Never Meet Your Heroes....Unless They Are Kevin Smith

I vividly remember the first time I heard of Kevin Smith's movies. I was over my older brother's apartment in Lyndhurst NJ, looking through his DVD collection for something to borrow, and he suggested I take home 'Clerks', 'Mallrats', and a few other movies where Jay and Silent Bob appear - along with a couple 'Evening With Kevin Smith' specials.

I recognized 'Clerks' and 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back' from seeing them on his shelves over the years, but knew nothing about Kevin Smith's movies other than the fact that they referenced Star Wars and (mostly) took place in New Jersey. Twelve year old Robbie Fox really loved 'Live Free or Die Hard' (the FOURTH Die Hard movie), though, and Kevin Smith was in that - so that was enough for me to take the dive, and I fell down the rabbit hole fast.

Not only were the movies hilarious, nerdy, and truly unlike anything my innocent eyes had ever seen before - the Q&A sessions and podcasts Smith did outside of the movies were arguably even better! I was captivated by the stories he told, the way he talked about moviemaking, and even just the casual format of those chats with friends. He also felt more accessible than any other big time director I'd seen, where he'd constantly engage with his audience and encourage them to follow their dreams in the same way he did.

It may sound corny, but hearing someone that I really admired be so motivating meant a TON to me, and inspired me/my career choices more than anyone else. I mean, "Why not?" was my first tattoo based on this speech of his....

I met Kevin Smith for the first time when I was 14, when I stood in line outside his comic book store in Red Bank NJ for 7-8 hours just to shake his hand and get a quick autograph/picture. He signed my copy of his unused 'Superman Lives' script "Fuck Tim Burton!" and went out of his way to thank my mom for bringing me to the signing and waiting around in the hot sun all day, and that meant the world to me. This guy (who is one of my heroes) wasn't only nice/welcoming to me, he was a class act to my mom. I'd say in that moment he truly earned a fan for life.

In the 12 years since that first interaction, I obviously grew up (kinda) and got hired by Barstool, and TWICE now have had the opportunity to sit in on a Lights Camera Barstool interview with Kevin Smith and throw a few questions in. I was a nervous wreck the first time for mental health reasons outside of meeting my idol, which was a bummer - but he couldn't have been cooler about it and reassured me I was fine. Just a couple years ago we did that again at HQ2, and it went super well….

This week I had the opportunity to interview Kevin Smith one-on-one for the first time to promote his new flick, 'The 4:30 Movie' - and it was so awesome for me.

We talked all about the new movie (which is great and available to pre-order/stream digitally now), the rush of sneaking into movies as a kid, how 'The 4:30 Movie' connects to his other films and the Askewniverse, his favorite "needle drop" moments in his own movies - and even James Gunn's upcoming take on Superman! Kevin was super generous with his time and answers for some of my incredibly inside-baseball questions, and made this Silent Bob superfan feel great. 

So remember, don't meet your heroes - unless they're Kevin Smith. Then I'd definitely recommend it.