Popularity puzzles 'Clerks II' stars

Actors often say they don't want to be celebrities, but they don't really mean it. However, when Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson say it, you tend to believe them.

At a pair of recent meet-and-greet events in Salt Lake City, the stars of the new comedy "Clerks II" appeared to be visibly uncomfortable, even embarrassed, by all the attention they were receiving.

"It's crazy. We're not even supposed to be here today," O'Halloran said with a sigh, paraphrasing a now-famous line uttered by the character he often plays, aging slacker-store clerk Dante Hicks.

"No, seriously," Anderson said, half-joking, "don't these people have some place they need to be right now, like a job?"

Though they were hard-pressed to explain the big turnout for their local appearances, the two did have plenty of theories to offer for the enduring popularity of 1994's "Clerks," the film that put writer/director Kevin Smith on the map. "That movie said a lot to our generation," Anderson said, "about making that transition from youth to adulthood — and it had a lot of dirty stuff in it, too." Anderson plays Dante's best friend and fellow clerk, Randal Graves.

Both said they didn't hesitate to return to the characters that made them famous — or at least in a "cult movie" sense. "I can't speak for Jeff," O'Halloran said, "but I wouldn't have done the movie if it just had been the same thing over again. One of Kevin's strengths is saying something even when it seems like he's just making a dirty joke."

In "Clerks II," Dante and Randal are stuck at jobs in a fast-food restaurant in New Jersey, though Dante is preparing to move to Florida with his fiancee (Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, the real-life wife of filmmaker Kevin Smith).

But he's getting cold feet about the move, and temptation comes calling in the form of Becky (Rosario Dawson), the restaurant manager. "I don't know why Brian is always complaining. Kevin always has him kissing one woman or another," Anderson said. "This time Brian got to sit on a swing set and make out with Kevin's wife. And don't even get me started on what happens with him and Rosario.

"It's all so unfair. What I want to know is when Randal will get his."

"Clerks II" does appear to close the book on the characters, but it may not be the last time the two men play Dante and Randal. Smith still has plans for an animated "Clerks" film, based on the short-lived ABC animated series.