PopHorror Let's Get Scared
We recently got to sit down with Kevin Smith, yes, that Kevin Smith. To discuss the re-release of Dogma and how it grew into pop culture and Alan Rickman and what he’s excited about the most of it getting back into theaters after all this time.
Read on for our conversation!
PopHorror: Hey, Kev, how are you?
Kevin Smith: So good. Just admiring that Jaws, Clockwork Orange, and King Kong Trio back there, man.
PopHorror: Oh, yeah. And the other side I got Clerks and Chasing Amy, too.
Kevin Smith: Are you serious?
PopHorror: Yeah, I do.
Kevin Smith:I’m fucking up on that wall? That means the world. Thank you.
PopHorror: So Kev, this is the re-release of Dogma getting ready to come out, man. How excited are you for it?
Kevin Smith: Unbelievably excited, because you got to think about it this way. When I go do press or have been doing press for the last, say 10 or 15 years, I got to sell people on the idea of something new, which in some cases is something old. Like fucking, last time around I’m out there going, “Hey, man. The 4:30 Movie.” And they’re like, “Ugh.” And fucking, “Hey man, Clerks III.” And they’re like, “Ugh.” But coming back with Dogma, people, like, “Oh, I like Dogma. That’s when you were good.” So it’s been bliss, it’s been like this weird victory lap and stuff.
So I’ve been on tour for the last month doing about 20 cities, and tonight’s the last show, Burbank, where every night it’s like going to a church where I’m both the priest and Jesus at the same time. And so then we got to go to Cannes last week. And when I got up on stage, they gave me a standing O, and then when the movie was over, they gave me a standing O. So I’ve been knee-deep, my head buried up Dogma‘s ass for the first time in like 26 years. And I don’t even want to take my head out, it’s so lovely up here and stuff.
So yeah, I know I’m always a guy that leans toward the past, but boy, it’s real helpful when the past is good and people still like it. So I’ve been enjoying this victory lap.
PopHorror: Right. And this generation may not know who Alan Rickman is unless they grew up on Harry Potter. So this could-
Kevin Smith: They know him as Snape.
PopHorror: … reintroduction to him.
Kevin Smith: They know him as Snape. And some people, it’s crazy, every night on the tour, I would always ask, “How many people have seen Dogma? And then how many people have never seen it in a theater? And then how many people have never seen it whatsoever?” So you’ve got a small percentage of people who go in clean, not knowing the movie, and walk out going like, “That was one of Alan Rickman’s greatest performances, man.” And I’m not taking credit for this, it’s not like, “I directed him.” I never directed Alan. You didn’t have to. Alan was so great. This was how I directed Alan. I’d sit there behind the monitor, and I’d watch him act, and stuff. And I’d be like, “Cut.” And then I’d walk over, and give notes, and I’d be like, “Fucking thank you,” and say that. And then I’d go back to my chair. There were no notes whatsoever. So it is a fantastic performance of his, which, if you’re an Alan Rickman lover of Snape, this would be a discovery where you’d be like, “This is him pre-Snape. This is proto-Snape.”
PopHorror: There’s been Easter eggs in the MCU dating back to Dogma too, with Matt Damon playing Loki on the stage with Tom Hiddleston in that. So how was it like to seeing the growth of Dogma through pop culture and everything as well?
Kevin Smith: See, I wish I could take credit for that one, but I asked Matt, I was like, “Oh my God, dude, you played Loki.” And he goes, “He didn’t even know.” And I said, “What?” And he goes, “Tyga had no idea.” He’s like, “I mentioned it at one point, going, ‘Oh, I played Loki before.” And he goes, “When?” So it wasn’t even like, “Here’s a great inside joke.” The inside jokes that I know that, like, “Oh, shit.” That is in Captain Marvel when Stan is reading the Mallrats script on the train. That is undeniably some sort of reference to me, man. But the Loki thing’s not.
Now, Jason Lee once called me up like five years after Dogma and said, “Hey, man, I just wanted to call you up and thank you for casting in Dogma.” He’s a real earnest cat and sometimes he’ll just thank you for shit years after the fact. So I was like, “Oh my God, you’re so welcome. Why? What’s up?” And he goes, I just got cast in a Pixar cartoon, man, playing a bad guy because the director loved Azrael, and my Azrael in Dogma.”
So I do feel a bit of responsibility for Jason Lee winding up as Syndrome. His performance got him there, but he was supposed to play Loki, but then he wound up playing Azrael, and if he played Loki, I don’t think he would’ve caught Brad Bird’s attention. It was him playing the, “Villain,” that made Brad Bird go, “Oh, he’d be a good Syndrome and stuff.” So I know I have a connection there. Unfortunately, I have no connection whatsoever in the realm of Matt playing Loki twice.
PopHorror: Well, Kevin, thank you so much for joining me today. It’s been fun and congratulations.
Kevin Smith: Oh my God, means the world. Thanks for hanging out.
PopHorror: Of course. Thank you
Kevin Smith’s Dogma returns to theaters starting June 5, 2025. Watch for it!
