It’s another gripping interview from Alarcon – this time he gets a little phone time with Jason Mewes. Everyone knows Jason Mewes – he’s the comic half of the Jay & Silent Bob team – a Cheech and Chong for the indie kids.
[phone answered, followed by incoherent mumbling]
Jason?
What’s up?
Not much—is it cool to talk right now?
Um, sure. You wanna talk about sex? Snoooooch! Nah, just kidding.
[nervous laughter] Yeah, so what’s going on? You’re in Los Angeles to do press today, right?
Yeah, I’m just hanging in L.A. in my hotel room, puttin’ some details on my remote control car and doing P.R. stuff.
You’re into gas-powered cars, right?
Yeah, I just bought a new one while I’ve been out here and I just finished puttin’ it together this morning. Not that it’s totally finished ‘cause I still have to put the RC in it. Then I can put a few other pieces on it [burps], excuse me, but I can’t do anything till I get the RC so I’ve just been messin’ with the body—you know, paint and decals.
Do they allow you race it around where you are?
In California?
No, I mean at the hotel that you’re staying at.
Oh, yeah. There’s this construction site down the street that I’ll probably take it to later when I get it fixed up.
What else are you doing today?
Umm, at noon I gotta meet someone downstairs, have a little lunch and do another interview thing and then, um, my friend Brian’s supposed to come pick me up and I’m gonna try and get him to take me to the hobby store so I can pick up my RC.
Cool. So who are you interviewing with?
I have no idea—it’s lunch, that’s all I know.
I was just wondering because I saw you on The Late Show last night with Dave Grohl [from the Foo Fighters]—it was a pretty impressive interview—high profile.
Yeah, pretty cool, huh? I was psyched about that.
Were you nervous? Because I know that it was your first talk show appearance and I also read that you get really nervous when you have to perform in front of people.
Yeah, like in Clerks, it was really nerve-wracking. I had to tell people that if they didn’t have to be there for those outside shoots, could they please go inside the store when I was filming those scenes outside the video store and if I had to film any scenes inside the store, I asked them to go outside. I was so nervous—I didn’t want to do the scenes in front of people.
So what did you do to prepare for those scenes to get you into character?
I drank a lot—Kevin would give someone from the set like, you know, $10 to go get me a six-pack and a bottle of brandy and then I’d puff out.
Is that still the way you prepare for the roles you take now?
I haven’t [filmed] any other movies like that. It’s weird because I like drinking a lot, I still like drinking before a scene, but, you know, sometimes people on the sets don’t want you to. Smoking pot is the opposite—it makes you even more nervous and even more paranoid in front of people. But I can’t smoke anyway right now because I’m on probation, but even if I could I wouldn’t. I like beers, though, it just depends on what movie I’m doing, what set I’m on. Like Mallrats—I couldn’t drink ‘cause I was inside the mall and security wouldn’t let me drink.
Is it true that the producers of Mallrats had to hire someone to look out for you and keep you out of trouble?
Yeah, they had someone because, not keeping an eye on me or anything, but just to let me know when they needed me on the set. But it was Dogma that they had someone lookin’ after me all the time. But it was cool because they paid my girlfriend to do it. They paid her to look after me and be my assistant and watch out for me so she got paid to hang out with me.
So is this a long-term girlfriend?
Yeah, definitely. She’s been around since Dogma, so that’s—do you know what year we filmed it?
Umm, I’d have to guess 1998?
Yeah, something like that. I met her right when filming started for Dogma.
Are you thinking about marrying her?
Oh yeah, we’re definitely thinking about gettin’ married, but she’s back in Ohio right now though. She lived in New Jersey with me for about 13 months, but her parents called her up and told her if she doesn’t come home, they’d disown her. So she went home to straighten up and she told me to do the same thing ‘cause at the time, I was still fuckin’ around with drugs and shit. But we agreed that when I get my shit together, we can be together again.
But you’re a big movie star. Don’t her parents know that?
Yeah, but you know, they’re fuckin’ doing what’s best for her—Stephanie’s their daughter, you know? But they didn’t want us to split up, they just wanted her to come home because she was fuckin’ up too.
What’s the last real job you had before you became a full-time actor?
Um, I’d have to say tiling. Like puttin’ tiles like in bathrooms. Bathroom tiles and kitchen tiles over the tops of counters and sinks and stuff. Before that, I roofed for like, three years.
So acting must be way better than sweating on rooftops inhaling tar fumes.
Oh yeah, way better. I hated roofing—tiling was a lot better, to tell you the truth, ‘cause it was like my own hours. It was me and my friend and it was his own company so we’d go to the job and we’d puff out and shit and we’d work on the tiles for a bit and then we’d fuckin’ order a pizza, fuckin’ smoke again, eat some more, then whatever. Then we’d take a walk, come back and finish the job. We could do that ‘cause they were these condos that were being put up so no one lived there and shit so we could do whatever we wanted.
The money you’re making must be crazy now compared to those days, right?
Uhh, no. I mean, when I [work], I make good money, but I just don’t do stuff often enough to be, you know, like rich.
But your agent is working on that, right?
Yeah and no. I mean I’m getting a few offers, I’ve auditioned for a few things, one thing I was going to do fell through, some things have gotten pushed back, so…
So what do you do with your money? What are some of the hobbies you spend your paychecks on? I know you’re a big toy collector.
Well, I always give my mom half my money ‘cause she pays the bills and I give her some spending money and she does whatever she wants with that money and the other half of that money, I spend on remote control cars, but I haven’t been spending that much money on toys ‘cause it’s all going to my cars.
What toy is your prized possession?
My car—my Team X remote control car…[long pause]…
Hello?
Oh, sorry man, I was just watching Jenny. [the volume on his television starts blaring]. Jenny Jones paid this guy ‘cause he was making fun of this girl’s ass and she said she would give him $100 if he tries it on some other chick. [laughs to himself] She’s busting this guy. Sorry, um, what was your question?
