Trivia: Kevin Smith wrote the part of Jay specifically for Jason Mewes, basing the character almost entirely on him. Despite the nearly exact replica of himself, Jason was terrified at having to "act" it out in front of the camera. Kevin gave a months worth of lessons to Jason in how to act like Jason Mewes. They even had to get him drunk before almost every take just so he wouldn't tense up. He was so camera shy that during the scene where Jay and Silent Bob dance there are no crew members around. The crew turned the camera on, then everyone went into the RST Video so he could dance by himself.
Trivia: The only View Askewniverse film that does not feature either Ben Affleck or Jason Lee.
Trivia: The Boom operator is credited as "Whoever grabbed the pole."
Trivia: The entire film was made at the shop Kevin Smith actually worked in at the time. He shot at night so as not to disrupt the normal running of the store. Hence the conveniently permanently shut shutters...
Trivia: This isn't really a mistake, and was probably intentionally done by Kevin Smith, but right before Randal is talking about the jizz moppers, Dante says something about all the prices ending in 9. If you look around none of the prices around them end in 9. It's pretty funny.
Trivia: Kevin Smith isn't listed in the opening credits as one of the actors.
Trivia: The film's events take place the day after the events of "Mallrats." As an example: In "Mallrats," Julie Dwyer died in the YMCA that day and in "Clerks," Randall refers to Dwyer's death as happening "yesterday."
Trivia: When Randall is on the phone, listing all of the porn movies he wants to order, Jeff Anderson wasn't in the same room as the actress playing the Happy Scrappy mother. Anderson refused to read the list of porno movies in front of her (and particularly in front of the child). The reaction shots of the mother were obtained by reading the list to her.
Trivia: Smith named the Caitlin Bree character after Caitlin Hodge, a character in the various "Degrassi" TV series who he was very fond of.
Trivia: Jeff Anderson had absolutely no acting experience prior to this film, and really never wanted to be in it. He was friends with Kevin Smith, and actually auditioned for the part of Jay, almost as a joke. Of course he didn't get it, but a few weeks later Kevin called him and asked him to read for Randall (whom Smith had written for himself, hence Randall having all the best jokes). Smith thought he was dead on for the part of Randall and gave it to him, and then decided to take the part of Silent Bob for himself.
Trivia: Another of the many cross-overs from "Clerks" and "Mallrats" is Rick Derris (played by Ernest O'Donnell), the trainer that gives Dante a hard time about being out of shape. In "Mallrats," when T.S. was talking to Gwen about her having sex with another guy in front of everyone while they were going out, it was on Rick Derris' gaming table.
Trivia: Silent Bob breaks his silence at the end of the movie and offers Dante some advice, but the line he speaks was actually meant to be said by Jay. Jason Mewes kept on messing up that last line, and being such a low budget movie they couldn't afford to waste any more film, so Kevin Smith decided to take the line. Kevin Smith actually hated the idea of having Silent Bob speak, but the fans loved it so much he has since worked it into all of his films featuring Jay and Silent Bob.
Trivia: During the scene where Dante and Veronica are arguing about their sexual experiences, a woman comes up to the counter with two items - vaseline and rubber gloves. Kevin Smith thought this would be funny to randomly throw into the movie.
Trivia: If you watch the end credits you will see that Walter Flanagan, Scott Mosier, and David Klein play about five people each. Walter Flanagan: Woolen cap smoker,Egg man, Offended Customer, Cat admiring bitter customer. Scott Mosier: William Black, Angry hockey player, Angry mourner. David Klein: Hunting cap smoker, Low I.Q. Video customer, Hubcap searching customer, angry mourner, angry crowd at door.
Trivia: Walter Flanagan, who played the woolen capped smoker in the angry crowd, the egg infatuated man, offended customer, and the cat admiring bitter customer, also filled the part of Walt Grover (aka Fanboy) that Brody got in to fight with in front of the comic book store in Mallrats.
Trivia: The character of Willem Black/Snowball is played by Scott Mosier, the film's producer.
Trivia: The 'milk maid' was played by Kevin Smith's mother and the woman who 'assists' with animal artificial insemination was played by his sister.
Trivia: In the scene where Dante meets Rick Derris and Heather, the original script called for Derris to recount a time when he and Caitlin had sex in a tent on the beach. Though the anecdote never made the final cut of the film, it explains why Heather suggests she and Derris head to the beach at the end of the scene.
Trivia: In order to fund the movie, Kevin Smith had to move in with his parents, rent out his apartment, max out all of his credit cards and pawn his comic collection.
Trivia: Richard Linklater's 1990 film Slacker was Kevin Smith's inspiration for this film.
Answer: I think it's a combination of both of those. He's played by Walt Flanagan, who also plays three other characters in the movie. Flanagan was a friend of Kevin Smith who filled in for several roles. He's definitely playing the part a little hammy... but I also think some of his reactions are a little off because it was (obviously) his first film, and he was inexperienced. (Though to be fair, he appeared in similar small roles in several other Smith films, and his acting improved over time).
TedStixon