---
name: "Jeff Anderson"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/jeff-anderson"
fi1m_id: "jeff-anderson"
imdb_id: "nm0026879"
tmdb_id: 23630
wikidata_id: "Q1140895"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "21 April 1970"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 67
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-10-09T19:31:47.418593+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Jeff Anderson

## Identity

Jeff Anderson

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/jeff-anderson
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** jeff-anderson
- **IMDb ID:** nm0026879
- **TMDB ID:** 23630
- **Wikidata ID:** Q1140895
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Anderson, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1140895, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0026879/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/23630

Actor. Born 21 April 1970 in Monmouth County, New Jersey, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 21 April 1970, Monmouth County, New Jersey, USA
- **Active:** 1994–2001
- **Average Fi1m score:** 67, as actor, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 74 (2), 2000s 54 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 67 to 66 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 1 of 3 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Comedy 3, Adventure 2, Action 1, Fantasy 1
- **Screen time:** 5 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $70m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Anderson, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1140895, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0026879/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/23630

## Fi1m on Jeff Anderson

> Jeff Anderson makes foul-mouthed dialogue sound like talk between people who have known each other too long. We rate the deadpan ease of his Randal in *Clerks* highly, though his leading work outside Kevin Smith’s films remains limited.

In *Clerks* (1994), Jeff Anderson makes Randal’s obscenities sound like ordinary shop talk. His deadpan delivery gives little indication that a line has been written to get a laugh, even when Kevin Smith has built the whole exchange around it. We laughed at Randal’s obscenity because Anderson sounded as though he was merely keeping the conversation going. He is the chief reason, alongside Brian O’Halloran, that the film’s talk can sustain an evening.

O’Halloran’s Dante supplies the dissatisfaction; Anderson gives him someone who can keep a complaint going without simply agreeing with it. They sound practised at talking together and rather less interested in hearing each other out. That familiarity matters in a film whose dialogue can otherwise feel like a succession of comic propositions. Smith gets something useful from Anderson’s unhurried delivery: jokes that might sound laborious spoken more insistently become part of a working day. It does not rescue every overlong sketch, and the pictures remain less interesting than the people talking.

Anderson’s work after *Clerks* stayed close to Smith, including appearances in *Dogma* (1999) and *Zack and Miri Make a Porno* (2008). His main departure was *Now You Know* (2002), a dialogue-driven romantic comedy which he wrote, directed and acted in. It remains his sole feature as writer-director. Leading roles outside Smith’s films have been scarce, which limits how broadly we can judge his acting.

He returned to Randal in *Clerks II* (2006) and *Clerks III* (2022), again opposite O’Halloran’s Dante. The third film puts more weight on Randal facing middle age and change, with room for feeling alongside the insults. That is a useful development for a character whose conversational habits were established so firmly at the outset. Still, the pleasure of the original is how little Anderson seems to be trying, even when the writing is working hard. Allow for the ragged sketches, and begin with *Clerks*.

## Biography

Jeff Anderson is an American actor, director and screenwriter. He is best known for playing Randal Graves in the 1994 film *Clerks*, a role he reprised in *Clerks II* (2006) and *Clerks III* (2022).

Anderson grew up in New Jersey and attended high school with filmmaker Kevin Smith. He worked at AT&T before auditioning for *Clerks*. He has appeared in other Smith-directed films including *Dogma* (1999), *Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back* (2001) and *Zack and Miri Make a Porno* (2008). In 2002 he wrote, directed and starred in *Now You Know*. For his performance in *Clerks* he received a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back* (2001), Fi1m 54, as Randal Graves — [page](https://film.one/film/jay-and-silent-bob-strike-back.md)
- *Dogma* (1999), Fi1m 66, as Gun Salesman — [page](https://film.one/film/dogma.md)
- *Clerks* (1994), Fi1m 82, as Randal — [page](https://film.one/film/clerks.md)

## Complete filmography (19)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *We Never Smiled in the 90’s* (2024), Actor
- *The 4:30 Movie* (2024), as Dad on Concession Stand
- *We're Not Even Supposed to Be Here Today: 3 Decades of Clerks* (2022), Actor
- *The Clerks 3 Documentary* (2022), Actor
- *Clerks III* (2022), as Randal Graves
- *Star Wars: The Clone Wars* (2008), series, as Smug (voice)
- *Zack and Miri Make a Porno* (2008), as Deacon
- *Clerks II* (2006), as Randal
- *Now You Know* (2002), as Gil · Director, Writer
- *Vulgar* (2002), as Surly Duck (voice) (uncredited)
- *The Flying Car* (2002), as Randal Graves
- *Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back* (2001), as Randal Graves — Fi1m 54, [page](https://film.one/film/jay-and-silent-bob-strike-back.md)
- *Rennie's Landing* (2001), as Jiffy Mart Clerk (Buddy)
- *Clerks* (2000), series, as Randal Graves (voice)
- *Love 101* (2000), as Phil
- *Dogma* (1999), as Gun Salesman — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/film/dogma.md)
- *A Night on the Water* (1998), as Connection
- *Clerks* (1994), as Randal — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/clerks.md)
- *Vanishing Son* (1994), series, Actor

## Gallery

- ![Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson at GalaxyCon Richmond in 2020](https://film.one/media/person/84836/gallery-4ab839d06f21.jpg) Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson at GalaxyCon Richmond in 2020 — Super Festivals, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Clerks_Photo_Op_GalaxyCon_Richmond_2020.jpg/1280px-Clerks_Photo_Op_GalaxyCon_Richmond_2020.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Jeff Anderson at GalaxyCon Richmond in 2020 (2019)](https://film.one/media/person/84836/gallery-f1e386ae5d21.jpg) Jeff Anderson at GalaxyCon Richmond in 2020 (2019) — Super Festivals from Ft. Lauderdale, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Jeff_Anderson_%2849645684366%29.jpg/1280px-Jeff_Anderson_%2849645684366%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Jeff Anderson at GalaxyCon Columbus in 2022](https://film.one/media/person/84836/gallery-d8391e841f33.jpg) Jeff Anderson at GalaxyCon Columbus in 2022 — Super Festivals from Ft. Lauderdale, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Jeff_Anderson_%2852548599652%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Jeff Anderson](https://film.one/media/person/84836/gallery-a66060415559.jpg) Jeff Anderson — Super Festivals from Ft. Lauderdale, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Jeff_Anderson_GalaxyCon_Richmond_2020.jpg/1280px-Jeff_Anderson_GalaxyCon_Richmond_2020.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Jeff Anderson](https://film.one/media/person/84836/gallery-7b93fd998b2f.jpg) Jeff Anderson — Image via TMDB
- ![Jeff Anderson at GalaxyCon Columbus in 2022](https://film.one/media/person/84836/gallery-20cb6efed69e.jpg) Jeff Anderson at GalaxyCon Columbus in 2022 — Super Festivals from Ft. Lauderdale, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Jeff_Anderson_Photo_Op_GalaxyCon_Columbus_2022.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/jeff-anderson