'Jay and Silent Bob Reboot' cameos: Kevin Smith details how he landed Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Chris Hemsworth

Kevin Polowy
Updated

There are too many cameos to count in Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, Kevin Smith's return to the "View Askewniverse" overflowing with callbacks to his films Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma and, of course, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

In an interview with Yahoo Entertainment, the always-willing-to-share writer-director-star detailed how he convinced 18 of his celebrity pals to appear, which you can watch in our full interview below.

Above, check out a clip in which Smith talks about three of his biggest gets: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Chris Hemsworth.

Matt Damon: The Good Will Hunting Oscar winner and Bourne star has become The Cameo King over the years, turning up Eurotrip, Che, House of Lies, Thor: Ragnarok, Deadpool 2 and all those episodes of Jimmy Kimmel Live! "Matty Damon, we reached out to while we were making the movie and never heard back 'cause he kind of took time off from movies [and] went away," Smith said of Damon, who starred in Dogma as the fallen angel Loki and also cameoed in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. "We were done with the film proper, down in New Orleans and his manager was like, 'Hey, Matt's back and he said, ‘Hold on, he wants to be in.’ So I asked him, 'Hey man, you want to play Loki instead?' He was like, 'F--k yeah.' So I wrote him a monologue and got to cram another sequel into the movie."

Ben Affleck: Smith had fallen out of touch (and possibly favor) with Damon's BFF and Dogma costar Affleck, who also played Holden McNeil in Chasing Amy. But then Smith saw an interview with the actor where he was asked if he was involved in Reboot. "Not that I know of, he hasn't called me yet," Affleck said. Smith seized the opportunity and texted Affleck. "I said, 'Hey, we're having a blast in the past down in New Orleans, wish you were here.' But I said, 'Every since [suffering a] heart attack I don't wish anymore, I just flat-out ask for s--t, so: Will you come play with us? I miss you. It would be so fun.' And he goes, 'Of course. I would love to come play.'"

Chris Hemsworth: Smith read an article in Vanity Fair where the Avengers actor credited the filmmaker for inspiring them to make dramatic changes to the Thor series heading into Thor: Ragnarok after listening to his podcast. "So when we were casting the movie, I was like, 'Reach out to Chris Hemsworth, he knows my name.' And his manager goes, 'The only reason I'm in this business is because I saw Clerks when I was a kid. He goes, "I'm gonna try to make this happen. And he f--king did, he made it happen."

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot is now in theaters. Watch our full interview with Smith:

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