20Q: Johnny Knoxville

Q1

[Q] Playboy: Did you have to be conviced to do another Jackass moive?

[A] Knoxville: We thought the first movie was our last. Then I went to Russia while I was traveling with Wildboyz, and we got a lot of great stuff over there. I was really excited about it. Jackass: The Movie director Jeff Tremaine pulled me aside when we got back and said, "If you're going to go that big for TV, why don't we do another movie?" And I said, "Nah." I know Jackass is pretty silly stuff, but it means a lot to us. We thought it come off pretty well, and we didn't want to come out with something that would damage the first one. But we talked about it and sat down with our partner Spike Jonze. I thought Spike wouldn't be up for it. Once he was, I called the boys and said, "We're putting the band back together."

Q2

[Q] Playboy: You put the faces of Tremaine and Jackass cinematographer Dimitry Elyashkevich on a billboard in L. A. advertising a fictional gay cruise line. How did they like it?

[A] Knoxville: I told them we were going to talk to the Los Angeles police to get permission for a bit that the cops were mad about. When we got to the intersection where the billboard was I said, "wow, what's that up there?" Jeff looked at it for a second, and then a huge smile came across his face. Dimitry said, "Wow. That really looks like me." Then a full three seconds went by--one one thousand... two one thousand... three one thousand--and he said, "that is me!" Then he started laughing, He was touched by it all. He kept saying, "You would do that for me?" How much did that cost?" It was up for only a month, but everyone loved it so much and people were writing about it, so I asked them to put it up again. The guys couldn't have been more psyched. I though about doing it to other members of the cast. It would make their day.

Q3

[Q] Playboy: Do you try to pair people with stunts you know they're completely uncomfortable with?

[A] Knoxville: Oh yeah. We didn't know until we were making this film that Preston Lacy is completely terrified of height. There's a stunt where he has to fall off something five feet high, and he just fucking shakes like Joe Cocker. When we find out someone has that gift, we try to utilize it and get, it on film. I don't like water, and I'm terrified of the cold. Ryan Dunn doesn't like water, Bam Margera doesn't like snakes. Steve-O is terrified of bulls. Oh, and condoms.

Q4

[Q] Playboy: What are Jackass writers meetings like?

[A] Knoxville: Everyone is usually gassed on something. There's always a lot of booze. Everyone used to come over to my place, and for 45 minutes we'd get, like, three great ideas. Then we'd get, like three great ideas. then we'd all get exhausted and take a break, but no one would ever get back to writing. So now we just try to get three ideas per meetings. Bam faxes his ideas, since he's in Pennsylvania. He draws a picture of what he wants to do, and he has a hilarious way of drawing--as soon as you see the drawing you're on board. When we hear the fax machine, we know Bam is sending another idea.

Q5

[Q] Playboy: Quentin Tarantino executive produced two movies you appear in, Daltry Calhoun and the upcoming Killshot. How does he fit in with the Jackass crowd?

[A] Knoxville: He's a knoxville boy. I love that guy. He's (continued on page 131) Knoxville(continued from page 77) a sharp motherfucker. He really loves that moonshine, I tell you. We filmed down in Tennessee, and I gave him a quart of moonshine that was about three-quarters full. And I'll be damned if he didn't tear into it like a freight train and drink that whole three quarters. A quarter of it will put you on the floor. He drank three quarters and was laid up for a couple of days. He talks about it openly. He claims he had a two-day-long religious experience. He's a spirited young man, and a damn fine man to share a drink with.

Q6

[Q] Playboy: Does Willie Nelson have the best weed?

[A] Knoxville: I'm not a weed person, but when Willie Nelson passes you a joint, you don't say no. That's like Angie Dickinson passing you her pussy and you saying, "No, no, no. That makes me crazy. No telling what I might do!" I saw Willie in Austin not that long ago. Willie loves to smoke people out. I thought I was on fucking acid for six hours. And I had to do interviews that day. I called him later to say, "Thanks a lot, Willie. I was on fucking Mars for six hours." Nothing could have made him any happier. He just laughed. It's like he got the best news when he heard he just completely ruined me all day. He's the sweetest guy.

Q7

[Q] Playboy: Who would you rather have as a Trivial Pursuit partner: Steve-O or Jessica Simpson?

[A] Knoxville: That's a shitty question. You're trying to set me up to insult somebody. Steve-O's fucking smart. He's far from stupid. He just prefers to act in the manner he does. I get some of the greatest e-mails from Steve-O. And Jessica is a good girl. She's sharp too.

Q8

[Q] Playboy: After high school you moved from Tennessee to California to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts on a scholarship but dropped out. Why?

[A] Knoxville: I was 18 and had just gotten to L.A. It seemed like there were too many frustrated actors teaching you. And they didn't want you to audition while you were there. Plus, it interfered with my drinking schedule. I lasted for two and a half weeks of a six-week program, if I remember right. And that may be off by a week or two. I stayed drunk after that until my girlfriend got pregnant.

Q9

[Q] Playboy: During this time you appeared in commercials for Mountain Dew, Coors Light and Taco Bell. Were commercials a grind?

[A] Knoxville: When my girlfriend got pregnant I figured I had to do something. So I got an agent and started doing commercials and writing for magazines. Commercials are okay. You show up for two days, and you get residuals for a long time for a national spot. It's a good deal of money.

Q10

[Q] Playboy: You and your wife eloped to Las Vegas, but you blew all your money. What happened?

[A] Knoxville: I blew most of it. We ended up getting married in not the best chapel. We wanted to get married in the Elvis chapel but got married in this little chapel next to the courthouse instead. I don't even have a gambling problem. I was just drunk. I'd rather pay for a huge bar tab than gamble all night.

Q11

[Q] Playboy: Before the Jackass TV show, you were offered a weekly spot on Saturday Night Live but turned it down. Why?

[A] Knoxville: I like SNL, but the offer came late in the game. We were doing videos on the West Coast and Bam was doing his stuff on the East Coast, and we were going to join forces. So it meant choosing between working with all my friends, where we had all the control, and going to an institution where I would get five minutes a week and have no control. I just felt we had something. I love SNL and have hosted it since then and had a ball. Lorne Michaels is really good to me. I guess I kind of gambled on myself and my friends on that one. I would have felt pretty shitty if I hadn't stuck with my friends. You can't ditch out.

Q12

[Q] Playboy: Because of your reputation for stunts, do people mess with you in public?

[A] Knoxville: People challenge me. Verbal stuff I'll just walk by, but if people come up and hit me, I have no control at that point. You hit me and it's on. And I don't want to fight. I'm not challenging anybody. Bam is one of my best friends, and he was drunk and slapped me in the face the other night. Before I knew it, I had punched him off his bar stool. I was like, "Shit, man, I'm so sorry. Just don't do that." I felt so bad. I got depressed and left the bar. I never meant to hit Bam. He got up laughing, but I felt shitty.

Q13

[Q] Playboy: You were stabbed in a bar fight once. What happened?

[A] Knoxville: It was right before we started Jackass. I got in a fight with three guys. I'm not a great fighter. I'm barely a good fighter. I'm fair at best. But I detest it when guys think you're going to back down if you're outnumbered. I hate bullies. These three guys surrounded me, so I hit the first two guys and it was on. They ended up stabbing me. I got it in the hand and the back. I didn't realize it until I got around the corner and noticed my hand was all sliced up and my back was wet. The guy had a penknife between his knuckles. Bunch of sissies bringing a penknife when they got me outnumbered. It took all the fun out of it. So I went back to the bar and had a shot of tequila with my friends. We were five minutes away from the hospital, but we were so drunk that Jeff passed out because it took us so long to get there.

Q14

[Q] Playboy: Steve-O recently announced he has been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a heart disease, and told he may have only 10 years to live. Has it slowed him down?

[A] Knoxville: He was actually misdiagnosed. One doctor said he had 10 years to live, and another doctor said he was fine. When he was first diagnosed he slowed down to just smoking weed. It really slowed him down for a second. When you get news like that it has to shake you up. He was shit-housed on his birthday, though, so he fell right back into step.

Q15

[Q] Playboy: In The Ringer you play a guy who pretends to be mentally handicapped in order to rig the Special Olympics. Are you still in contact with any of the mentally handicapped actors you worked with?

[A] Knoxville: Hell, yeah. I think Eddie Barbanell is coming to town soon, and John Taylor and I go out record shopping. You can ask him about any song and he knows it. Whenever I get stuck on a song and need to know who sings it, I call him. He knows a lot of other stuff, too. I'm not a goddamn role model, obviously, but if you spend some time with the mentally challenged, it will change you real quick.

Q16

[Q] Playboy: You hired an acting coach after seeing yourself in Grand Theft Parsons. What didn't you like about your performance?

[A] Knoxville: About most everything. It was just inconsistent, a bad performance. I thought, If I'm going to do this, I should find myself a coach. I got this coach, Cameron Thor, who is the best in town. He's fucking immensely talented. It's good to have someone to bounce stuff off. I think I've definitely improved since I've been with him. Hopefully, I'll continue to.

Q17

[Q] Playboy: How does your wife put up with your shenanigans?

[A] Knoxville: She's got a pretty good right and an even better left. And a frying pan the size of Oklahoma. Bam! She's tiny. I don't even know how she lifts the goddamn thing. She's like Mickey Mantle. She can hit from both sides of the plate with power. She's pretty even-tempered unless I drive the poor thing over the edge. She's got a good sense of humor.

Q18

[Q] Playboy: You have a 10-year-old daughter, Madison. Do you see any of your sense of humor in her?

[A] Knoxville: Oh yeah. The guys are at the house all the time, and we show affection by insulting one another. She and Jeff are at war right now. They've always argued. We were at Supply Sergeant on Hollywood Boulevard one day. She saw an air horn behind the counter and said, "That would be good to wake up Jeff with." I thought, Aw, my little sweetheart just wrote her first bit. I practically had a tear rolling out of my eye. I called Jeff and told him. That night everyone was at the house, and Madison, the poor little thing, was trying to stay up as late as she could. She didn't want to fall asleep. She finally went upstairs to sleep, and Jeff saw the air horn. I thought, Oh shit. But it was kind of funny, so I sort of walked him up the steps. Poor little Chicken Butt was in bed asleep. Jeff let it blow, and she woke up and pulled the covers over her head. We thought, Oh no, we might have scared her. I pulled the covers off her head, and she started yelling, "You meanies!" Then it was hilarious. She got him back, but I think Jeff may be in the lead again right now. I don't want to mess with her. She's really sharp.

Q19

[Q] Playboy: You've hung out with Hunter S. Thompson. He must be a patron saint to the Jackass crew.

[A] Knoxville: I loved Hunter. He's one of my heroes. I was lucky enough to hang out with him before he passed away. I met him once at the Viper Room in West Hollywood, and I was a little off my tit. I think I annoyed him more than anything. I had a Joe Frazier doll, a dildo and a stun gun in my pocket, and he was like, "Great. Can you get this guy out of here?" Then smash cut to when we were in Louisiana and I got to spend some time with him. I had a great phone call from him. He was in New Orleans, and I was in Baton Rouge. He said, "Johnny, I was talking about you the other night, and I started talking about my wants and my needs. And what I want is a 40,000-candle-power illumination grenade. A big bright fucker." Then he talked about how he saw someone use one once and nearly blow his finger off. Then he said, "I may be coming to Baton Rouge in a couple of days. And if I do come, I will be looking for a little fun, which, as you know, means violence." I started trying to find that 40,000-candlepower illumination grenade, but you can only get them through the military. I've been looking since he passed away, and I think I finally found a way to get one just a few days ago. So, Hunter, I got your 40,000-candlepower illumination grenade, my man. It took me a while, but I'm going to set it off for you.

Q20

[Q] Playboy: What are you going to do with it?

[A] Knoxville: I don't know. Maybe I'll let my daughter throw it at Jeff.

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