Interview: Kevin Smith and Harley Quinn Smith on Yoga Hosers, critics, and hanging with the Depps

Have you come full circle with Yoga Hosers now that you’re back at the convenience store? 

Kevin Smith: Well, I mean yea. They were in the convenience store in Tusk, that’s the only reason they’re in the convenience store in this. But my wife saw it first before I ever noticed it, ’cause I liked the scene with the girls in the convenience store in Tusk, obviously so much so that I was like, “I’ll go and make a whole fucking movie about it!” And when we shot the scene for Tusk, that was the last thing we shot, the girls in the convenience store, that wrapped the movie. I would constantly show everybody the scene with the girls in it, like that was my favourite scene. I kept showing my wife, and she was like, “Kevin, one of the actors in that scene came out of body. I love her more than anything on earth, and I can’t watch this one more time.” And I was like, “Why can I? Why do I love this so much? Is it because they’re wearing those smocks, and they kind of look like hockey jerseys, or is it because they say ‘aboot,’ and that’s still funny to me?” And she goes, “You just don’t see it, do you? It’s two people standing behind a fucking convenience store counter.” And I was like, “Oh god, you’re right. It’s Girl Clerks, isn’t it?”

I like those girls, and I grew up taking that kid to the movies, dragging her ass to like, all manner of movies that were not…I did take her to Fight Club when she was like 2 weeks old. But she was quiet, she didn’t make any noise. I took her to Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, Iron Man and stuff, and one day my wife was like, “It’s adorable, you think she likes these movies.” I was like, “Of course, she does, those movies rule.” And she’s like, “No, she likes that you like them. And she likes going to the movies with her Dad, but those movies aren’t for her.” She’s like, “How could they be? They’re about a bunch of dudes doing heroic things. Where are the girls?” And I was like, “Well, you know, fucking Pepper Pots.” And she goes, “Great, he’s got a girlfriend.”

She’s going, “Take her to see Iron-Woman, Bat-Woman, Spider-Woman.” And I said, “Those don’t exist.” And she goes, “Well, that’s a problem.” So, for years, I felt bad. I used to take her to all the Marvel stuff, and then I was like, now I can’t because my wife kind of spoiled it. But the kid would still go, and I would still look for the movie my wife described. Like, Pitch Perfect is one of those flicks, but I was just looking for something where two girls just hang out with each other, that’s it. Just like Clerks was two dudes hanging out with each other. And I couldn’t find it. And you can either curse the darkness, or you can light a candle. And I am a filmmaker, it’s ridiculous for me to be like, “This kind of movie doesn’t exist!” That’s a call to arms to fucking make it. That’s not a curse, that’s a blessing. You find something that hasn’t been done in this best of all possible worlds, with all the many opportunities and fucking possibilities of storytelling? To happen upon something that nobody’s done – just chase it, follow it through. As long as you keep the budget low, and make sure everyone gets their money back, who is it going to hurt, besides your career, potentially. But like, you’ve been trying to hurt your career since the beginning, so have at it, have fun.

I used to be real afraid to just make whatever I wanted to make, and then in the middle of my career, I got really kind of fucking guarded about it, in terms of like, “Now I have a career, I don’t want to fucking lose it,” and so you start making safe choices and shit like that. And now, I’m kind of back to square one about my career, where I’m like, “I don’t care. I just want to see the movie.” That’s how my career began. Clerks wasn’t the beginning of like, “This is how I’m going to chart my 10-year career,” not at all. Now I just make movies that I want to see. And knowing that you’re an audience of one, you can’t be sad when other people don’t follow you across the bridge. Tusk is rarefied fucking breathing, Yoga Hosers even more so. You’re breathing, ironically, at a farther depth than on Tusk, it’s tougher to get a lungful, because you’re asking people to cross a very small bridge. It’s like, “Do you remember 80’s movies, like fucking Critters and shit like that? Well, imagine if you mixed that with Strange Brew and some girls, that’s what this is.” It’s like, 9 people in the world who desperately want to see that movie, but I happen to be one of ’em. So, I can put it together, I have the means to do that. Some people dream about shit, and they just fucking let it die a dream. If I’m willing to take the lumps, which is motherfuckers being like, “This shit is stupid,” I’m like, “Thank you,” and I get to watch the movie that I want to watch. So sometimes it’s worth it man. This was definitely worth it, especially because I got to do it with my kid. So at that point, you’re living as an example to the kid. You don’t want to be like, ‘Well, I could do this, but I won’t because I’m afraid what people will say about it.” It’s like, “Oh my god, this will be fucking fun!”

Is it freeing or overwhelming that you can actually bring forward any crazy idea now and people can actually see it? 

Kevin Smith: It’s amazing. You know, if I had any guts whatever, I could turn to my audience for crowd-source financing and stuff. But right now, I can still get financing in the real world. There are people who like what I used to do, or grew up on what I used to do. They’re like, “I saw Clerks, and it made me do what I do, and now I’m rich and I want to invest in your art,” and suddenly you’re like, “OK, but this is my art now, it’s fucking weird!” And they’re like, “I don’t care, this is fun.” Cats just like to go on the ride with you as well man. And there’s something freeing about not giving a shit. You’ve got to understand that it’s not for everybody, but the people it’s for, it’s like religion. Just like when I was a kid, I couldn’t convince but two people I knew out of 50 to watch Strange Brew. And the people that did were like, “Yeah, it’s alright.” And I’m like, “You’re out of your fucking mind! This is religion!” There will be people who feel that way about this movie, and they’re younger.

This movie’s core audience is tween girls. I saw one at Indy Pop Con in Indianapolis, it was really fucking sweet. This little girl stood up at the Q&A, and I was like, “Holy shit, I didn’t know you were here,” because I was cursing the whole night. I’m telling butt-fucking jokes and there’s a 9-year-old girl. And I was like, “This is going to sound weird, but you’re who I was thinking of when I made the movie. Not exactly you, that would be creepy, but that some little girl would be clicking through cable one day or fucking Netflix, and see a poster with two little girls standing next to each other, and be like, “Oh, I’ll watch this.” And I was like, more than anybody in this whole world, I want to know what’d you think about it? And she goes, “I like it when the girls hit things with sticks.” And I was like, “I’m putting that on a fucking poster. That is exactly what I want to hear.”

And so you get moments like that, but the price you pay for it is – we went to Sundance and had like five killer screenings, but critically you wouldn’t know it man. Critically, they were just like, “He’s a fucking idiot, he’s lost his mind.” I get it, it’s not for everybody. I’ve seen other movies that people let go more lightly – I did pick a fight with critics years ago, so from now until the end of time people will always fucking be like, “Hey dick.” But, that’s also part of the fun for me, ’cause it means I’ve got to make something spellbinding in order for a motherfucker to get over themselves, you know what I’m saying? I don’t crossfit train or anything like that, I would never do that, but in my world, it’s kind of a similar thing, as much as like, you can exercise normally, or you can exercise in an extreme fashion, where it’s just like, “Alright, I’ve fucking salted the earth and spoiled the well, now who likes me?” And the ones that still like you, you realize like, they were fucking there for you from the beginning. And the ones that hate you, now you get to spend the rest of your life trying to win ’em back.

It’s a bizarre game to play with your career, but I’ve had a long enough career now where it’s fun to be able to do shit like that. And if they kick me out of movies I’ll just go podcast the rest of my life, and if they kick me out of that I’ll just go to TV for a little while. I get to jump from thing to thing at his point. I diversified my portfolio a little while ago so if people ever get tired of me in one place, just like Whack-a-Mole I can pop up someplace else and do something more appetizing in that arena. But for now, running around with her – I’ve been press touring with my fucking dopey kid, it’s crazy. I get to text her like, “Are you ready, we’re going to do press?” I never imagined texting my kid that. Prior to this, I would text her shit like, “Lock the front door, put the fucking dog out.” I got to spent time with her in a way that I was never going to spend time with her probably in my life. She got to see who I really am, when I’m not like, being somebody’s parent.

What was it like killing untold numbers of mini versions of your father throughout the movie?

Harley Quinn: It’s fantastic, it’s pretty therapeutic I must say. I try not to fight that much with my dad in real life, and it’s really easy because we’re basically the same exact person. I fight more with my mom, bickering and stuff, but with my dad I just kind of keep it to myself. And sometimes it builds up, so getting to fight him was a wonderful experience. I think it was good for our relationship.

Yoga Hosers is available on Blu-ray and VOD now.