Kevin Smith Says Ben Affleck's Chasing Amy Role Is the 'Closest Character I've Ever Written to Myself'

Director Kevin Smith reflects on the character he feels most represented him when he was creating it: Ben Affleck’s role in Chasing Amy.

In the 1997 romantic drama, Affleck plays Holden McNeil, a comic book writer and artist who falls in love with fellow comic book writer Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams). Alyssa, who is a lesbian, reciprocates Holden’s feelings – but everything goes wrong when he learns that she has had sexual relations with other men in the past.

The critically acclaimed hit sleeper is examined in a newly released documentary Chase Chase Amy from director Sav Rodgers. In it Smith — who wrote and directed Chasing Amyhis third feature — says Holden is “the closest character I’ve ever written to myself.”

The story is told through Holden’s lens, but also features controversial “harsh terminology” from characters like the homophobic Banky (Jason Lee), who Smith says is gay and acts out his own “repressed” sexuality.

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Enter Ben Affleck and Joey Lauren Adams Chasing Amy (1997).

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One scene in which Smith, 54, has a strong bond with Holden comes near the end of the film. After Holden learns about Alyssa’s past with two guys from her youth, he lures her into confirming the details while at a hockey game, leading to a huge fight and, ultimately, the end of their romantic relationship.

In the documentary, while speaking in a segment with Adams, 56, Smith reflects on how she was “literally my muse” while making the film. At the time, the two were in a relationship, having first met on the set of his second feature film in 1995. Mallrats.

“I had real insecurity [how] she had a bigger past than me,” he says of Adams. “The scene in Chasing Amy where’s Holden mom… that was me.”

Adams says, “I admired Kevin so much for finding such a strong voice and knowing who he was without having to live in Bali.”

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Poster for Chase Chase Amy (2023).

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Chase Chase Amy explores the nuances and complexities of the film through the lens of Rodgers, who watched it Chasing Amy over and over again in his younger years, and previously spoke at TED about how film saved his life.

“In his quest to understand how a ’90s LGBTQ+ rom-com saved his life, the director confronts the truths that will ultimately shape who he becomes,” reads the documentary’s official logline.

Its release comes shortly after Smith’s 16th feature as a director, a semi-autobiographical one Movie from 4:30which he told PEOPLE last month was “more personal than the others.”

“I’m definitely trying to capture that moment of that moment — the moment when I called my high school girlfriend and said, ‘Do you want to go to the movies?’ ” he added. “Fear, but then joy when she said yes.”

The Chase The Chase Amy, which premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival, is now in select theaters.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education