Though he’s not premiering a new film on the 2025 movie schedule, writer/director Kevin Smith has been a very busy man. Thanks to his new roadshow tour to promote the long awaited restoration/re-release of 1999’s Dogma, the View Askewniverse mastermind has been reunited with his prodigal creation. Another occasion that Smith is celebrating is another collaboration with hetero life mate Jason Mewes, courtesy of some new Operator skin packs in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
But while the Clerks creator is certainly no stranger to the process, Mr. Mewes got to dive even deeper into the process this time around. Which, as you’re about to see, set off a chain of thought that is a pure example of Kevin Smith’s snark and gratitude.
Kevin Smith Still Can’t Believe Jason Mewes’ ‘Favorite Acting’ Experience Is Their New Call Of Duty DLC
In honor of their new Tracer Pack DLCs for Black Ops 6, I had the distinct pleasure of speaking with the men behind Jay and Silent Bob about this new venture into digital warfare. While both actors appeared in the Zombies scenario Rave in the Redwoods from Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Jason Mewes’ experience was clearly the more exhaustive effort. Sharing some of the details why with CinemaBlend, here’s how Kevin Smith hammered home that point:
I'm a veteran … having been an old hand with it because of Rave in the Redwoods. I came in through the door as a little more experienced. In fact, they had my scan from Rave in the Redwoods. So Jason was new to the table. He had to put on the outfit, and get scanned in, and he referred to it as his favorite acting he's ever done in his life. Which really insulted me, who's put him in like 13 movies.
That last part is not the start of some sort of beef between these View Askewniverse collaborators, especially with Dogma’s recent Cannes screening and 25th anniversary tour leading up to the theatrical re-release on June 5th. But at the same time, Kevin Smith’s humorous point of umbrage taken is identifiable, even if Jason Mewes’ Call of Duty fandom is clearly something that’s guiding his thoughts.
As our conversation continued, Smith then fell into paying tribute to his best friend, admitting that the entire saga that began with Clerks may not have happened without Mewes’ skills. But he also noted that this opportunity was indeed something that the Madness in the Method director/star had been waiting for; a notion that man himself would double down on during his individual interview celebrating Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
Jason Mewes’ Call Of Duty Fandom Makes It Easy To See Why He Values This Opportunity So Greatly
I don’t know how it escaped me prior to this discussion, but Jason Mewes is a huge gaming fan. So much so that he even told me that he is a regular Twitch streamer, with Call of Duty as his main title of choice. I wouldn’t have learned that I hadn’t been tipped off previously by Kevin Smith, which was my opening to ask about the main difference between acting in a flesh and blood movie like Clerks III (which you can read our review for), and a video game DLC.
Thankfully, Mewes’ phobia of auditioning for projects didn’t come into play at any point. Though he did open up about his time in the booth, in this remark - courtesy of another CinemaBlend interview:
I feel like for the movies, I don't get to say fun things that I [say when] I play the game. So knowing some of the stuff, like ‘Throwing Lethal,’ things like that, is awesome. … It was like me just pretending I'm playing the game, and running around. And they had a bunch of stuff they wanted me to say, but also it was nice [that] some of the ideas, like I know that I came up with at least one or two, if not more.
I have a sneaking suspicion that "It's fucking Call of Duty, bro" is one of the new lines that Mr. Mewes threw in to the mix; but I could be wrong. That sort of thinking is bound to come about when clocking about 14 hours worth of recording time.
At least, that's if the factoid shared by Kevin Smith during our interview is true, since that's the estimated recording time Jay and Silent Bob Reboot’s co-lead supposedly needed to complete this job. Which is a far cry from the estimated 15 minutes Smith claims he took.
Throughout that experience, Mewes realized he didn’t have to worry too much about looking the part, but rather sounding it. Then again, 14 hours might be close to one day on a major Hollywood project, depending on which one you’re talking about. Either way, that means more time for Call of Duty in one's schedule, which is ultimately a net positive.
Which brings us back to Kevin Smith’s good-natured ball-busting about Mewes being so enamored with his new Call of Duty claim to fame. I can’t blame him, as throwing out a mixture of famous catchphrases, CoD commands and even some new stuff that made it into the game sounds pretty rad.
Hey, Activision, if you’ve got an Enter-pain-ment Pugilist DLC pack coming, let me know. I’ll audition to be featured in a heartbeat! As for you dear readers out there, you can currently play as Jay and Silent Bob (or Bluntman and Chronic, if you’re so inclined), through those new skins on the Call of Duty marketplace.
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