Film fans have known Jason Mewes for a quarter of a century — but they've never seen him like this.

The Highlands-native Mewes achieved pop culture icon status as Jay in 1994's "Clerks," part of a comic relief drug dealer tandem with writer/director Kevin Smith's Silent Bob.

It's a role Mewes would go on to reprise in another five movies, through 2006's "Clerks II," then revive for Drake's 2018 "I'm Upset" music video and eventually return to for the upcoming "Jay and Silent Bob Reboot," arriving in theaters in October.

Mewes, to be certain, seem to bare no ill-will towards his and Smith's characters, which have gone on to find life as action figures, cartoons and comic book characters — "I am grateful for Jay and Bob, and I love Jay and Bob," he said — but his directorial debut, "Madness in the Method," was born of a real frustration with his perception in the film industry.

For years, Mewes said, people "would be like, 'Oh, he's the guy with the long hair who played the stoner,' and that's the roles I was offered. I couldn't even get into auditions necessarily, or even a meeting with a director, for any serious roles."

"Madness in the Method" is a comedic thriller where he plays Jason Mewes, a New Jersey native actor frustrated by a career of being typecast as the stoner comic relief and best known for his affiliation with Kevin Smith.

Written by Chris Anastasi and Dominic Burns, the film will be released in select cinemas and via video-on-demand outlets via Cinedigm on Friday, Aug. 2.

"I'm pretty proud of all of the things that we've done in 25 years and accomplished, but seeing Jason aggregate to director? That's a magic trick," said Smith. "That was not even something that I was aiming at in the beginning, but the fact that I embraced the arts and kind of dragged him into it with me and then years later he kind of embraced the arts as well, that's just magical.

"That was never going to happen in this lifetime if we didn't do 'Clerks.' Once again, 'Clerks' is just the bridge to us doing so many other things in life, so I'm super proud of him."

Friends and colleagues such as Smith, "Clerks" star Brian O'Halloran, modern grindhouse icon Danny Trejo and late Marvel comics legend Stan Lee all appear as characters inspired by themselves in the film.

The whole affair, O'Halloran said, is an "alternate universe kind of thing." In the reality of "Madness in the Method," for example, post-"Clerks" O'Halloran became a pompous, antagonistic jerk who's a source of paranoia and anxiety for Mewes.

The reality couldn't be further from the truth; the two actors have known each other since Mewes worked on "Clerks" as a teenager, and O'Halloran clearly couldn't be more proud of his friend.

"As much as it's a fake plot line of 'I want to be considered seriously,' this is a funny thing to show that he can be taken seriously and he can hold a movie," said O'Halloran. "Directing yourself is kind of tough; the fact that he did it and pulled it off, I think he's done great."

Mewes and British actor/filmmaker Burns had previously worked together on the 2014 horror film "Devil's Tower."

Following that project, Burns asked Mewes what he wanted to do next, and he had two answers: He wanted to direct, and he wanted to play a threatening character in the tradition of Hannibal Lecter or Patrick Bateman of "American Psycho" infamy.

The result combines those two impulses, without entirely abandoning the sort of material Mewes is best known for.

"I realized if I was going to direct, I had to focus on my strengths," Mewes said. "It's obvious, and I know my strength is the slapstick-y, funny guy. But I do feel like I can do more than that, so I was like, 'Well, why don't we try to mix and match it?' "

"Watching (Mewes) grow and accept the mantle of actor, and then take it a step further and go, 'You know what? I think I can direct too,' that sort of thing should be applauded," Smith said. "It's certainly applauded by me."

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