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Hollywood history is filled with happy accidents. Directors leave projects and are replaced – for good, and for evil. Actors get replaced in major roles, sometimes even after they have filmed scenes (as when Michael J. Fox replaced Eric Stoltz on "Back to the Future"). But I don’t know if I have heard a story quite like this one, which explains how Clerks director Kevin Smith thought he was pitching a role to legendary "Game of Thrones" author George R.R. Martin… but was not.

Kevin Smith is making the rounds promoting his new coming-of-age comedy "The 4:30 Movie," a sweet movie Smith filmed in the New Jersey movie theater that he owns and operates. When he stopped by CinemaBlend’s official ReelBlend podcast, he started talking about the pivotal role that "Tusk" and "The Umbrella Academy" co-star Genesis Rodriguez plays in the new film. Only, even though Smith has a history with Rodriguez, she originally wasn’t supposed to be in this film.
Transcript
00:00Yeah, she and she fucking crushes. I love Genesis, man. Like she was in Tusk with us and absolutely brilliant.
00:08You know, she was in Yoga Oser, so I owe her as well, but I've loved being able to work
00:16with her.
00:16And this happened, like she came into this like totally by accident. I was in Atlantic Highlands. We were about
00:27a week and a half away from shooting the movie. And I was hiking every morning and stuff. And it
00:35was hot humidity of the summer, so it was real hot and blazing. So I'm like sweating shit off.
00:41And I get a message on my text on my phone from George R.R. Martin, I assume. He's been
00:50here to the theater. He did a show here and stuff. So he said, hey, how you doing? And I
00:56had just seen an article that he had went out and saw Barbie or something like that. And I said,
01:02I'm great, man. I saw Barbie, too, and I loved it.
01:04And then the person I assumed was George R.R. Martin wrote back like, yeah, Barbie was good. I'm going
01:11to be in New Jersey this summer. And I was like, oh, great. I said, why don't you come be
01:17in the 430 movie? It's a new movie I'm making. Like it's at the theater. So come be in it.
01:25And the person wrote back, do you know who this is? And I was like, of course. And then I
01:31was like, do I? And I looked. And in my phone, George R.R. Martin is G-R-R-M,
01:38as he is in most places.
01:40But Genesis, like, is listed. She listed herself as G-R.
01:47So the whole time I thought I was talking to George R.R. Martin, I'm talking to Genesis. And I
01:52figured this out. And I'm like, of course, I know this is you, Jenny. Absolutely. Yes. Come be in the
01:58movie.
01:59So I had no part for Genesis. And, you know, she was just like, are there lines? And is it
02:04what? How many scenes? And I was like, absolutely. I was like, I'll send it to you.
02:08And so when I got off the text with her, suddenly I was like, oh, shit, I got to create
02:13a scene for Genesis and a character.
02:17Never mind a fucking scene. Like, how do I weave this person into the script when we're like a week
02:21and a half ready to week and a half from going?
02:25So suddenly I was like, oh, she could be like Boba Fett to like manager Mike's Darth Vader.
02:30She's just always in the background and shit. And then I could give her like a big, splashy analog scene
02:36to do.
02:36And so honestly, that's my favorite scene in the movie. I love the movie to death, but that scene, my
02:44heart skips a beat.
02:45It wouldn't have existed just like that. The Ben Affleck scene in Jay and Silent Bob wouldn't have existed were
02:53it not for you.
02:53And the interview you did with Ben Affleck years ago, that scene wouldn't have existed if I didn't mistake Genesis
03:00Rodriguez for George R.R. Martin.
03:02And it makes the movie like when if I imagine that movie without that fucking scene, it would work.
03:08But like that scene, that's everyone. Most people talk about like I saw a picture of a dude online, hadn't
03:14even seen the movie yet.
03:15Got the tattoo. Movies make life make sense. I was like, bro, I hope you like the fucking flick.
03:20Turns out later on he wrote that he did. So that line, that scene wouldn't have existed, but not for
03:28a fucking accident, mistake, but turned into a wonderful opportunity.
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