Jason Mewes' Incredible Journey From Stoner To Hollywood Icon

From doubtful executives to his own personal demons, actor and filmmaker Jason Mewes has beaten the odds to become a cult favorite Hollywood icon, known to many, beloved by all. Here's how it all happened — and what might happen next.

Jason Mewes was born in the small town of Highlands, New Jersey, and grew up having essentially no ambitions of ever becoming an actor, director, or a stoner icon in the vein of Cheech and Chong.

In Highlands, Mewes and his longtime collaborator Kevin Smith lived only a couple of blocks away from each other and attended the same high school, but they weren't necessarily friends right away. For one, the younger Mewes was still a student after Smith had already graduated. For another, Smith and his circle of friends frequently found him to be, in Mewes' words, "obnoxious and weird." But over time, Smith bonded with the oddball freshman out of a shared love of comics and pop culture, and an increasing appreciation on Smith's part for Jay's oddball — and sometimes profane — sense of humor.

Despite Mewes showing no real interest in theater or performance as a teenager, Smith would often remark to Mewes that someone should put him in a movie. It was only fitting that Smith, an aspiring filmmaker himself, would be the one to do it.

Jason Mewes got his first brush with fame when Smith wrote a role for him in what would become his debut feature, Clerks. In his first appearance as the character, Jay is barely a performance. He's just… Jay. Keep watching the video to see how Jason Mewes went from New Jersey stoner to Hollywood icon.

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A real character | 0:15
...like nobody's watching | 1:12
On the big stage | 2:37
Mewes' first rodeo | 3:51
Going pro | 4:36
Using, losing, coming back | 5:24
Spreading out | 7:33
Madness in the Method | 8:12
Reboot and the future | 9:12