The release of Clerks III this month has reminded many that Kevin Smith is a master of cameos -- not only making them himself but securing famous guest stars for his movies.
With his View Askewniverse spanning two trilogies: Clerks and Mallrats and Chasing Amy, there are plenty of amazingly placed cameos throughout. A self-confessed nerd, he often chooses to include his heroes from sci-fi and comics, as well as some zany, unpredictable yet genius guest cameos.
Carrie Fisher (Nun): Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
A Star Wars fan through and through, Smith cast the delight that is Carrie Fisher as a nun who gives Jay and Silent Bob a ride to the set of the adaptation of their comic, Bluntman and Chronic. During the trip, a hilarious misunderstanding leads to Jay's presumption that she requires sexual favors for the ride, while she is sweet and blissfully unaware of his actions.
Fisher is comedy gold as always, playing her role with all the charm in the world. Smith said that due to the small budget of the film, she refused payment in lieu of a pair of antique beaver chairs that she'd had her eye on. Later in life, Smith heard some gossip that Fisher had been negative about the film in retrospect and emailed her, offended at her words. She replied to him with her typical wit, saying, "Oh Kevin, did you fall prey to the internet?"
Mark Hamill (Cocknocker): Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
The second of two Star Wars actor cameos, Luke Skywalker turns to the dark side as Bluntman and Chronic's nemesis, "Cocknocker." Mark Hamill plays the villain with as much campy and evil energy as he did as the voice of The Joker in the Batman: The Animated Series.
Smith recalled a full circle moment when his mother visited the set and Hamill said to her, 'It must be weird to see your son go from a kid to all of this." She replied that it wasn't so strange as "he used to play with action figures of you, and now he just plays with you."
Freddie Prinze Jr. (Himself): Clerks III (2022)
Kevin Smith's latest film has a great sequence in which he gathers all of his buddies to star as auditionees for Randal's version of Machete star Danny Trejo and Clerks producer Scott Mosier, but Prinze Jr. is the only one that introduces himself by name.
Although he hasn't shown his face on the big screen for almost a decade, he's had a busy schedule of voice-over work, so it's hilarious to see him poke fun at himself by playing a washed-up actor auditioning for a low-budget first film. His wife and the Daphne to his Fred, Sarah Michelle Gellar, also stars as a fellow auditionee.
Ben Affleck & Matt Damon (Themselves): Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
During the finale of Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back, the pair find themselves accidentally tresing into the production of the fictitious sequel of the Oscar-winning hit, Good Will Hunting, written and starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. In Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season, Scott William Winters reprises his role from the iconic "how do you like them apples?" scene and director Gus Van Sant appears to be directing.
Ben Affleck is no stranger to the Kevin Smith cameo. He has a great one in Clerks III as an auditionee based on an overzealous message board poster on ViewAskew.com, named Boston John. He knocks this role out of the park as it's a hilarious parody of the buzz surrounding the pair in which they shed their earnestness of the original movie and use a shotgun on their bully.
Stan Lee (Himself): Mallrats (1995)
At the end of a turbulent day at the mall, Stan Lee comes along to give Jason Lee's Brodie some solid advice on life and love, revealing to him his regrets about the one that got away in Kevin Smith's big-budget follow-up to Clerks.
Smith clearly made his childhood dreams come true by roping in the comic book legend to play himself in one of the best cameos of all time. It's a cameo for the ages, from the undisputed king of cameos. He even references this part in the '90s-set Captain Marvel, where he is spotted reading a script for Mallrats.
Will Smith (Himself): Jersey Girl (2004)
Will Smith is on hand to consult Ben Affleck's Ollie, as he is about to choose a job interview in Manhattan, rather than attend his daughter's talent show back in New Jersey. In their conversation, they share their stories about their children and discuss how much they enjoy being fathers.
It has such an effect on Ollie that he sprints to his daughter's recital, arriving just in time to see her perform. It's a sweet moment and made all the better by the fact that Smith is talking about his actual children: Willow and Jayden. It also mirrors Stan Lee's role, as they both appear as themselves in sensei-type roles to inspire the main character and facilitate a finale in which they finally come to their senses.
Method Man & Redman (Themselves) Jay And Silent Bob Reboot (2019)
In the stoner duo crossover event of the century, Jay and Silent Bob get so high that they hallucinate a meeting with the stars of How High on their journey to "Chronic Con." They impart their life experience to the pair after Jay discovers his daughter has drug them with marijuana-laced chocolate.
Smith must clearly be a fan of these masters of their art, and Jay And Silent Bob Reboot pay excellent homage to them. He, again, utilizes the trope of using a cameo of a person that the character ires, to give them advice that spurs them forward. As they are a stoned vision, it must be knowledge that Jay knows for himself and must simply be reminded of.
Justin Long (Brandon St. Randy): Jay And Silent Bob Reboot (2019)
Justin Long has worked with Kevin Smith many times, most recently in a cameo as an unsympathetic nurse in Clerks III. Here, he reprises his best character, Brandon St. Randy, in the bit-part-packed Jay And Silent Bob Reboot. He's made a shift in career from his first appearance as an adult film actor in the wacky Zack And Miri Make A Porno and is now a hot shot lawyer.
Zack and Miri was the only film with no Easter egg to link it to the wider View Askewniverse. However, with this inclusion of Brandon St. Randy, he has added another planet to his universe. He clearly excels in every profession he chooses, with Long acing his overly camp performance each time.
Alanis Morrisette (God): Dogma (1999)
In his controversial satire of organized religion, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's fallen angels attempt to get back to heaven through a loophole in Kevin Smith's hometown of New Jersey. Nineties rockstar, Alanis Morisette, is revealed to be the face of this depiction of God: silent and understanding.
It's an excellent curveball of casting, especially to depict the Lord as a woman. Smith revealed that he has been asked why he cast her for 20 years and his answer has always been: “Because I always felt that - with her infinite patience - God had to be both a woman and Canadian."
Grace Smith (Milk Maid): Clerks (1994)
On par for the budget, Kevin Smith added cameos from people in his "real life" back in his first DIY feature, Clerks. In it, his mother, Grace, plays a woman searching for the best date on a carton of milk, as an example of the many annoying customers that Dante and Randal must deal with.
She then reprises her role in Clerks II and appears as a fan of Silent Bob in Jay And Silent Bob Reboot. She shows up as an auditionee in Clerks III too, and it is now Kevin Smith's daughter who appears as the milkmaid. In the final shot, Harley Quinn Smith is searching for the prized carton of Oatly oat milk.
