Kevin Smith opens up about reuniting with Ben Affleck after fallout

Kevin Smith wrote that Ben Affleck reprises his role as Holden from 'Chasing Amy' in the upcoming film but the scene that the filmmaker now calls "magical and life-affirming" almost didn't happen

After not speaking to each other for almost a decade, actor Ben Affleck and director Kevin Smith reunited. The 46-year-old actor stars in Smith's upcoming film 'Jay and Silent Bob Reboot', a sequel to 2001's 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back'. He also stars in every movie Smith has made, including 'Chasing Amy', 'Mallrats' and 'Dogma'.

While at San Diego Comic-Con this week, the 48-year-old filmmaker shared a happy selfie with Affleck on Instagram and explained in a lengthy post how the old friends reconciled after years of estrangement.

Smith wrote that Affleck reprises his role as Holden from 'Chasing Amy' in the upcoming film but the scene that the filmmaker now calls "magical and life-affirming" almost didn't happen.

"When we started shooting the movie, the scene didn't exist. This scene - and more importantly, my reunion with a guy who I've missed terribly for nearly a decade -- only happened because of Kevin McCarthy," Smith revealed.

Smith explained, in his post, that while McCarthy was conducting a recent interview with Affleck, the journalist asked if the actor had been contacted for the 'Jay and Silent Bob Reboot'.

"Ben said no, but he was available," Smith wrote.

Smith then said that he thought Affleck wasn't being "serious" in the interview, but the filmmaker "finally" reached out to the actor after other people pushed him to.

 

 

 

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MY BOYFRIEND’S BACK! When the trailer for @jayandsilentbob Reboot dropped (link in my bio), folks found out a few of our secrets - one of the biggest being that @benaffleck is back as Holden McNeil! The co-creator of #bluntmanandchronic and friend of #jayandsilentbob plays a crucial role in the Reboot and his scene is one of the best bits of cinema I’ve ever been involved with: it’s absolutely magical and life-affirming and all the things I really care about now, post-heart attack. But when we started shooting the movie, the scene didn’t exist. This scene - and more importantly, my reunion with a guy who I’ve missed terribly for nearly a decade - only happened because of @kevinmccarthytv. Kev interviewed Ben for his @netflix movie #triplefrontier and kicked off by asking Ben “Did they call you for Reboot yet?” And Ben said no, but he was available. So producer @jordanmonsanto said “Call Ben.” I told her “That’s just some nice shit to say at a junket. He wasn’t serious.” A week later, Jordan, @jaymewes and @jenschwalbach we’re all pressing me to reach out to Ben, so I finally did. I was scared to be rejected, but I texted him “To paraphrase the sad old King Osric in CONAN THE BARBARIAN? ‘There comes a time when the jewels cease to sparkle, when the gold loses its luster, when the throne room becomes a prison, and all that is left is a director’s love for the people he used to make pretend with.’” And after a long beat of wondering how he’d receive this, my estranged friend wrote back as only he could: “Of course you still liken yourself to a king,” he joked. And then “Would be a pleasure to see you again, Old Man.” So naturally, weepy me - who breaks down emotionally during comic book flicks - was a blubbery mess. Not only did we score an amazing scene for the flick, but I also got my friend back - all because of entertainment journalism. Thank you, #kevinmccarthytv - your #viewaskew themed opening question not only allowed me to make an 8 page sequel to #chasingamy in the middle of #JayAndSilentBobReboot, it also brought back a massive missing piece of my heart. #KevinSmith #benaffleck #JasonMewes #reunited #comiccon #holdenmcneil

A post shared by Kevin Smith (@thatkevinsmith) onJul 19, 2019 at 7:54am PDT

"I was scared to be rejected, but I texted him, 'To paraphrase the sad old King Osric in Conan the Barbarian? There comes a time when the jewels cease to sparkle, when the gold loses its luster, when the throne room becomes a prison, and all that is left is a director's love for the people he used to make pretend with'," Smith said.

"And after a long beat of wondering how he'd receive this, my estranged friend wrote back as only he could, 'Of course you still liken yourself to a king,' he joked. And then 'Would be a pleasure to see you again, Old Man'," he added.

"So naturally, weepy me -- who breaks down emotionally during comic book flicks -- was a blubbery mess. Not only did we score an amazing scene for the flick, but I also got my friend back -- all because of entertainment journalism," Smith wrote.

Smith added, "It brought back a massive missing piece of my heart."

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly earlier this week, Smith said, even though the 'Jay and Silent Bob Reboot' scene with Affleck "didn't exist when we started, when you watch the movie you can't imagine that movie existing without it."

"Not only did I get that guy in my movie and the scene is fantastic - it's honestly one of Ben's finest moments of his career - he gave me my friend back, more importantly," Smith said.

"I haven't spoken to that dude in eight years. There was a piece of my heart that was missing ... To have that back was everything," he added.

In March, Affleck spoke about working with Smith again in an interview with Collider, reported People.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Affleck said when asked if fans would see his character, Holden, in Smith's upcoming film. "I haven't been asked to make an appearance, but you never know, there's still time. We'll see. I think if it was up to me, I would rather do Holden than Shannon but I would defer to Kevin," he added.

In November, a Twitter user asked Smith about their relationship, writing, "Sometimes I wonder what really happened between Ben Affleck and Kevin Smith that made them not talk to each other," tagging both the stars.

Smith responded, "If I 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."

Affleck has starred in six films directed by Smith.

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