Disney has Peter Pan; New Jersey has Kevin Smith. The Red Bank native parlayed working in a video store into a career in acting, writing, and directing some of the best movies of his generation, refuses to grow up.

Kevin Smith Hosts Premiere Week Screening Of SYFY's "Deadly Class" With Cast
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"The idea of getting into entertainment at all was about staying young for me. I loved playing when we were kids, I loved making pretend when we were in high school doing the theatre stuff," says Smith. "I knew that kind of stuff ended. People put it aside and entered the real world and became adults and I didn't want to do that right away."

So Smith took a risk that many wish they had the cajones to try.

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"I'd rather risk my future seeing if I could make a movie, seeing if that could work before I settle into the idea of do a job like your father did a job and I got very very lucky with that first gamble on myself," he said.

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Kevin Smith's gamble would pay off. Among his many movies are "Clerks," which started it all back in 1994, in which he wrote, directed, co-produced, and acted in as the character Silent Bob of stoner duo Jay and Silent Bob.

The two also show up in  "Mallrats," "Chasing Amy," "Dogma," "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back," "Clerks II" and "Jay and Silent Bob Reboot." They will be resurrected again Saturday night at the Pennsylvania Convention Center as part of Philly Expo.

I asked Smith how Silent Bob is doing.

"He's doing great. He never left me, he's a part of me at all times."

He's not growing up either.

"I just try to make pretend for a living because I don't want to grow up."

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 30: Director Kevin Smith and actor Jason Mewes attend the Vulture Festival at Milk Studios on May 30, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for New York Magazine)
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 30: Director Kevin Smith and actor Jason Mewes attend the Vulture Festival at Milk Studios on May 30, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for New York Magazine)
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Advice that is well worth taking!
To get tickets to see Kevin Smith at the Philly Fan Expo click here. 
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Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Steve Trevelise only. Follow him on Twitter @realstevetrev.

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