Jeff Anderson

Jeffrey Allan Anderson (born April 21, 1970) is an American film and television actor, director, and screenwriter best known for starring as Randal Graves in Clerks, Clerks II, and Clerks III. In between, he has appeared in other Kevin Smith-directed films and has written, directed, and starred in Now You Know.[2]

For other people with the same name, see Jeffrey Anderson (disambiguation).
Jeff Anderson
Anderson at GalaxyCon Richmond in 2020
Born
Jeffrey Allan Anderson

(1970-04-21) April 21, 1970
Connecticut, United States
Other namesHeff A
Occupations
  • Actor
  • director
  • writer
Years active1994–present
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1998; div. 1999)​
[1]
    Barbara Jacques
    ​
    (m. 2009)​

    Early life

    Born in Connecticut and raised in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, Anderson attended Henry Hudson Regional High School, with his friend, aspiring writer Kevin Smith; they graduated in 1988.[3]

    While Anderson was working at AT&T, Smith was working on his debut movie Clerks. As a joke, Anderson auditioned for the role of "Jay," and based on this audition, Smith later offered Anderson a lead role as video store employee Randal Graves, a foul-mouthed apathetic slacker, who patronized, angered, and mocked his customers while avoiding any real work opportunities.

    Career

    For his role in Clerks, Anderson was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance.[4]

    In 2002, Anderson wrote, directed, and starred in Now You Know. The writing process lasted only three months. Anderson received a nomination for Best Male Performance at the Chicago Film Festival for his role in Love 101, and has been seen in Peter Bergstrom's Something Cool. Anderson also started his own production company in Hollywood.

    Anderson was initially reluctant to reprise his role as Randal, but changed his mind after reading Kevin Smith's screenplay for Clerks II, and in 2006 appeared in the sequel.

    In 2008, Anderson appeared in Smith's romantic comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno as Deacon, the cameraman and film editor for the porno made by leading actors Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks.

    On September 14, 2010, Anderson made his first appearance on Smith's SModcast filling in for Scott Mosier on SModcast #134. In his podcast, Anderson stated he had moved out of Los Angeles and into a "retirement community in the mountains" where he is "the youngest person there by 20 years." He also said he remarried in 2009, to an actress named Barbara Jacques[5] he met while house sitting for Kevin Smith.[1]

    In April 2017, Anderson declined to reprise his role as Randal for Clerks III; the reasons have not been made public. An $8 million budget had been obtained, locations were being scouted in Philadelphia and a crew was being assembled, and the start of production was less than two months away. Due to Anderson's decision, production on the film was halted indefinitely, with Smith saying he would not recast the role.[6][7] On October 1, 2019, Smith announced on Instagram that Clerks III was happening and that Anderson agreed to reprise his role as Randal. "It'll be a movie that concludes a saga. It'll be a movie about how you're never too old to completely change your life. It'll be a movie about how a decades-spanning friendship finally confronts the future. It'll be a movie that brings us back to the beginning — a return to the cradle of civilization in the great state of #newjersey. It'll be a movie that stars Jeff and Brian O'Halloran, with me and Jay in supporting roles. And it'll be a movie called CLERKS III!"[8] Clerks III was released in 2022, completely rewritten from the 2017 version.[9]

    Filmography

    Film
    Film work by Jeff Anderson
    Year Title Role Notes
    1994 Clerks Randal Graves
    1999 Dogma Gun Salesman
    2000 Love 101 Phil
    2000 Vulgar Surly Duck Voice role; uncredited
    2001 Stealing Time Buddy
    2001 Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back Randal Graves
    2002 Now You Know Gil also director and writer
    2002 The Flying Car Randal Graves Short film
    2004 Clerks: The Lost Scene Randal Graves Short film; voice role
    2006 Clerks II Randal Graves
    2008 Zack and Miri Make a Porno Deacon
    2014 Finding London Sam Short film
    2022 Clerks III Randal Graves Also executive producer
    TBA Nasa Seals Dr. Jay Lavely filming

    Television
    Television work by Jeff Anderson
    Year Title Role Notes
    2000-2001 Clerks: The Animated Series Randal Graves Main role; 6 episodes, voice role
    2011 Star Wars: The Clone Wars Smug Episode: "Wookiee Hunt"; voice role

    Video games
    Video game work by Jeff Anderson
    Year Title Role Notes
    2014 Randal's Monday Randal Hicks Voice role

    References
    1. "SMODCAST #134". Archived from the original on November 27, 2010. Retrieved 2012-11-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
    2. "Jeff Anderson". IMDb. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
    3. Cahillane, Kevin. "For the Stars of 'Clerks,' It's Take Two", The New York Times, July 16, 2006. Accessed October 25, 2007. "Mr. Anderson's film career was a happy accident. While he and Mr. Smith graduated together in 1988 from Henry Hudson Regional High School in Highlands, they were not close until Mr. Anderson began to rent movies from the video store where Mr. Smith worked."
    4. "Film Independent Spirit Awards 33 Years of Nominees and Winners" (PDF).
    5. "Jeff Anderson". Retrieved 2014-02-17.
    6. "Kevin Smith Reveals Why Clerks 3 And Mallrats 2 Will Never Happen". LRM. June 27, 2001.
    7. "Kevin Smith Says Without Jeff Anderson, There Is No Clerks 3". LRM. August 7, 2009.
    8. "Kevin Smith Announces Clerks 3". comicbook.com. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
    9. Gardner, Chris. "Kevin Smith Details Plot of Original Script for 'Clerks III': "Mercifully, We Never Made It"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
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