Anecdotes for
Jersey Girl (2004)

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• Based on writer/director Kevin Smith's experiences as a father.
  
  
• In addition to the videos in the video store being Miramax titles, one of Kevin Smith's previous films makes an appearance. A copy of Dogma (1999) can be seen on display on the top of the rack to Ollie's right in the first scene in the store (as Gertie picks up the Men in Black (1997) box). It is the video furthest away from us and is partially obscured.
  
  
• Production halted until Summer 2002, due to Ben Affleck's work on Daredevil (2003).
  
  

• The movie will not be a part of the "Jersey Trilogy" or "Askewniverse" centering around Jay and Silent Bob.
  
  
• Ben Affleck's character's name comes from the first name of the popular DC superhero, Green Arrow. Kevin Smith wrote 15 issues of Green Arrow just prior to working on Jersey Girl (2004).
  
  
• Scenes were filmed at The New Berlin Diner in Berlin New Jersey. Thousands flocked to catch a glimpse of stars. There is still (as of 3/07) a display of photographs on the wall.
  
  
• Joey Lauren Adams was originally considered for the part of Gertrude Steiney. But Kevin Smith thought that pairing her with Ben Affleck again, would make the film look too similar to Chasing Amy (1997). So they went with Jennifer Lopez.
  
  
• Kevin Smith's commitment to Jersey Girl (2004) has been so demanding that he couldn't finish two Marvel comic books that he began. The first being "Daredevil: The Target", which didn't get past issue one. The second, being "Spider-Man and the Black Cat", which he promoted on an episode of the Jay Leno show but only got to issue three, leaving the readers in suspense as to the Black Cat's fate at the edge of issue three's cliffhanger ending.
  
  
• As of August 2003, with the failure of Gigli (2003), the studio removed all images of Jennifer Lopez from this film's commercials, trailers, and promos, out of fear that people would think it was another Ben Affleck-Jennifer Lopez vehicle.
  
  
• A special premiere was held at Paulsboro High School where a number of scenes in the movie was filmed. Smith liked the town so much and the town liked him, a street leading out of the school was named Kevin Smith Way.
  
  
• Director Trademark: [Kevin Smith] [star wars] When Ollie picks Gertie up from school in the street sweeper, she says, "Punch it, Chewy."
  
  
• Director Trademark: [Kevin Smith] [Comics] Ollie and Gertie refer to the street sweeper as the Batmobile.
  
  
• Originally, Bruce Willis was to be the star Ollie badmouthed (when it was set in the late-eighties), but a deal with Willis couldn't be secured.
  
  
• When the script was first written it was a number from "Cats" that Gertie was to perform at her school play, but the show closed before filming started. It was replaced with a number from "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street".
  
  
• On the tombstone it is indicated that 24 July is Gertrude's birthday. This date is Jennifer Lopez's actual birthday.
  
  
• At the video store, all of the posters and many of the visible videos are of Miramax films and those of their subsidiary Dimension films.
  
  
• A copy of Scream 3 (2000) is visible in the background as Ollie talks to Maya about the town meeting. Kevin Smith had a small cameo in Scream 3 as Silent Bob.
  
  
• Ollie refers to losing a bet and having to watch a musical on roller skates. The musical he's talking about is "Starlight Express" written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe.
  
  
• One of the rooms of the house has a wall of framed black and white photographs. Some of these are young photos of George Carlin himself, most noticeably a bust shot of him dressed for the Air Force, which he had joined at the age of 18.
  
  
• The film's DVD release was promoted with a tongue-in-cheek commercial in which Kevin Smith begs people to buy his DVD so that he has enough money to keep his sexy wife happy.
  
  
• In the bar scene at the end, Liv Tyler walks out of the Gentlemen's toilet, a reference to Chasing Amy (1997) in which there is a scene in a bar where women go in and out of the men's bathroom and men go in and out of the women's bathroom.
  
  
• Kevin Smith wrote the Maya character with Eliza Dushku in mind, but didn't go with her because she would have looked like "Ben's daughter instead of his girlfriend... she's tiny".
  
  
• Gertie's school where she and Ollie perform the bloody and violent song from Sweeney Todd is named for Maria Goretti, a Catholic saint who was martyred by being stabbed to death.
  
  
• "Angelloti's" the firm where Ollie Trinke gets an interview near the end of the film is director Kevin Smith's own publicist.
  
  
• In the video store every video/DVD box on prominent display is a title distributed by Miramax, the distributor of this film too.
  
  
• After the high-profile failure of Gigli (2003), Miramax attempted to play-down the presence of Jennifer Lopez' character in the movie. This included pushing the release back from Autumn 2003 to early 2004 and a public revelation about her character's fate, both to the consternation of Kevin Smith.
  
  
• In the video store when Ollie and Maya are talking, they pass a copy of _Armageddon (1998)_ which both Liv Tyler and Ben Affleck starred in.
  
  
• As of 2007, the only movie that Kevin Smith directed which is not part of his ViewAskview Universe series.
  
  
• Kevin Smith has acknowledged that his crush on actress Stacie Mistysyn prompted his naming of Clerks. (1994) character, Caitlin Bree, in honor of Mistysyn's Caitlin Ryan character (from "Degrassi Junior High" (1987); School's Out (1992) (TV) and "Degrassi: The Next Generation" (2001)), and subsequently tried to cast her in Mallrats (1995). However, in spite of all this adulation, it appears that he titled "Jersey Girl" before knowing of Mistysyn's Jersey Guy (2003) released only months earlier. Smith would later guest star on 5 episodes of "Degrassi: The Next Generation" (2001) as a fictional representation of himself flirting with and attempting to seduce Caitlin Ryan.
  
  
• Jason Lee originally auditioned for Jason Biggs' role.
  
  
• Jason Mewes was originally intended to play Arthur Bankman, but his problems with substance abuse led to casting Jason Biggs instead.
  
  
• Jason Biggs is the only major cast member that hails from New Jersey (and all his scenes take place in New York).
  
  
• While generally not considered part of Kevin Smith's so-called "Askewniverse" series, the film does have one potential tie-in character/actor: Betty Aberlin portrays an unnamed nun in both this film and Dogma (1999), her role being substantially larger in this film.
  
  

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