Kevin Smith starred in the 1997 LGBTQ+ film Chasing Amy and invited “the world’s most famous lesbian” Ellen DeGeneres to its screening. But unfortunately she left in the middle of the premiere. Smith recalled that episode in filmmaker Seve Rodgers’s recently released documentary Chasing Amy.
The actor said he got “the biggest shock” after learning that the former talk show host and his then-partner Anne Heche had gone to the premiere, but left in the first half. “And we’re saying, ‘Well, he’s the most famous homosexual in the world. We’ve lost him. That means we’ll never be on The Ellen Show,'” Smith said.
Their concern was justified as DeGeneres was making headlines for coming out of the closet the same year that Chasing Amy was released. The film stars Ben Affleck as Holden MacNeil, a comic-book writer and artist who falls in love with fellow comic-book writer Alyssa Jones (Joy Lauren Adams).
Alyssa reciprocates Holden’s feelings, despite being a lesbian, but things take a turn for the worse when Holden learns that Alyssa has had relationships with other men before. Given that this film was released in the late 90s, it contained many insensitive and problematic jokes.
The story, told through Holden’s lens, includes the “harsh vocabulary” of characters such as the homophobic Banksy (Jason Lee). In the recent documentary, Smith reflects on the controversial nature of the film and says he understands why people in that community would not like the film to this day.
“Absolutely. Believe me, it took me 22 years to get used to it. I got used to it in the first week. There were some people… who were upset,” Smith said. However, other than the negative ratings, it The film is one of Smith’s most beloved films with an 87% Rotten Tomatoes rating.
The film gave a much-needed boost to Smith’s career at the time. The actor continued, “So you told me to do something to stay in this business, otherwise we would have been out. That’s a big part of where (Chasing Amy) comes from.”
