was our first studio movie, where it was real to me. It was like, 'Wow. I'm really making a movie. It's going to be in thousands of theaters and... well, not thousands, but a thousand theaters maybe and I'm getting paid per diem and I'm staying in a hotel in another state that I've never been to.' That would've been really neat but, you know, I enjoyed Pittsburgh. But yes, it was very cold. You walk outside and your face... it was just really cold.

Do you know if Kevin has any plans to go back to Minnesota to shoot anything right now?

Jason Mewes: You know what, I don't, but it'd be great if we did. I honestly would like to go back because I think it would be cool to go back and go to Eden Prarie Mall, where we shot Mallrats, and it would be cool to see that. I don't think he has any movies planned for that.

For one of Kevin's movies, it's almost par for the course that he has to appeal to get it down to the R rating, which he had to do with this one. What did you make of all the controversy around this movie? It basically was about the one word, the "porno" in the title, and not really about the film itself.

Jason Mewes: Well, yeah, it was that and there was a few other issues. I don't know. I sort of get people's point of views, but I honestly just don't think about it. I was just hoping he'd get the rating he would like. That's all I hoped for, but it was ridiculous. It was weird to me that they didn't care about me being naked or really so much about the sex scene. I believe it was the poop scene and it was a little bit the sex scene but they just thought it was too long so he just had to cut some frames down and stuff. Again, there are just so many other movies that are worse, so I don't know. I don't get it, but maybe they have to fight for the same things.

Yeah. It was just really silly because they banned the original poster as well, with Seth and Elizabeth, where it looked like they were going down. It was just outrageous, I thought.

Jason Mewes: Yeah, that's silly. I didn't get that because I don't think there's anything wrong with that. But yeah, that was a bummer and they just wound up using the stick figures, which was sort of funny, but if people don't know Seth's name, but love Seth Rogen, they're not going to go see that movie because they don't realize.

Kevin has said before that his next film will be a horror film called Red State. Have you heard anything about that or will you be appearing in that at all?

Jason Mewes: I don't think I will be. I haven't heard much about it lately. I did ask him a few months back and he said that he was just trying to figure out if that's what he wanted to do next, I believe, and then also, how he was going to go about it, if he wanted to do it for a couple of million, or if he wanted to do more. He might just use people that he's never used before. But yeah, I haven't heard any update on that in the last couple of months.

OK. You have quite a few projects in development right now. Is there anything in particular that we should keep an eye out for that should come out soon?

Jason Mewes: Well, I'm hoping they come out soon, but there's a movie that I did called Shoot the Hero and another called Repo, and Repo, I believe, will be out in March and hopefully it goes as planned. The other movie, Shoot the Hero, my buddy Christian Sesma wrote and directed it and I play a nerd in it, so a totally different character. So hopefully that will pan out and come out.

So is there anything else that you're developing right now then?

Jason Mewes: Yeah, there are a couple of things that we're trying to get going. There's a movie called K-11 that was moving along and one little curveball, and it got pushed, so hopefully we're going to be doing that in September. That one I'm really stoked about because I'll be producing it and also acting in it. I'll be the main character and I'm playing a way different character than the Jay character. I'll be working with Kristen Stewart and Nikki Reed from Twilight. So they'll be the other two leads and it's called K-11, so I'm hoping. It's in motion now and I'm hoping it's going to pan out for September. We were supposed to start at the end of January and then, like I said, one little thing happened and sort of put it on hold. We had only a certain amount of time and her window closed because she (Kristen Stewart) has to do New Moon and then she's doing The Runaways, playing Joan Jett. So there's that and there's another movie that my buddies and I are trying to get going, that my buddy Billy McAdams wrote. Hopefully maybe if that goes as planned, maybe we'll do that during Christmas time, because it's a Christmas movie. There have been a few things that are in the works and hopefully they all pan out. Like I said, with this K-11 movie, everything was moving. We had a casting director, we were scouting locations and one little curveball and it sort of put it on hold. You never know.

Finally, since Zack and Miri Make a Porno was such a controversial movie and people might not have seen it in the theaters, what would you like to say to those who might not have seen it in theaters to get them to pick this up on DVD?

Jason Mewes: I would say to go get it. It's funny and it definitely is worth the rental or price of the DVD. And, besides the movie itself, the DVD is awesome because it has a bunch of great extras on it, for real. Our buddies do an awesome job putting a great documentary on it and there's a bunch of great little sketches that they put together. Besides the movie itself, you need to pick it up. I had a couple of DVD's that got sent to me for free, and I went out and bought one because I couldn't wait to go watch the documentary and stuff. Yeah, that's what I would say, go get it for the movie and for all the extra goodies.

Excellent. Well, that's about all I have for you, Jason. Thanks so much for your time, and best of luck on all your upcoming projects.

Jason Mewes: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

You can catch Jason Mewes and the rest of the amazing cast of Zack and Miri Make a Porno on the DVD and Blu-ray shelves right now.