LOS ANGELES , California ( CNN ) -- Subtlety may not be in Kevin Smith 's vocabulary , but a lot of off-color words are . They 're sprinkled liberally throughout the writer-director 's new movie , `` Zack and Miri Make a Porno . '' Kevin Smith ca n't understand why the word `` porno '' is still a hot button for some people . The comedy stars Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks as roommates and longtime friends who decide that the solution to their money problems is to make a porn film . Strong language is nothing new for Smith , whose first film , `` Clerks , '' put him on the map with its merrily scatological musings . Though the film had little violence or exposed skin , it was initially given an NC-17 rating by the MPAA based on the language . `` Zack and Miri '' was also a possibility for an NC-17 , considered the kiss of death by studios because of distributing and marketing challenges , until Smith argued its merits to the ratings board and received an R. Since `` Clerks , '' Smith 's films have been almost wistfully romantic ( `` Chasing Amy , '' `` Jersey Girl '' ) or as joyfully profane as `` Clerks '' ( `` Dogma , '' `` Clerks II '' ) . `` Zack and Miri , '' which opens Friday , is a blend of the two Smiths : full of sex and colorful language , but with a sweet side . Indeed , Banks told CNN not to be fooled by the film 's tawdry talk . `` Kevin Smith is a huge romantic , '' she said . `` He likes to wrap up the romance in profanity , but the guy is more sweet than spicy . '' Watch why `` Zack and Miri '' is so controversial » . In an interview with CNN , Smith , 38 , cheerfully acknowledged that this is not a film for prudes . The following is an edited version of the conversation . Kevin Smith : There 's a bit of language in this picture . I 'm not going to lie to you . ... I do n't even think of it as salty . To me , it 's just like part of a lexicon . CNN : Well , you do hear it a lot . Smith : Yeah , yeah , yeah , no doubt . We 're raising our kid in a household where people curse , as an experiment . And I think our experiment is working , because I do n't tame my language around the kid . I do n't run up to her and yell [ expletive ] in her face , but I do n't go out of my way to like not curse in front of her . And honestly , ironically , she does n't curse . And I 've tried to get her to curse for like friends and family , because it 's always entertaining to hear a child curse , and she does n't do it . CNN : Well ... I almost hesitate to ask , but tell me what the genesis was of the film . Smith : It 's a movie I 've been researching since I was like 12 years old , to be honest with you . And sometimes three or four times a day . ... But it only really came together when I saw Seth Rogen in `` 40-Year-Old Virgin '' and instantly fell in love with him and was like , `` I got to work with this guy . '' ... So I started thinking about this movie , and immediately it kind of crystallized . Seeing Seth and thinking about porn , I was like , boom , `` Zack and Miri Make a Porno . '' I wrote the script with him in mind . And by the time I finished with it , `` Knocked Up '' was about to open , and the word was it was going to be huge , so I was like , we missed our window . This guy 's going to be famous , and he 'll want nothing to do with this movie . But I sent him an e-mail anyway where I said , `` Look , man , I wrote this flick with you in mind . Please give it a read . '' ... And I got an e-mail back within five minutes that said , `` When I first came to Los Angeles , an agent asked me what I wanted to do with my career . I said I wanted to be in a Kevin Smith movie . That has not changed . Please send me the script ; I would be honored to read it . '' And I was , I was like cha-ching ! You know , my God , it worked out . CNN : You 're working with some professionals here , and by that I do n't mean Seth and Elizabeth . I mean working with actual people with porn experience . Smith : We got ourselves a former pro . ... Traci Lords , man . Who , for the last 20 years , has not made an adult film . Has been keeping that industry at arm 's length as she concentrates on a mainstream career and her musical career and stuff like that . But you know , it just seemed like if we 're going to make this movie , Traci Lords would just fit into it so well . We approached her agent , and her agent was like , I do n't know , it 's got `` porno '' in the title , she ai n't going to want to do it . Then she heard that Seth was in it , and she heard that I was making it , and so she was like , well , I 'll at least read it . She came over to my house and read it . And I remember , I was sitting downstairs while she was upstairs reading it , and I was like , if I could go back in time and tell the 16-year-old version of me that Traci Lords is going to be hanging out in your living room ... my 16-year-old head would explode . First , the 16-year-old would be like , where 'd you get a time machine , and then the 16-year-old would be like , does she want to have sex with us , and then I 'd have to break it to the 16-year-old that , no , Traci Lords -- even many years from now -- [ is ] still not interested in your fat ass . So , she loved the material . ... Maybe it 's time to embrace it and make fun of it . I said yeah , please do it . Katie Morgan is still active in the adult film industry , and she brought a kind of a current vision to it . She was able to kind of tell me where to put the camera to make things look as convincing as possible . So I was like , wow , man , this chick who most people know from porn has taught me how to direct . So if the movie looks any better than my normal stuff , it 's probably because of Katie Morgan . iReport.com : Will you see 'Zach and Miri ' ? CNN : The title has created some challenges in terms of the marketing , that some newspapers are not taking ads for it and some buses and what have you . What do you make of that ? Smith : I think it 's strange that in this day and age , the 21st century , that people are hung up on a word , and the word is `` porno . '' It 's not like we put salacious posters out there . ... The poster is literally stick figures . ... People are afraid like , what if my kid asks what porno is ? Just tell them . Tell your kid that the porno 's not for you . My kid asked me what a porno is , I 'm going to be like , guess what ? Hannah Montana is not in it . Not yet . Are you still interested ? Of course she 's not interested in it , because it has nothing to do with her world . So I just think its kind of sad that like some people lobby against it . Like , based on the dude who called in , or the many people that called in after the Dodgers ran a spot . ... Just tell your kid , man ; just be honest with them . It 's like , look , [ the ] movie 's not for you . ... It 's crazy to me , because it 's like , some people think that it 's real porn that 's being advertised . Can you tell me the last porno that you saw that had the word `` porno '' in the title ? Like , it does n't exist . I do n't think it 's ever existed . CNN : I understand that you were able to convince the MPAA to give you an R rating . Did that require any cuts ? And if not , were you surprised ? Smith : Initially , I was kind of surprised that they gave us the NC-17 . Especially because the two areas they focused on were easily addressed : one ... they felt [ was ] gratuitous thrusting in the first porno sequence between Katie Morgan and Jason Mewes , and the other was what we 'll call the egregious bodily fluid shot . ... I was able to go to the appeals process with the film , where you show it to a different audience . ... [ You ] screen it for [ theater owners ] , and then you get up and do 15 minutes on why you feel it should be an R. Joan Graves [ of ] the MPAA gets up and does 15 minutes on why she feels it 's an NC-17 , then you get 10 minutes to rebut , she gets 10 minutes to rebut . You leave the room , and that audience makes the vote . ... You have to win by a two-thirds majority [ to have the rating changed ] . And they changed the rating . [ The ] appeals group that we screened for ... flipped it , gave us an R. And I did n't have to make a single cut , so everything I wanted in the movie is in the movie . That 's kind of cool as a filmmaker . CNN : Your own presidential debate . Smith : A little bit . ... It was kind of like `` Inherit the Wind , '' but about porn , not the Scopes Monkey Trial .
Kevin Smith is a fan of being bluntly honest . Writer - director ca n't understand why some crude , language bothered him . New York ` ` Zack and Miri Make a Porno '' has rough language but sweet words .