Rosario Dawson got unexpectedly emotional at the Clerks III premiere

Rosario Dawson had read the script for Clerks III, and then reprised her role of Becky under the guidance of writer-director Kevin Smith for the film shoot in New Jersey — but the actress admits she was still taken aback by the emotions she felt when watching the comedy threequel at the movie's premiere last month.

"Crying at the premiere was not my expectation, but there I was," says the actress. "I hadn't seen it yet, so it was my first time watching it, and it's always nerve-racking to watch the film on the day, in the room, but it was just really beautiful and powerful and joyous and funny and just really great. It was great to be back with these characters again and see them evolve or not, you know, over the years."

JOHN BAER/Lionsgate Trevor Fehrman, Brian O'Halloran, Rosario Dawson, and Jeff Anderson in 'Clerks III'

In the film, Jeff Anderson's wise-cracking convenience store co-owner Randal suffers a heart attack and sets about making a Clerks-style film about his life. The script for Clerks III was directly inspired by the 'widow-maker' cardiac event Smith suffered in 2018.

"I wanted to tell my heart attack story with my characters," the filmmaker told EW earlier this year. "So Randal, the video-store guy, has a massive heart attack. While he recovers, he laments that he's wasted his life watching movies and never thought about making one himself. Randal and Dante (Brian O'Halloran) essentially make their own version of Clerks, a black-and-white movie called Inconvenience. It's incredibly meta."

Steve Granitz/FilmMagic Rosario Dawson at the Los Angeles premiere of 'Clerks III'

"I was thinking about how he's really taking us along on the journey with him," says Dawson of Smith. "When we filmed Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, it was a year after his widow-maker heart attack. And so, we've all been really aware of that and, [him] going vegan and losing all this weight and working with his daughter (Harley Quinn Smith) and all of this. It was not surprising to see him bring that storyline to these characters, and bring them along on the journey as well, because it just adds such a layer. I think these characters have earned getting there. It's just a perfect encapsulation of both of those films, and the journey along the way, and the transition that comes with life if you're lucky enough to live it."

Clerks III will play in select cinemas Sept. 13-18. Smith will tour with the film in select markets in September and October.

Watch the film's trailer below.

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Watch the trailer for Clerks III below.