Kevin Smith Explains Why His Wife & Daughter Don't Enjoy Clerks 3

Director Kevin Smith explains why his wife and daughter don't enjoy Clerks 3 like he does, as it represents the worst moment of their lives.

Kevin Smith Explains Why His Wife & Daughter Don't Enjoy Clerks 3

Kevin Smith explains why his wife and daughter don’t enjoy Clerks 3 the way he does. Smith got his start with the Clerks franchise, writing and directing the first effort in 1994, which launched his filmmaking career. Since then, Smith has gone on to direct sequels and spinoffs featuring the many characters that populate his films, which the director has dubbed the View Askewniverse. In addition to his feature work, Smith has made a name for himself with his TV ventures, animated projects, podcasts, and live appearances.

In 2018, Smith suffered a massive heart attack after a live performance, though thankfully he was soon on the road to recovery. Already known for bringing his personal experiences into his work, Smith would later announce that his health scare would play into the long-awaited Clerks 3. The movie will pick up with Quick Stop employee Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) after he suffers his own heart attack. He then decides to make a movie about his time at the convenience store alongside best friend Dante Hicks (Brian O’Halloran). In other words, Clerks 3 is perhaps one of the most meta projects of Smith’s career.

Smith recently completed work on Clerks 3, revealing the trailer and September release date, but says that his wife and daughter don’t enjoy the movie in the same way he does. Talking to EW, Smith says that his wife and daughter are especially affected by the first half hour of the film for one very personal reason. Read Smith’s quote below:

My wife and kid don’t enjoy the movie the way I do, at least the first half hour. My wife’s like, ‘Look, what you think is funny now was the worst moment of our f—ing lives.’ And I was like, ‘Well, don’t say that to the critics, for Christ’s sakes! It’s too easy a lay-up for them!’

Smith is already lining up more projects, as he commonly does, from features to TV to animated projects. Just looking at his filmography, one might never guess he went through a major health scare years ago. However, Smith’s family remembers the experience all too well, which makes Clerks 3 a tricky viewing experience. Their complicated feelings toward the movie perhaps give an idea of how well Smith explores Randal’s own heart attack. It sounds like it might be a very realistic depiction.

Art has imitated life frequently in Smith’s body of work, although he’s dabbled outside that realm on occasion for projects like Red State and Tusk. Clerks has always been a deeply personal platform for Smith, as it draws from his time as an actual convenience store clerk in his early life, where much of his idioms and style are derived. Clerks 2 addressed the next phase in Smith’s life, including marriage and children, so it makes perfect sense that Clerks 3 would now encompass old age and mortality, something the director has since begun to experience. Clerks 3 will debut exclusively in theaters on September 13 and 15 via Fathom Events.