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Kevin Smith Reveals Emotional Story of Why Ben Affleck Is Returning for Jay and Silent Bob Reboot

Once upon a time, Kevin Smith admitted he was estranged from longtime collaborator Ben Affleck. It […]

Once upon a time, Kevin Smith admitted he was estranged from longtime collaborator Ben Affleck. It even led the filmmaker to pen a script for Jay and Silent Bob Reboot expecting to never hear from Affleck about another View Askewniverse. But everything changed when entertainment journalist Kevin McCarthy asked Affleck about making a potential appearance.

Smith himself took to Instagram earlier today to share a heartfelt story and how McCarthy’s line of questioning persuaded him to reach out to Affleck after all these years, extend an olive branch, and ask his one-time friend to return for another scene. As you can tell by the trailer released yesterday, Affleck agreed.

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MY BOYFRIENDโ€™S BACK! When the trailer for @jayandsilentbob Reboot dropped (link in my bio), folks found out a few of our secrets – one of the biggest being that @benaffleck is back as Holden McNeil! The co-creator of #bluntmanandchronic and friend of #jayandsilentbob plays a crucial role in the Reboot and his scene is one of the best bits of cinema Iโ€™ve ever been involved with: itโ€™s absolutely magical and life-affirming and all the things I really care about now, post-heart attack. But when we started shooting the movie, the scene didnโ€™t exist. This scene – and more importantly, my reunion with a guy who Iโ€™ve missed terribly for nearly a decade – only happened because of @kevinmccarthytv. Kev interviewed Ben for his @netflix movie #triplefrontier and kicked off by asking Ben โ€œDid they call you for Reboot yet?โ€ And Ben said no, but he was available. So producer @jordanmonsanto said โ€œCall Ben.โ€ I told her โ€œThatโ€™s just some nice shit to say at a junket. He wasnโ€™t serious.โ€ A week later, Jordan, @jaymewes and @jenschwalbach weโ€™re all pressing me to reach out to Ben, so I finally did. I was scared to be rejected, but I texted him โ€œTo paraphrase the sad old King Osric in CONAN THE BARBARIAN? โ€˜There comes a time when the jewels cease to sparkle, when the gold loses its luster, when the throne room becomes a prison, and all that is left is a directorโ€™s love for the people he used to make pretend with.โ€™โ€ And after a long beat of wondering how heโ€™d receive this, my estranged friend wrote back as only he could: โ€œOf course you still liken yourself to a king,โ€ he joked. And then โ€œWould be a pleasure to see you again, Old Man.โ€ So naturally, weepy me – who breaks down emotionally during comic book flicks – was a blubbery mess. Not only did we score an amazing scene for the flick, but I also got my friend back – all because of entertainment journalism. Thank you, #kevinmccarthytv – your #viewaskew themed opening question not only allowed me to make an 8 page sequel to #chasingamy in the middle of #JayAndSilentBobReboot, it also brought back a massive missing piece of my heart. #KevinSmith #benaffleck #JasonMewes #reunited #comiccon #holdenmcneil

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“After a long beat of wondering how he’d receive this, my estranged friend wrote back as only he could: ‘Of course you still liken yourself to a king,’ he joked,” Smith said in his post. “And then ‘Would be a pleasure to see you again, Old Man.’ So naturally, weepy me – who breaks down emotionally during comic book flicks – was a blubbery mess. Not only did we score an amazing scene for the flick, but I also got my friend back – all because of entertainment journalism.”

What cameo were you most surprised to see in the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot trailer yesterday? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot is expected to land sometime this fall.