Fast forward a decade. To the point in Smith's career when he'd started getting critical accolades for cult films, such as Clerks and Chasing Amy. At that point, Smith -- in Toronto for business -- decided on a whim to get in touch with the folks at Epitome Pictures who make Degrassi. He knocked on the producer's door and was rudely turned away by the receptionist.
Smith, known for his adept skill with naughty four-letter words, promptly did what any self-respecting, thin-skinned man-about-town would do -- he went to Speaker's Corner, at CITY-TV central, and basically raised a middle finger to the folks at Epitome.
Company co-founder Linda Schuyler was mortified. Long a fan of Smith's filmmaking -- and aware of his fondness for her show (he'd written about it in various publications over the years and always included Degrassi references in his movies), she tried to contact the Los Angeles-based director to make amends. They never connected, until a few weeks ago, when out of the blue, Smith called Schuyler at home, on a Friday night, and asked if he could direct a Degrassi.
That's when he told a press conference on the Degrassi set yesterday that he got his best putdown yet; the American did not comply with Degrassi's 100-per-cent Canadian content rules. So he offered to write: same answer. Finally, Schuyler said she'd be thrilled if Smith would do a cameo.
He turned her down flat. "I won't do a cameo. But I'll act. In a three-part arc. I want to get in between Joey and Caitlin," Smith said. So this week Smith's been in town shooting what will air as the final three episodes of the fourth Degrassi: The Next Generation season (to be broadcast in 2005).
He'll play, Smith adds, a fictionalized version of himself. And he and his Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back co-star, Jason Mewes, will enter the series as directors, who are scouting a school location for their new film, Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian, Eh?
