Kevin Smith has lost 65 pounds, but as we heard yesterday he’s still wearing the same “Puck U” hockey jersey he’s had on for literally months (and I think I used the term “literally” correctly there) along with the same high water jeans. He gained weight, lost weight yet refused to change his clothes at all because he thought he would be somehow inauthentic. (At least that’s what I took away from his comments.) Smith was super talkative on the Joy Behar show this week, and he was a little more subdued but still very animated on MTV News. He told MTV’s Josh Horowitz that Seth Rogen turned him on to smoking pot about two years ago when they were making “Zach and Miri Make a Porno” and that it was the best thing that has ever happened to him in five years, because it made him more productive. Maybe that’s why he gained all that weight in the first place though. Here’s more:

“One of the most talented people I worked with in my life was Seth Rogen,” Smith explained to MTV News during our live-stream interview on Tuesday. “I got so much from him. He re-energized me in a weird way. I became a stoner because of Seth Rogen.”

Up until that point, Smith said he’d only gotten high a handful of times. But on the “Zack and Miri” set, he marveled at how Rogen — whom he called “a functioning stoner” — could toke up and not only make it to work on time but have “brilliant ideas” and be “constantly writing [and] productive.” So on the last day of shooting, Smith finally gave into Rogen’s request to smoke pot.

“I went up to him and was like, ‘How about we go to the editing room tonight, watch some cut footage, and maybe share a joint?'” Smith recalled. “He goes, ‘Finally!’ And it was awesome. We sat back, watched some footage and sat there smoking. And I loved who I was. I loved how the inhibition dropped away and I loved just being honest.”

Smith said the last two years of his life have been his most productive, including finishing two films and launching a podcast network on the Web, all thanks to the power of the herb.

“That dude gave me the greatest gift I’ve had in the last five years,” Smith said. “The moment I start smoking, I start working. … That way, no one could ever take it away from you. No one could ever say, ‘You fat, lazy piece of sh– stoner!”

[From MTV News via Popeater]

I really hate smoking pot because it makes me overanalyze everything and come up with these pseudo intellectual theories that I realize are complete bullsh*t when I’m sober. Like I doubt I could accomplish anything that was even marginally worthwhile if I was stoned all the time. Some people do ok with it and find that it fuels creativity though. I guess if you tie any habit into working it can make you more productive if you’re not completely blotto.

I realize that I’ve read all this press about Kevin Smith but have no idea what he’s promoting – so I looked it up and he has a horror movie scheduled for wide release in October called Red State with Melissa Leo. He’s doing a tour nationwide with it starting in March, though. He also has a hockey film scheduled for 2012 called Hit Somebody that he says is his final film as a director. It will include cameos from “everybody” he says, and he told MTV that he hopes that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon will be in it as well. Why is he hanging up his hat when he just turned 40? He’s had some crap movies but he’s also put out some uniquely funny and enjoyable films. He should keep at it and maybe put the joint down. (I know I sound like a mom!)

Kevin Smith is shown on 7/23/10. (He’s not wearing the hockey shirt) and 8/10/10. (There it is!) Credit: PRPhotos and WENN. Seth Rogen is shown on 1/7/11 on The Today Show.