Jason Mewes Steps Behind the Camera

Jason Mewes, the Jay to Kevin Smith's Silent Bob, has directed his first movie called The Madness in the Method. He recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the experience; here's what he had to say:

You've been through some well-publicized rough times. How did you get to the point where you were in a place to direct your first movie?
"As I stay sober each year, I try to be more productive as I put the pieces of my life back together; my family, a place to call my own and over the past 10 years, directing has felt increasingly like a huge piece of that puzzle."

Where did the idea for The Madness in the Method come from?
"I was working on a film in the U.K., and the producer of the film, Dominic Burns, and I hung out a lot. He asked me if there was any role that I wanted to take on that I’d never done before, something that would really excite and challenge me, and I told him I’d love to play a serial killer. Dominic said he’d write something and pitch it to me and sure enough, a few months later he sent over a script. I liked it, but I also had a lot of ideas and thoughts, so we began developing the script together along with another writer, Chris, and the idea built and built from there."

What's the meaning of the title?
"The film is set in an alternate universe where Kevin [Smith] gives me some advice to try taking on "method" acting in order to help me to be taken seriously as an actor with real range in Hollywood. Problem is that the process slowly begins to send me mad as I take to method acting a little too well! Hence, Madness in the Method…."

Kevin Smith is also starring. Will he speak?
"Kevin does speak; in fact, he really has delivered a breathtaking performance. There was one scene in particular between Kevin and I that really goes into our past, and it all gets very deep. It was genuinely emotional and we even had crewmembers in tears. I wasn’t sure what directing Kevin would be like, because of course it’s been the other way around for so many years. But Kevin was wonderful, extremely responsive and as always, he brought his incredible sense of humor. He threw in some genius lines that I loved and will definitely make the movie."

You've been playing versions of yourself onscreen since Clerks. How will the Jason Mewes of The Madness in the Method be different? Will it be a sober or stoned version of Jason Mewes?
"You’ll certainly see a sober Jason Mewes that you’re familiar with to a point, but juxtapositionally there’s definitely a lot that you haven’t seen. This role is pushing me to my limits, I’m not shying away from anything in the film, and that was very much the idea Dom and I had right from the start. We have a lot of fun in the film, but we’re not afraid to get a little dark, and there are genuine moments of real darkness that I don’t think you’re going to see coming."

Read the full interview at The Hollywood Reporter.