Jeff Anderson

Jeff Anderson
Jeff Anderson
	Anderson at GalaxyCon Richmond in 2020
Born	Jeffrey Allan Anderson; April 21, 1970 (age 54); Connecticut, United States
Other names	Jabbroni
Occupations	Actor; director; writer;
Years active	1994–present
Spouses	; Lisa Spoonauer (m. 1998; div. 1999) ; Barbara Jacques (m. 2009)

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]

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,"^{[citation needed]} 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
2024	The 4:30 Movie (film)	Dad in the theater concession stand line
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

^ ^a ^b "SMODCAST #134". Archived from the original on November 27, 2010. Retrieved 2012-11-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^ "Jeff Anderson". IMDb. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
^ 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."
^ "Film Independent Spirit Awards 33 Years of Nominees and Winners" (PDF).
^ "Jeff Anderson". Retrieved 2014-02-17.
^ "Kevin Smith Reveals Why Clerks 3 And Mallrats 2 Will Never Happen". LRM. June 27, 2001.
^ "Kevin Smith Says Without Jeff Anderson, There Is No Clerks 3". LRM. August 7, 2009.
^ "Kevin Smith Announces Clerks 3". comicbook.com. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
^ Gardner, Chris. "Kevin Smith Details Plot of Original Script for 'Clerks III': "Mercifully, We Never Made It"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 15 September 2022.