Kevin Smith On Rosario Dawson's Departure From Zack And Miri

Yesterday we told you that Rosario Dawson signed on to star alongside Shia LaBeouf in the D.J. Caruso thriller Eagle Eye. This however took Dawson out of the running for Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno, a romantic comedy that had been hand written for Dawson. And now Silent Bob finally speaks:

"What can I say? It kinda sucks. And not inasmuch as "Jesus – we'll never find another actress for this role!" It kinda sucks because, like I've said, I wrote the part with Rosario in mind/for Rosario to play," wrote Smith in his latest blog entry. "How did this happen, you ask? Well… it's kinda my fault."

Smith explains that he wrote Zack and Miri with two actors in mind for the respective leads, with the idea to shoot after filmed the announced horror film Red State. However, reaction to the Zack and Miri script was so enthusiastic across the boards, resulting in the film being fast-tracked into production before Red State ("something that wasn't hard to do, considering "Red State" wasn't finished yet"). The male lead "needed some time to get some stuff done," so the film got pushed back to a January.

"This would've meant Rosario would be sitting on her hands all fall, waiting to shoot Zack and Miri. And with the impending strike, with actors not knowing if they're gonna be working at all post-March, that's a tough request to make of any actor," wrote Smith. "Then, along comes "Eagle Eye" – the flick starring man-of-the-moment Shia LeBeouf, to be directed by "Disturbia" helmer D.J. Caruso – based on an original idea by… Wait for it… Steven fucking Spielberg. I mean, who wouldn't take that gig?"

But Smith is not going to dwell on the negative.

"I'll miss her, to be sure, but spin control dictates that I've gotta say maybe this is a good thing: certainly for Rosario (why be in the donkey show guy's next picture when you're invited into Camp Spielberg?) and maybe even for me and "Zack and Miri". I've never worked with our (potential) male lead before, so it might be nice to have a female lead I've also never worked with before."

You can read Smith's full blog post which also includes photos from his 37th birthday Q&A/Prom/Poker Game, and a nice linkback to /Film's original story (thanks Kev!)