Jason Mewes is taking the spotlight again in 2019 with Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, as
well as his directorial debut, Madness in the Method.
But it hasn't always been lighthearted fun in the life of this actor, filmmaker, and
podcaster.
His rise and fall and rise again is a remarkable story, and he was kind enough to tell us all
about it.
"Kal son of Jor-El - Kneel before Zod!
Snuchie poochies!"
While Mewes cracked audiences up with his drug-related antics in the movies of hometown
friend Kevin Smith, he spent what should have been the best years of his career falling
increasingly into addiction.
Even as he shined on-screen, substance abuse was quietly causing damage in his life, endangering
his safety and derailing his career.
Fortunately, Mewes was able to turn the tables on his addictions in the early 2000s, starting
a process of sober living that he's continued to this day.
According to Smith, the Silent Bob to Mewes' Jay, Mewes was
"...born the son of a heroin abuser, [and] spent most of his childhood raised by an aunt
while his Mother fed her jones or spent years in jail."
Despite this, Mewes was essentially living a straight-edge lifestyle when Smith first
met him, free of booze, drugs, and even romance.
Things can change pretty fast when you're a teenager, though, and when the time came
to shoot Clerks, Mewes had morphed into an enthusiastic drinker and pot smoker, and essentially
played himself in the movie.
"Here is a dude who was like "I dunno if I can say these things.'
And I was like 'dude, you do say these things!'"
Yeah you c---smokin clerk.
And how many times have I told you not to be dealing in front of the store!
I'm not dealing man what are you talking about?
“Hey you got anything man?”
“Yeah, what you want?"
But while the scumbag lifestyle came off as funny on-screen, the real-life Mewes was on
a dangerous path.
The success of Clerks left Mewes living a kind of dual life.
He had a foot in the film industry, but wasn't making or saving a ton of money.
When filming wrapped, he'd go back to working regular jobs.
I came home from Mallrats and started delivering pizza and doing construction with my buddy.
[...] And then I did Chasing Amy, and I went back to delivering pizza and doing construction
and stuff.
I worked a regular job for years.
It really wasn't until after Dogma that I stopped working construction and delivering
pizza."
But as Mewes' star continued to rise, his drug use was becoming more problematic, especially
as he shifted away from weed and beers toward more addictive substances heroin, cocaine,
and even crack.
When Mewes began shooting heroin, Smith began working to get Mewes off the opiates.
He gave him rides to methadone clinics, where the recognizable duo drew stares as Smith
would later put it,
"Stoners are cute; junkies are sad."
You think just because he just don't say anything it'll have some huge impact when he does open
his --"
"J---- Christ, why don't you shut up."
Mewes is clear that it wasn't Hollywood pressure that made him dip further into using drugs.
"I started using drugs in Jersey.
It definitely isn't a Hollywood thing.
It definitely isn't a movie thing, or anything.
I definitely I definitely feel I've started drinking, if anything, more, but that was
more because I wanted to go out, and there's lots of fun clubs."
As Mewes put it, in the film industry,
"Opiates and heroin and painkillers and stuff is taboo"
which allowed Mewes to keep the extent of his drug use private.
On screen, he was serving up the goods, and if he was falling asleep on set in the middle
of takes while shooting Dogma well, audiences didn't notice.
"You can't just go around breaking people's hearts like that?
I fell in love with you!
We fell in love with you!
Guys like us don't just fall out of the f------ sky you know!"
According to Kevin Smith, Mewes' drug usage had reached dangerous, friendship-testing
levels by the time Dogma wrapped.
On top of nodding off on set, he was acquiring track marks and damaging his teeth.
He once reportedly rolled his truck through a traffic stop while under the influence,
colliding with the car of an off-duty police officer.
He was arrested for heroin possession in New Jersey after being stopped by police for driving
around with a deployed airbag, an incident which was later used for yuks in a scene in
Clerks II.
"Driving around with a deployed airbag."
After Dogma, circumstances would occasionally compel Mewes to check into rehab programs,
leaving him off drugs for brief periods of time.
But the drugs remained a fixation, to the point where his next movie almost didn't happen.
During the pre-production of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, a blow-up between Mewes and
Smith nearly resulted in the movie being canceled in pre-production.
As Kevin Smith tells the story, it would be better to cut their losses than risk having
Mewes fall off the wagon while the movie was being shot.
The director recalls that he told Mewes,
"You can do all the f------ dope you want now, because we're stopping the movie."
For fans of the stoner duo, the whole episode is a bracing dose of reality.
While the movie may have been lighthearted,
"why do they call you C---nocker?”
“Actually there's a funny story behind that.
You're gonna love this true story..."
the backdrop of its production was not.
According to Smith, Mewes stayed clean during shooting, but was back to using opiates within
hours after shooting his last scene.
During the months of post-production while Smith was busy finishing the movie, his on-screen
partner reportedly lost 30 pounds as a result of smoking crack.
After resuming his drug usage, Mewes was caught having heroin mailed to a hotel during a Strike
Back press junket, and was also caught stealing money from Smith.
In New Jersey, a warrant was issued for his arrest after he failed to show up for a court
date, violating the probation he was on after his previous arrest.
All of these factors led Smith to decide against casting Mewes in his sixth film, Jersey Girl,
which was mostly shot around their hometown of Highlands, New Jersey.
Shut out of production and knowing he'd be arrested if he ever returned home, Mewes decided
to face his problems head-on and surrender.
Mewes' return to New Jersey to face the authorities was accompanied by an all-time indicator of
a man living on the edge a short-lived rumor that he had died.
Instead of being locked away immediately, Mewes was given a choice: a year in jail,
or six months of rehab.
He chose rehab.
"It wasn't like I stepped away from everything to be like, 'Hey, I need to clear my head
from being in the Hollywood spotlight, or on the town or something.'
It was literally just like, 'Hey, I need to try to take care of this problem I have, and
I don't know how to do it besides going to turn myself in to the to the New Jersey court
systems,' or what have you.
And I just fell off the map."
It turns out, falling off the map was exactly the thing he needed to turn things around.
More than four years into Mewes' efforts at going sober, he fell victim to a common pitfall
feared by many recovering heroin users: legally-prescribed opiates.
"It's not even like I went out and chased it.
I had gotten hurt, and I got a shot of Demerol for the pain, and that sparked the whole thing
back.
'Oh, I remember that feeling and I miss it.'
I relapsed again, and Kevin was like, 'You were doing so well.
You had over four years.
What happened?'
[...] I wasn't accountable to anybody or talking to anyone.'"
Mewes realized he needed to be accountable to something more than just himself.
Talking to Smith about his struggles, the idea came up to essentially keep the conversation
going indefinitely, and invite the public to listen in.
"I wanted to do a podcast.
And he was like what do you want to do the podcast about?
And I was like, 'Why don't we talk about what you're thinking every day, and this way you're
accountable to people who are listening and watching.'"
The ensuing podcast, Jay and Silent Bob Get Old, went on to produce over 200 episodes.
According to Mewes, the show is over, at least for now, giving way to the obligations of
the touring Reboot Roadshow as well as Mewes' own Twitch channel.
"Oh, yes, you snake, ha!
Yes, baby!”
For Mewes, the podcast was a constant reminder of the commitment he'd made to sobriety, and
a way to connect with fans all around the world going through the same struggles.
Much like the movies he's most famous for, it was an experience that brought moments
both profane and surprisingly profound.
"Who would've thunk that we literally went seven years, and we toured Australia and London
and all that stuff.
And that was Jay and Silent Bob Get Old."
Outside of the podcast and keeping busy with work, Mewes says he makes his continuing sobriety
work with the help of a caring support system, which includes his family, and friends who
aren't shy about keeping him accountable.
"A friend who's like, 'Hey, you've been sober two years and you're really addicted to drugs,
not booze.
You can have a beer.
You can have one beer.'
That to me isn't…
again, he might be a friend, but not really,"
"So that to me was a big deal.
Surrounding myself with people who knew, no, I can't have a beer, because then I'll be
smoking crack in a month, and I'll disappear."
Whatever he's doing, it seems to be working, and he's been sober for more than nine years.
"you know, sometimes I wish I did more in my life instead of just hanging out in front
of places and selling weed and s---.”
On top of closing out 2019 by touring with the Reboot Roadshow, Mewes also celebrated
a major milestone in his career directing his first movie.
The film, Madness in the Method, was released in theaters and on-demand in August 2019.
The premise of the movie revolves around a world much like the real one, with Mewes playing
a twisted version of himself.
"Everyone plays themselves, but like a multiverse version of themselves."
The movie follows Jay in as he attempts to break out of the more stoner-style roles he's
had a tendency to be typecast in.
Less true to life is how he accomplishes this goal, following the unorthodox advice from
a mysterious book on method acting, to unexpectedly effective results.
Stepping into the role of director didn't just fulfill a longtime goal for Mewes.
It also demonstrated just how many of his peers in the film industry have come to care
about him over his long and charmed career.
"It was really nice, because when we reached out to Dean Cain, Teri Hatcher, Jaime Camil,
everyone like, 'Hey, listen.
We don't have a lot of money but Jay Mewes is directing his first movie.
Is there any way?'
And they came and was part of the movie because they were like, 'We want to be part of that.
If he's going to be directing for the first time, we want to be part of his directing
debut.'
So that was really, really nice."
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