“We were the garage band of the films of that time,” “Clerks” star Brian O’Halloran says of director Kevin Smith’s now-classic 1994 workplace comedy. It’s a terrific comparison. Compared to some other iconic indie films from that era, like, say, Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction,” with a reported $8.5 million budget, or Richard Linklater’s “Dazed and Confused,” with a reported $6.9 million budget, “Clerks,” shot for less than $28,000, was like, “we played in our own garage, made our own cassette tapes and handed them out,” O’Halloran says.

Finances aside, the scrappy, black-and-white-filmed “Clerks” has connected with viewers for decades, and likely will as long as smart young people have crappy jobs. Smith’s writing and resourcefully clever filmmaking have a lot do with the greatness of “Clerks.” But so does the pitch-perfect cast.

In his first ever film, O’Halloran delivers a quintessential indie performance, in the lead role of Dante Hicks, a beleaguered convenience store clerk who gets called in to work on his day off. Dante then endures a shift where everything goes sideways that can. Even among a decade crammed with quotable films, O’Halloran’s line, “I’m not even supposed to be here today,” rings eternal.

Dante’s smartass slacker pal Randal Graves, who works at the video store next door, is incredible too in “Clerks.” Likewise, Marilyn Ghigliotti as Dante’s oral-endearment-positive girlfriend Veronica Loughran, and Lisa Spoonauer as Dante’s traumatized ex, Caitlin Bree. Jason Mewes and Smith deftly depicted shady/funny duo Jay and Silent Bob, later spun-off for their own film series.

Similar to the interconnected nature of Marvel and “Star Wars” content, Smith’s films comprise the View Askewniverse, a reference to Smith and creative partner Scott Mosier’s production company, View Askew, with many actors and characters overlapping to various degrees.

In addition to “Clerks” and its sequels, 2006′s “Clerks II” and 2022′s “Clerks III,” O’Halloran has appeared in numerous Smith films, including “Mallrats,” “Chasing Amy,” “Dogma” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.” He’s also made a mark as a voice actor, including the tragically short-lived “Clerks: The Animated Series.”

This weekend, O’Halloran and his “Clerks” colleague Anderson will appear at Alabama’s Huntsville Pop Culture Expo, including a 5 p.m. Saturday “Clerks” panel. Other special guests scheduled to appear at HSV Expo, held April 21 – 23 at the Von Braun Center South Hall, at 700 Monroe St., include: “Star Trek” legend William Shatner, Dean Cain from the “Superman” TV series, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” stars Brent Spiner and Gates McFadden, and many other pop culture notables. Some special guests’ appearance days vary. Single day adult tickets are $30 Friday, $40 Saturday, $35 Sunday and $70 weekend, plus fees. Full lists of guests and more info at hsvexpo.com.

On a recent afternoon, O’Halloran checked in via Zoom video call from his Pennsylvania home in the Pocono Mountains. Shelves of collectibles, including figures, lunchboxes and “Clerks’ memorabilia, are visible in the background. His ‘90s goatee and charmingly understated demeanor remain intact.

Brian, how key do you think it was the original “Clerks” film was shot in black-and-white? Because not only do you have the great characters, story and dialog, it stands out visually too.

Brian O’Halloran: You know, that wasn’t the plan. It was just a budgetary issue. To have color film — and we shot in film, there was no digital back then — you needed the proper lighting. And the lighting in the store was traditional, you know, fluorescent lighting, which when you use color film and fluorescent lighting, it tends to give like a greenish, like you’re in “The Matrix” kind of tone over everything.

To get the proper lighting that would have been more money than they could afford in making the film. So then was advised by David Klein, who was ([Kevin Smith’s] DP [director of photographer]), “Hey, man, why don’t we go black and white?” And Kevin’s “Oh, why?” Well, first of all, we don’t have to rent a big set of lights to offset the lighting that we’re going to lose by turning off the fluorescents, and, B, there’s not much of color correction you have to do. There’s a lot of savings involved.

And Kevin was like, ‘Ooh, savings … Let’s do that.” Because he was making this film as his kind of calling card or a producer’s reel, as it’s called, where it’s a film that you can show different producers, and different reps like, “This is my style of filmmaking. I have other films I want to make, but this is what I want to do with it.”

But him, [“Clerks” producer/editor Scott Mosier] and Dave Klein, they had all gone to film school together up in Vancouver. Knew what they wanted to do with the film afterwards. And we lucked out that literally one of the first and only film festivals that we first screened at, which was a film festival in New York City called New York Independent Feature Film Market. It doesn’t even exist anymore. And we had like the last day of the festival, Sunday 11 a.m. screening, there was about maybe 20 people in the audience, 12 of which was us from the film.

But we were fortunate enough that somebody was in that theater. And that was Mr. Bob Hawke, who’s known in the industry as like a procure of films and advisor to young filmmakers, things like that. So he saw it, recommended it to a few people that they need to take a look at this. It got the attention of a producer’s rep by the name of John Pierson, who was an adviser to Spike Lee and a few other really great independent filmmakers and thought we should then submit it to Sundance, and it got picked up.

But to get back to your original black and white [question], it was pretty much just a cost savings. I mean, we kind of dabble in it in the third film, when we hire Silent Bob as the DP and he’s like, “Oh, the colors in here are ghastly, We should probably make it black and white.” And then he goes on to this whole thing where it’s like the point of view of the security camera in the store, which a lot of people thought that was a purposeful artistic choice. But really, it was we were broke.

What do you attribute the cast’s natural timing and feel in the original “Clerks” to? You all weren’t super experienced with making films, although you have roots in theater and that developed your acting chops. I’ve read almost all of “Clerks” was scripted with virtually no improvisation, even though it’s a film that feels like improv was involved.

Um, you know, there wasn’t an air of performance from a lot of people on the set, in the store. I mean, I call it a set but it’s an actual living, breathing, operating store. Literally, literally one of the characters of the film is the store. So when you get someone like Jeff – “Jeff, just read the words like you would say it” kind of a thing. And he did. He took it and he loved the sarcasm of it.

The Randal character is the best written character, I feel, because in the beginning Kevin wrote that character for him to play. But he saw the daunting task of learning all those lines and being in front of the camera yet directing the film would’ve been a bit too much. Thus the Silent Bob character was born.

So I think the fact that it sounds like regular dialogue, that’s the strongest point, I think, about Kevin’s writing is his grasp of actual dialogue that people would say, in a very naturalistic way.

I love reading and saying Kevin’s dialogue, because it is in a very naturalistic way. Some people say it’s a very, you know, male point of view, and sometimes a very sophomoric humor type of point of view. But at the same time, that’s what a lot of people in our circles are kind of like and continue to be, you know, today. So I enjoy his dialogue.

In the very beginning, it was definitely 98 percent of what was written [in the script] was what was said. And as the years have gone by, he’s trusted us to throw in suggestions, or to take a different take or add something to his dialogue, which is great, I mean, that 30 years into this relationship with Kevin there, we trust each other enough that yeah, let’s try this. Let’s play with it.

Plus, now everything’s digital. No one’s really shooting film just because it’s easier to just, ‘Let’s quickly take a look what we just did. Oh, let’s do it again. This time do it like this,” kind of thing.

What’s something people underestimate about Kevin Smith as a filmmaker or as a writer?

I think they underestimate his depth of thought that goes into a lot of his stories that he tells. He’s a deep cuts, kind of deep kind of thinker when it comes to references. And also, he gets emotionally involved in all the characters that he writes. And he’ll write while listening to music and it will give him inspiration about writing and stuff like that. But I think people underestimate how actually smart and have a deep thinker he is, when it comes to his writing.

When you all were filming “Clerks” did you have any idea your now famous line, “I’m not even supposed to be here today,” would resonate like it has? Back in the early ’90s, I was in college and waiting tables and had definitely said the same thing before. People still relate to that.

No, to be honest with you, when making the film, I thought, “Oh, at best I’ll have a VHS copy of the film, to show to friends. ‘Hey, look what we did in the spring of ‘93.’” Never thinking that it would resonate with, that twentysomething Gen X, overeducated underemployed … thinking what they’re doing is beneath them, and they have better and bigger plans in their life. That it would click.

And so many people, I get it all the time, “Are you even supposed to be here today?” That is going to be on my tombstone.

And it is something of a workingperson’s mantra: “I’m not even supposed to be here today!” It is what it is. I’m glad that’s the catchphrase people, you know, insinuate when they think of me. It’s better than some of the other dialogue that some of the other characters have to get said to them, or whatever.

But I’m happy that it resonates. And I think that’s what makes this have such a longevity to it, is the fact that people can relate to these characters. They’re either one of these characters, or they know people who are like these characters, or they’ve been in situations or in a store or in some sort of retail or whatever job it is. I mean, between this and “Office Space” and any type of you know, work related type of movie, if it’s if it’s done right people are like, “Oh my god, I totally know a guy like that.”

How has the camaraderie among the “Clerks” cast evolved over time?

We’ve known each other for about 30 years now. So when we first met — meaning me and Jeff meeting, meeting Kevin and everybody he had brought on board with this — it was a new experience for all of us, in a sense. It was Kevin’s first feature film he was making. It was the first time Jeff really acted and he wasn’t planning on being a part of the film. He was going to auditions back in ‘93 to goof actually on a friend who was auditioning.

I knew Marilyn Ghigliotti, who played Veronica from before, so that was someone familiar who I’d worked with. A few of the people who were the customers [in the film] and extras, I’d worked with in the local community theater there in Central Jersey.

So developing that relationship with Jeff early on was kind of new for everybody. He was a funny and kind of reserved kind of guy to begin with in real life, meanwhile he’s playing Randal this very, you know, outspoken kind of dude. Him and Lisa Spoonauer, who played Caitlin in the movie, had developed a relationship while working on the film, which then led to them getting married shortly thereafter the film. So it was just an interesting thing to see develop on set.

But then moving forward from that, where we went on to “Clerks” the cartoon and then “Clerks II,” we got together like every five or six or seven years, doing some sort of “Clerks” related type of item.

Right after the film was made and distributed. Jeff and Lisa moved to Los Angeles, along with Marilyn Ghigliotti, so have been living out west since then. I lived out there in short spurts here and there, so our relationship wasn’t like, hey, we’d see each other every few weeks or nothing like that. It would be a couple of years, where we be put back together to work on something with Kevin and things like that. It’s always been fun.

So move forward to “Clerks II,” it was great, another feature-length film. Jeff was a little reluctant at first to do it, because he thought, you know, we had so much love for this little independent movie that could and why ruin that? Usually, sequels to beloved movies aren’t that well received.

But we were fortunate enough that it was a cute enough story and good enough story and film — we brought in some really great people to work with, as well — that people enjoyed “Clerks II.” And a lot of people found “Clerks II” without going, “Oh, there was a ‘Clerks I’? Uh, what’s that?”

And then here we are now 15, 16 years later since that movie with ‘Clerks III,” and bringing these two characters of Dante and Randal, a complete circle of their character arc.

Since then, I’ve hung out with Jeff a few other times. He started doing these conventions just before the pandemic, and then the pandemic closed everything down.

But since then, all of last year, we did a lot of appearances at conventions promoting “Clerks III,” and he grew into love and doing that, and we as friends became much closer. Just in the fact that we were always hanging out with each other, going to dinner and doing kind of cool events and things like that. So it’s been great. It’s been a nice maturity of this relationship over the years.

Was there anything big you turned down after “Clerks”? Or the logistics didn’t line up for you to do?

There was never anything I turned down. Sometimes you can’t work on someone else’s schedule because you’re working on something else, but there’s nothing like I could have been “Forrest Gump” now. There’s nothing like that. Just because I didn’t live in the L.A. area. So big type films like that, you usually had to be in the area to get those type of jobs.

Also, there are things that some other filmmakers will try to like, “Oh, could you play this convenience store clerk in this movie?” And that’s where I’m like, “Yeah, the convenience store movies I’ve done, but thank you.” You know, there are those type of people who want to just put you in cameos to get a little side chuckle out of their film.

It’s not like if you’re an action hero, and you’re doing cop movies, you know, good cop, bad cop. And you see a series of these type of action hero type of actors, doing those type movies, I can understand that. But convenience store movie again …

Listen, if someone from “The Mandalorian” is like, “So, this is what’s going to happen. The Mandalorians are going to come into this town and they’re going to talk to the shopkeeper, and we want you to be …” Oh, totally. I can totally do the shopkeeper in “The Mandalorian,” not a problem. But something else along those lines, I’d be like, “I’m gonna have to pass on that.”

That leads into the next question. There’s the great “Star Wars”-related banter between you and Jeff in the first film. And because of that, and since there’s been a “Clerks” comic book, and you’ve been involved with Kevin Smith’s “Comic Book Men” reality TV show, do you think we’ve hit the wall on superhero and “Star Wars” storytelling? And if so, what’d you think would bring it back to being compelling?

When it comes to the Star Wars franchise, especially since I assume since you’re implying that Disney bought Lucasfilm and they have control of the storylines in these characters, some of the shows are huge hits and there’s really great writing. The “Andor” series has got to be some of the best writing I’ve seen with a “Star Wars” genre in a very long time. And not f any Jedi show up in that show, which is good. It’s a cool thing to show what else goes on in that universe.

And the same thing with Marvel, like the Marvel Universe, I think is doing a great service and continuing, going out and reaching out to other characters of that universe. There are hundreds of characters in the Marvel and the DC world for that matter, to go and tap into stories of lesser known, superheroes and villains. It’s just a matter of airing those stories out.

You know, if I have to see another Batman movie with the same origin story again, or another Spider-Man origin movie again, those are the ones that I’m like, well, OK, guys, I think the world knows how everybody got started with Batman and Spider-Man and Superman. Let’s now move on to other things.

I’m very excited to see what James Gunn will do with the DC Universe now that him and his partner are taking over the running of it. I’m excited, as a fan of all the superhero type movies, to see what goes on with DC with someone who’s really experienced in doing that type of thing, with obviously the “Guardians of the Galaxy” series, and other things in the Marvel Universe.

Whenever there’s new “Star Wars” stuff on, are there certain episodes where I’m like really? This is what we’re going for? Yes. But I’m a nerdy “Star Wars” fan.

I was 7-years-old when saw the very first “Star Wars” in theaters, was coming home with my two older brothers, one who’s six and one who’s nine years older than me, going, “Ha ha, when I’m ready to drive I’m going to have a landspeeder.” I am 53-years-old. I still do not have a landspeeder. What’s it take guys? It’s literally like seven inches off the ground. Come on Elon Musk! I’m looking towards you.

Besides “Clerks” and other Kevin Smith films you’ve appeared in, what’s another film you love from that mid-90s era? And why do you think so much good indie creative stuff happened in films back then?

Well, I think also let’s not just limit it to films. Look at the music scene at that time. You had the rise of the Seattle sound. That Soundgarden Nirvana, you know, Pearl Jam kind of feel where people were like, we’re not really for the people who weren’t into the glam rock of Poison and stuff like that. Who wanted though to still have that rock and roll, garage band kind of feel. “Clerks” was that.

As far as other films, you had Jim Jarmusch. You had “Slacker.” Even Spike Lee. Yes, he was distributed by a major studio for his films. But he was independently for the most part financed, and he got his cast together his crew, he got his crew of people together shot in his neighborhood of Brooklyn. That kind of feel. I still am a huge Spike Lee fan.

Quentin, he only had two films out at that time, “Pulp Fiction” and “Reservoir Dogs.” And if you want to talk about a great film, “True Romance,” which, you know, was written by him.

These are these are films that have stories that weren’t being told. So you go down that list, take a look at all the films that came out in ‘94 and take a look at all the music that came out in ‘93 and ‘94, you can just see this simpatico of like, to hell with it. I’m making the story I want to talk about. Or to hell with it, I’m gonna write a song about this. And you go like, wow, that was that was a pretty epic time to enjoy the arts.

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