Here’s how Jay And Silent Bob Reboot not only reunited Ben Affleck and Kevin Smith onscreen for the first time in over a decade, it also mended their estranged friendship. One of Ben Affleck’s early roles of note came with playing a douchey villain in Mallrats, a 1994 comedy from Kevin Smith, which his follow-up to the indie sensation of Clerks. While Mallrats was a flop at the time, it has since become a cult favorite, and Smith would later direct Affleck in a string of movies like Chasing Amy and Dogma.

In the decades since first working together, Affleck has become a movie star and acclaimed filmmaker in his own right. The pair also began working together less and less, with their last collaboration prior to Jay And Silent Bob Reboot being Affleck’s brief Clerks 2 cameo in 2006. The two were more than complimentary of one another in the years that followed in various interviews, though fans of Smith started to wonder why they stopped working together.

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Smith would tweet in 2018 in response to a fan question asking why he and Affleck no longer spoke, with the director stating if he had to guess “It’s because one of us has a big mouth and told too many candid stories that sometimes weren’t his to tell, and the other one is Ben.” Smith is famously unfiltered when it comes to sharing stories about both his professional and private life, and over the years spoke about her Affleck’s now ex-wife Jennifer Garner didn’t particularly seem to care for him, and he also revealed Affleck’s somewhat immature response to learning he’d have to kiss co-star Jason Lee in Chasing Amy. These comments and others led Smith to believe Affleck had cut ties with him – until Smith heard about an interview with the actor during the production of Jay And Silent Bob Reboot.

During this time, Affleck was promoting his Netflix action-thriller Triple Frontier and was asked by journalist Kevin McCarthy if Smith had reached out about joining the Jay And Silent Bob Reboot cast. The actor confirmed he hadn’t but he’d be open to making an appearance if asked, and Smith was later nudged by the cast and crew to reach out to the actor. After some texting, Affleck agreed to be part of the movie, with Smith quickly writing him a cameo scene as Holden McNeil from Chasing Amy and Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back, who they run into while attending Comic Con.

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This Jay And Silent Bob Reboot scene is full of callbacks to Smith’s other work – including a Bluntman And Chronic reboot, of all things – and even nods to the fact they haven’t seen each other in years. It’s a sweet moment, and Affleck’s only request was he be flown out for his appearance by private jet. It just so happened the production had set aside some money for a jet to fly out rapper Snoop Dog for a planned cameo, who later ghosted the production.

The scene works as a sweet reunion between characters who hadn’t appeared together onscreen in nearly 20 years while it also reunited real-life friends after about a decade of estrangement. Smith and Affleck are still in touch following Jay And Silent Bob Reboot, with the latter reportedly asking for a larger role in Smith’s forthcoming Twilight Of The Mallrats. That sequel should really bring their friendship full circle.

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Padraig Cotter
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It’s pronounced Paw-rick, not Pad-raig. Now that’s out of the way, a brief introduction. Padraig has been writing about film online since 2012, when a friend asked if he’d like to contribute the occasional review or feature to their site.

A part-time hobby soon blossomed into a career when he discovered he really loved writing about movies, TV and video games – he even (arguably) had a little bit of talent for it. He has written words for Den of Geek, Collider, The Irish Times and Screen Rant over the years, and can discuss anything from the MCU – where Hawkeye is clearly the best character – to the most obscure cult b-movie gem, and his hot takes often require heat resistant gloves to handle.

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He’s super modern too, so his favorite movies include Jaws, Die Hard, The Thing, Ghostbusters and Batman. He can be found as i_Padds on Twitter making bad puns.

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