Kevin Smith Shares Nostalgic Ben Affleck News Ahead of Jennifer Lopez Wedding

Director Kevin Smith recently paid tribute to friend Ben Affleck, who recently married Jennifer Lopez. Beginning in 1995, Affleck played the antagonist in Smith’s film Mallrats. 

Since then, Affleck has appeared in more than half of Smith’s films, including Clerks 3. Smith highlighted the bond and collaborative relationship between him and Affleck in an Instagram post that shared an adorable photo of the two together. 

In the director’s post, Affleck is credited as one of the “co-architects” of the View Askewniverse, saying that “bits of Ben are baked into the creative DNA” of his films.”I know he’s a superstar celebrity known worldwide for acting, directing, and being Ben Affleck – but among his many accomplishments, Ben is also one of my co-architects of the #viewaskewniverse,” Smith wrote. 

“He’s been boots on the ground in my fake New Jersey since #mallrats in 1995. And #chasingamy was written specifically for him, based on his personality – so bits of Ben are baked into the creative DNA any time I return to #viewaskew to play with my life-sized action figures.”

As he continued, he praised the actor’s role in Clerks 3, noting that he portrayed “good ol’ Ben,” Smith’s “funny-ass friend” since 1995. “For those #askewniverse addicts who’ve asked, Ben’s not playing #bluntmanandchronic co-creator Holden McNeil, Fashionable Male Shannon Hamilton, renegade angel Bartleby from #dogma, or Ben Affleck, or any of the callback characters he’s ever portrayed in one of my flicks,” Smith said.

“Ben’s playing someone new this time around (with a sentimental sobriquet stolen from our old message board at ViewAskew dot com). But when he rolled up on set to shoot the auditions montage (briefly glimpsed in the trailer), he was just good ol’ Ben – the funny-ass friend who’s been in over half of the 15 movies I’ve been lucky enough to direct since 1993.” 

In June 2021, Smith told E! News that he was excited about the Bennifer reunion. “I was around when those kids were, like, first dating,” he recalled. 

“They started dating, like, while we were making Jersey Girl, and, like, it made you up the ante of your relationship. It made you want to be a better husband because he was, like, stellar as a boyfriend and stuff. So, it’s nice to see them, like, you know, life happens like that sometimes. You circle back to the people who made the difference, made the most difference in your life. I’m happy for ’em, man, you know? Like, more pictures! That’s what I say.”