Posted by jennymewes at 63.67.209.130 on August 15, 2000 at 18:01:04:
In Reply to: Re: How did Kevin Smith come up with the characters... posted by Not the Guy From Clerks on August 15, 2000 at 17:04:14:
At Wizard World Chicago, after hitting on the guys, I asked why Kevin gave himself a role with little screen time and only one line. He said that he originally cast himself as Randal and was going to cast a friend of his as Silent Bob. However, he couldn't memorize the lines. Kevin didn't know if Clerks would be his only movie or not, and if it was, he wanted at least some part in it. So, he cast himself as Silent Bob instead of the friend. So, Silent Bob wasn't a last-minute character addition.
I'm not sure, but I think he also said that Jay and Silent Bob were based on real-life dealers from his neighborhood. However, I think that a LOT of Jay was inspired by Mewes; it was weird (and fun) how similar he was to his screen counterpart.