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Jason Mewes
Mewes at Wizard World, 2004
Born	Jason Edward Mewes June 12, 1974 (1974-06-12) (age 35) Highlands, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1994–present
Official website

Jason Edward Mewes (born June 12, 1974) is an American television and film actor known for playing foul-mouthed drug dealer Jay, the vocal half of Jay and Silent Bob from the "View Askewniverse" films of Mewes' childhood friend Kevin Smith. He has appeared in all of Smith's films that he wrote and directed except Jersey Girl.

Contents 1 Personal life 2 Career 3 Filmography 4 See also 5 Further reading 6 References 7 External links

Personal life

Mewes grew up in Highlands, New Jersey, living with his mother, a heroin addict, who died of AIDS in 2002.¹ He never met his father. He himself started using heroin in his early 20s, and remained addicted for the next decade.¹

Smith entered Mewes into the first of a series of drug rehabilitation clinics in 1997, after noticing Mewes was nodding off during the filming of Chasing Amy.¹ Mewes' attempt at sobriety was short-lived; in 1999, he was arrested for possession of heroin and a syringe, in violation of his probation.²

He also stole Smith's ATM card and charged $1,100, and had heroin shipped to the hotel where the press junket for Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back was being held.¹ Smith had taken Mewes in to live with him and his wife, Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, but kicked him out after he was caught using again.¹ In another attempt to get clean, Mewes moved in with his mother, who gave him OxyContin to ease the withdrawal symptoms; Mewes was soon addicted to that substance as well.¹

In 2001, a warrant was issued for his arrest and in April 2003, he surrendered himself and pleaded guilty to probation violation charges. He was ordered to enter rehab and was told if he violated parole again, he could face up to five years in prison.³ In the same year, he made another attempt at sobriety after he fell asleep with a lit cigarette, nearly setting himself on fire; to date, he has remained sober.¹

Career

While he is mostly known for acting in films, Mewes also has worked in television. He voiced the role of Jay in the short-lived Clerks: The Animated Series. He, along with Smith, performed in the films Scream 3 and Bottoms Up and on Canadian television series Degrassi: The Next Generation. He appeared in two episodes of a three-part story arc in which he and Smith film a new addition to Smith's New Jersey films entitled Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian, Eh? at Degrassi Community School. They appear again on Degrassi (in a two part episode), at the premiere of Jay and Silent Bob go Canadian, Eh? in Canada. Mewes, Smith, and Degrassi star Stacie Mistysyn made the cover of Canadian TV Guide. He and Kevin Smith will return to Degrassi: The Next Generation for some of the final 4 episodes of season 8, entitled "Paradise City". In 1998, he starred as "Gary Lamb - Ground Activist" in a series of Nike commercials directed by Smith.

In Scarface: The World Is Yours Mewes provides a voiceover for a thief who steals some tapes. The character's dialogue, consisting mainly of constant stream-of-consciousness profanity, is entirely consistent with that of Jay's character.

Mewes starred in the pilot episode of Smith's sitcom, Hating Hal; it never advanced beyond the pilot stage.

During a radio interview on WJFK 106.7, Mewes confirmed that at one time, he had a deal with Kevin Smith, that if he stayed sober, that they would make Clerks 2. He also stated that he is doing a film called K 11 with Kristen Stewart and Nikki Reed, and that he dyed his hair black for this role.⁴

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1994	Clerks	Jay
1995	Mallrats	Jay
1996	Drawing Flies	Az
1997	Chasing Amy	Jay
1999	Dogma	Jay
	Tail Lights Fade		uncredited
	The Blair Clown Project	Witness #3
	Spilt Milk
2000	Scream 3	Jay
	Vulgar	Tuott the Basehead
2001	Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back	Jay
2001-2002	Clerks	Jay	6 episodes
2002	R.S.V.P.	Terry
	High Times' Potluck	Guy
	Hot Rush
2003	Pauly Shore Is Dead	Jay the MC	as Jay Mewes
2004	Powder: Up Here	Evil Villain
2005	Degrassi: The Next Generation	Himself	4 episodes
	My Big Fat Independent Movie	Answering Machine	voice
	Tom 51
	The Pleasure Drivers	Counter Monkey
2006	Clerks II	Jay
	Feast	Edgy Cat
	National Lampoon's TV: The Movie
	Bottoms Up	Owen Peadman
	Jack's Law	Bobby Mewes
2007	Netherbeast Incorporated	Waxy Dan
	Gone Baby Gone		Thanks
	The Tripper	Joey
2008	Bitten	Jack	Video
	Zack and Miri Make a Porno	Lester
	Tattoos: A Scarred History	Himself
	Fanboys	Himself	cameo
2009	Tom Cool
	Midgets Vs. Mascots	Jason	uncredited
	Silent But Deadly	Thomas Capper	post-production
	Repo	T.J.	post-production
	Shoot the Hero	Nate	post-production
	Mitch and Stu's Quest	Stu	pre-production
	The Science of Cool5	Coach Cambria	In production
2010	Noah's Ark: The New Beginning	Ham	voice
	Big Money Rustlas	Bucky

See also

• View Askewniverse

Further reading

• Smith, Kevin. My Boring Ass Life: The Uncomfortably Candid Diary of Kevin Smith. Titan Books. 25 September 2007. ISBN 1845765389.

References

External links

• Jason Mewes at the Internet Movie Database
• Interviews Askew: Jason Mewes (Interview from March 14, 1999)