Oct. 25 signifies two things: It is the opening for “”jackass the movie,”” and quite possibly the end of Western civilization. Mark your calendars!
Paramount Pictures and MTV Films have formed a cinema hegemon by coming together for the movie version of this television phenomenon. It is a naughtier version of what is shown on MTV, and comes complete with a punk, rock and hip-hop soundtrack.
Johnny Knoxville leads his pain-hungry, willing-to-get-naked troupe to locations around the globe, from California to Japan, to pull all the stunts. The original cast from the TV show join him on his quest for the enlightened state of jackassdom. Bam Margera, Chris Pontius, Steve-O, Dave England, Ryan Dunn, Jason “”Wee-Man”” Acuna, Preston Lacy and Ehren McGhehey are all featured in the movie.
Don’t worry, no one with actual sense slipped in.
Though Knoxville had been on a whirlwind publicity tour (so far, he said his major injury was an engorged liver), he took some time to chat with the Guardian.
Do you get paid for the stunts that you do, or is pain its own reward?
Knoxville: Uh, we work for free so, uh, so I don’t really know what you are saying.
[And with that, Johnny proves he may have taken too many bricks to the head. Though the question was not severely mind-bending, the questions must be simpler and more straight-forward. The question about his thoughts on fiscal policy is thrown out the window.]
Tell me about “”jackass the movie.”” Any deep story plots?
K: “”jackass the movie”” will be like “”Jackass”” the show, only the naughty version. A naughty, 90-minute version — no plot, no narrative and just one naughty idea after another.
Does your entourage draw much attention during a stunt or prank?
K: With stunts, it doesn’t really matter if they draw attention. People are so engrossed in the stunts, they don’t even notice that the cameras are pointed right at them. With pranks, our guys are really good about filming on the sly with handheld cameras. It is amazing what you can do with a handheld.
Give me an idea of the craziness in you life.
K: One of our favorite things we have ever done closes the film. Steve-O, who usually gets the naughtiest things, turned it down, so Ryan Dunn took one for the team. I don’t want to give it away, but you will never look at toy cars or Dunn the same again.
How are the stunts performed?
K: All our stunts are performed sober. Granted, some of the guys watching in the peanut gallery might not be so sober, but whoever is performing the stunt is sober.
Are you expecting a lot of controversy with the movie?
K: No, I don’t think so. We have an R rating, and we weeded out a lot of the impressionable kids. We were leery to putting things that were easy to imitate in there. This is what the show should have been. [Johnny gets mathematical.] It is the show to the 10th power.
Are there any limits?
K: Well, yeah. Once, we saw a picture on the Internet where an elephant sat on a guy’s head. The guy’s head went right up his ass. So of course, we tried to see if we could put Steve-O’s head up an elephant’s ass, but he regretfully declined. Other than that … no.
Was there anything you couldn’t put in the movie?
K: We shot with Jean Labell, a world champion kung fu and legendary Hollywood stuntman. He came by and choked out the entire cast. It seemed hilarious at the time — I would go out drooling, convulsing. Pontius got dropped on his head — the guy even choked out Wee-man! After watching it, it was funny, but borderline disturbing. Plus, he was cutting off blood supply to our brains and we didn’t want kids to know how to do that.
How did you manage to find others with your penchant for pain?
K: We got Steve-O out of a circus inside a flea market in Florida.
Usually we are out of there so quick we don’t have time to form a rapport with the people who are watching. We deal with cops a lot, but considering the stuff we do, they’ve been pretty cool. I have been arrested once and have had guns pulled on me three times by three or four carloads of cops.
There are rumors that your dad is a prankster. Is a certain story with a certain hot dog true?
K: Oh, jeeze. He is crazy and yes there is a hot dog story. Once, when I was 15, I was asleep on the couch. My dad warmed up a hot dog, came over, and ran it through my lips. When I suddenly woke up, he pretended like he was zipping up his pants … Yeah. Dad has written a few things for the show.
Have you ever thought to yourself, “”Oh my God!”” during taping?
K: The most miserable thing I have ever been a part of was the Pontius Playgirl shoot. We shot Pontius for Playgirl in various states of undress — cowboy boots and nothing else at all. Nothing! He finishes off the photo shoot by lying in a lawn chair and finishing himself off in front of six men. Afterwards, he jumps out of the lawn chair — still a mess — and tries to hug everybody. He was chasing me, I had a sprained ankle, I was running. It was … It was just the most horrified I ever was on the show.
Is this the last hoorah for “”Jackass””?
K: Yes. This is the exclamation point.
