Photo: John Bayer/Lionsgate
Kevin Smithsurvived a brush with death in his journey back to theClerksmovie universe.
“That heart attack was the greatest gift I ever had,” Smith, 52, tells PEOPLE ofthe massive heart attack he suffered in 2018. “Not only did it save my life, make me go vegan andgo healthier and stuff, but it gave me the spine forClerks III.”
“And because of that, it winds up being this personal journey in a way that noClerksmovie should be … The guy who started making these movies couldn’t have predicted this,” Smith adds.
It all began withClerksin 1994, his black-and-white directorial debut about a day in the life of convenience store clerk Dante Hicks (Brian O’Halloran) and his best friend Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson).
Courtesy of Lionsgate
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Smith recalls that he originally “killed the main character at the end of that movie,” adding: “And then we wound up cutting that and suddenly it opened it up for ‘Oh, I guess I could go back to the Quick Stop if I wanted to.'”
“So whenever I go back, it recharges my batteries. As a director, as a filmmaker, storyteller, I have found that going back really unearths the best in me, for lack of a better description, the poet in me,” he explains. “I’ve made a lot of flicks, but honestly, the best three have the wordClerksin the title. So the boys, Dante and Randal, bring out the best in me.”
One such autobiographical scene features Randal on an operating table during the health scare as the theme song ofDegrassi: The Next Generationbegins playing in his head. “That was based on real life,” Smith notes.
“I was making peace with the fact that this could be it,” he recounts of when the doctor told him he had an 80 percent chance of dying. “And so at one point I started singing what I feel is one of the most positively reinforcing songs ever recorded, which is the opening theme song.”
Smith andJason Mewespreviously played versions of themselves on the popular spin-off of the 1980s Canadian teen soap with arcs in 2005 and 2009. “Now, here I am dying of a heart attack, so that song became even more profound for me,” he adds.
Whereas the firstClerksdrew from life in his early 20s, 2006’sClerks IItook inspiration from his 30s and the third installment represents Smith’s 40s and beyond.
“And certainly the end is part of that. When you’re my age, you start thinking, ‘Wow. Mathematically speaking, there’s definitely got to be less time in front of me than behind me,'” Smith muses. “And I remember working in that store and having all the time in the world, all the time scheming and dreaming.”
In recent years, he’s rolled out a new phase of the View Askewniverse (named for his and Mosier’s production company), including 2019’sJay and Silent Bob Rebootand aplannedMallratssequel.
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“And here she is, age 23, still in these. She can’t escape Kevin Smith pictures,” he says of Harley, who previously appeared inQuentin Tarantino’sOnce Upon a Time… in Hollywood.
All three of the Smith women return forClerks III, carrying on a beloved family tradition and giving Kevin’s legacy a personal touch.
“You’re lucky if you get to make films, and you’re way luckier if somebody else pays for them. But you got to use them as little snapshots of your life. I’ve charted my kids’ growth throughout these movies,” Smith raves.
Lionsgate in partnership with Fathom Events will be releasingClerks IIIexclusively in theaters from September 13-18.
source: people.com
