LOS ANGELES (AP) — Twenty-five years after “Clerks,” Kevin Smith says he’s crafted his “real big cinematic gravestone.”

The 49-year-old writer-director-actor said a major heart attack in February 2018 prompted him to rewrite his script for “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” to make a more personal statement about fatherhood and aging — and leaving a legacy.

“Like this is my headstone, where it’s like ‘Here lies Kevin Smith. And this is what he was like.’ The movie encapsulates everything that I tried to do in movies over like 25 years and stuff and talks about my life, my podcasting. It’s a nice representation of who I am,” Smith said in an interview.

Calling on friends and calling in favors, he reconnected with actors from his past, including “Chasing Amy” and “Dogma” star Ben Affleck. Some flew to the New Orleans set for just two hours of work in the cameo-packed final act.

“And you don’t really get away with that many times in life — pretty self-indulgent. But since I survived the heart attack, I figured people would be like, let him go. He almost died. He’s a little happy with life right now,” Smith said.

The resulting movie, in theaters this week, is a sometimes silly but heartfelt examination of nostalgia and growing up.