‘Jay and Silent Bob’ star explains how Kevin Smith helped him stay sober

Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith’s alter egos Jay and Silent Bob have appeared in practically every View Askewniverse movie to date.

From 1994 indie classic Clerks to the upcoming threequel, the stoner duo have provided some of the biggest laughs in Smith’s back catalogue, with their popularity ensuring a flood of merchandise, comics, and cameos in other projects.

But, as fans of Jay and Silent Bob will know, it hasn’t been an easy ride behind the scenes. Mewes has publicly struggled with heroin addiction, which has resulted in criminal charges and repeated visits to rehab. Fortunately, things are looking good at the moment after Mewes confirmed in a Reddit AMA that he’s been clean since July 2010, and Smith created the Jay and Silent Bob Get Old podcast as a way of helping Mewes talk through his issues.

Now Mewes has opened up on one of his lowest points in a chat with another reformed hellraiser. Speaking with Jackass‘ Steve-O on his Wild Ride! YouTube show, he recalled a miserable Thanksgiving at Smith’s house.

“I remember me and him sitting out in front of his house, and he’s crying, saying ‘I want to let you in, but the whole family is here. And I had on a tank-top on, and I had track marks. And he’s like, ‘I can’t have you see them like that.’ And I’m like, ‘I can’t come in for a plate of Thanksgiving dinner?’ And he’s like, ‘You can’t. Here, I am going to bring you some food.’ That was the first time I got sober for a while. All the trouble I had, I had Kevin’s support and I know that made a big difference in the outcome of everything.”

Aside from Jay and Silent Bob, Mewes has voiced characters in video games Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Fallout 76, as well as Stinkor in Masters of the Universe: Revelation, as well as TV appearances in shows like Hawaii 5-0 and The Flash.

2019 also saw him make his directorial debut in Madness in the Method, in which he played a thinly-veiled version of himself struggling to gain legitimacy as an actor, with the movie notable for featuring Stan Lee’s final film role.

Here’s hoping Clerks III is another killer View Askewinverse entry when it lands later this year. Principal photography concluded in 2021 and reshoots have now been completed, though as yet we don’t have a firm release date. Let’s hope we get that and a debut trailer very soon.