Kevin Smith Talks 'Clerks III' at Comic-Con, a Raunchy Chris Rock Mix-Up, and More

Kevin Smith goes there in a new interview with Janice Min and Tatiana Siegel for The Ankler's Hot Seat, touching on everything from a mix-up with Chris Rock that led to meeting his future wife, how Margot Robbie reacted to meeting his daughter Harley Quinn Smith, his work behind the scenes to help "Good Will Hunting" nab Oscar gold and more!

Smith, 51, is promoting the release of "Clerks III," coming to theaters in September. He said about his recent Comic-Con experience, "Comic-Con was an absolute blast for me. Personally, we took 'Clerks III' and had a movies pop-up and did shows and I moderated panels."

Saying that doing Comic-Con in person after a COVID hiatus was important to him, he observed, "It was nice to be able to come back and see each other. Look, I live in a pop culture world. I surround myself in as much pop culture and imbibe and imbue myself with as much pop culture as I want. And I live in Hollywood. And so other people feel the same way. Imagine being the lone ghostbuster in f**king Pacoima, who doesn't have community except what's online. And you look forward to f**king San Diego Comic-Con every year. And for the last three years, you were not with your people. People coming back was like 'Avengers: Endgame.'"

Of his daughter — named Harley Quinn Smith — meeting big-screen Harley Quinn Margot Robbie, Smith said, “She's on the set of 'Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.' She's in the makeup trailer and she crosses over with Margot… Margot says, without missing a beat, 'Oh, the real Harley Quinn.' And my kid, like, could not f**king believe that she remembered... Really, that's a class act right there.”

Reminiscing about his long career, Smith shared the (raunchy) story of how he met his wife, Jennifer Schwalbach Smith!

“There's a Details Young Hollywood party," he recalled. "'Maybe I'll go to that. I know some people who are going to that.'" When Chris Rock told Smith, "Well, it's Hollywood, aren't you gonna get one of them Hollywood hookers?" Smith's reaction was, "God, no... And it was a joke. He was running a bit."

“I forgot that I had an interview coming up later in the day with a journalist from USA Today… about 20 minutes after Chris leaves, there's a knock at my door. I go and open the door and there's this gorgeous, gorgeous f**king young woman standing there.”

Smith's first thought? "Chris Rock sent a hooker to my room… What a Hollywood thing to do! How do I say no to this young woman? How do I... tell Chris Rock I'm not that kind of guy?”

Turns out the woman was Jennifer, and the two were wed in April 1999.

Kevin also dished a little on the Oscar race surrounding "Good Will Hunting." The 1997 film was written by newcomers Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, but false rumors were circulating that they hadn't written it themselves, harming their chances of taking home the Oscar.

“I was being used strategically" by Miramax, he recalled. "I was deployed in that way to make people — to clear the air, so to speak. To f**king stand up for 'Good Will Hunting' and sh*t so that... it didn't poison the well for its Oscar chances.”

Matt and Ben wound up winning. Never underestimate the power of Kevin Smith!

Listen to the full "The Ankler's Hot Seat" podcast here.

"Clerks III" is coming to theaters in September. Watch the trailer below: