Johnny Knoxville

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Interview with Johnny Knoxville
Film: "Big Trouble" and "Jackass, The Movie"

Q: What is your real name?
A: PJ Clap.
Q: And when did you decide ... somehow this name wouldn't work?
A: When I had it on my letters jacket in high school and I used to get made fun of. No, I was just writing for magazines under Johnny Knoxville and I thought it was a ridiculous enough name. Just for underground mags that are probably out of business now.
Q: What did you write?
A: Participatory journalism type stuff, I would go on a trip and write about it. I tested self-defense equipment on myself and wrote about it.
Q: What other stunts have you done?
A: Pepper spray, stun gun, taser gun, and I shot myself with a .38 while I was wearing a bulletproof vest.
Q: How'd that feel?
A: My adrenaline was pumping so I don't remember the impact except that it felt like someone hitting me in the chest with a shovel because the vest dispersed the impact.
Q: And the mace?
A: The mace was horrible. It felt like someone lighting a fire in your eyes and then trying to put it out with gasoline.
Q: did you ever think 'I gotta stop doing this'?
A: Everyday.
Q: How's the movie coming?
A: It's going great.
Q: Can you call it "Jackass?"
A: Yeah "Jackass, the Movie." Yeah we can. It wouldn't be too unfunny if we had to blur it, but yeah we can.
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: In Tennessee ... Knoxville! You see how clever that is.
Q: And how old are you?
A: I'm 31.
Q: Did the BBQ lawsuits kill your show on MTV ... did you have to go to trial?
A: No. I never went to a trial and as far as I know, I don't know any law suits that arose from that ... but that's a question for MTV.
Q: Were you under fire for that?
A: We were under fire from Washington DC, DC - Hollywood - same thing. So that did take a toll on the show. But we did do as much as you could on TV. And from the beginning of the show it was my opinion that it should last a short amount of time, because people become [disinterested] in things after a while.
Q: So how many shows did you end up doing?
A: 24, plus one special, lasted 10 months. Actually we did 2 specials. They wanted us to do some video countdown show, but we didn't think that was a great idea so we did the worst version of that and turned it in. (snickers)
Q: Were you organizing your own stunts or did the producers concoct these ideas?
A: I produced the show, so it's my fault. It's all our fault.
Q: Your brainchild?
A: It was a collective, it wasn't just me.
Q: What gave you incentive to this show?
A: We were just doing skateboard videos for ourselves and eventually word got out and ....
Q: What were some of the daredevil stunts you used to get into as a child?
A: I didn't do that many stunts because I was asthmatic and I was sick most of my childhood. I would just kinda like sit next to my mom watchin' TV and movies.
Q: What were your hobbies?
A: Uhm, TV and movies and I played baseball and sports so I wouldn't let the asthma get the best of me. I played sports until I graduated high school.
Q: And now it's gone?
A: No, I still, have... believe me people have worse problems than me.
Q: Are you trying to use "Jackass" as a vehicle to get into the acting/movies?
A: No "Jackass" has kind of evolved and so did the movie thing.
Q: Do you think Washington should just calm down?
A: I think parents should spend a little more time with their kids and view what they're watching. I have a 6-year-old little girl and we screen everything she watches...
Q: Her name?
A: Madison.
Q: If it was a boy? What would you?
A: I'm so smitten with my daughter, I don't even remember what we would have called it if it was a boy.
Q: Is your wife a performer?
A: No, she told me she'd sue me if she ever ended up on "Jackass."
Q: Do you let Madison watch?
A: I let her see certain parts of the show. Parts that are naughty or where daddy gets hurt, she's not allowed. But, things like the Oompla Loompa ...
Q: Anything else you working on?
A: Yeah I just finished "Men in Black II" where I play a two-headed alien.
Q: Barry Sonnenfeld says you're a really good actor, did you study?
A: Oh, I never thought I had any talent. I don't know. I literally was sick growing up and I just sat around watching movies and that's all I knew.
Q: Favorite movies?
A: "Harold and Maude," "Face in the Crowd," "Cool Hand Luke" "Cinema Paradiso..." I don't know, there's so many.
Q: Who's your cinematic idol?
A: Slim Pickens! He's so good in "Flim-Flam Man." And "Blazing Saddles." Strother Martin, I love too. As far as leading actors .. God, George C. Scott is great.
Q: Tell us about your parents.
A: My mother was a housewife. She stayed and raised myself and my two older sisters. My father owned a tire company and he was a professional liar as he said. He was constantly pulling pranks and stunts on me and everyone at the tire company.
Q: What kinds of stunts?
A: I don't know, he would make chocolate shakes for everyone at work and fill them with Ex-Lax. Or stage gun fights at work between employees but have them be blank guns. He still writes me like naughty poems and signs them the unknown poet, but you know its him because no one else actually does that obviously, and he makes all his "Y's" backward.
Q: Were you a troublemaker in school?
A: I talked a lot, constantly, I guess. I I I... was a pain in the ass, that's what I'll say. Obviously, I got in trouble in school, but I don't think I was any worse than anyone else ... you know everyone's a little excitable. It was funny, dad came to school one day because I was getting in trouble and says, 'anytime he does something out of line ... paddle him.' So anytime after that I got paddled... you behaved a little better.
Q: When'd you get out of Tennesse?
A: 2 mo's after high school I went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena, but I didn't stay there long, just because they didn't want you to audition while you were there ... it just wasn't for me.
Q: How'd you support yourself?
A: Job to job, waiting tables, bartending. I umpired little league, which was the greatest job I ever had to this day.
Q: Why?
A: The kids were really sweet, it was in the Latin community in the Valley. Where I grew up, the parents were really into it and yelled at the umpires. [But here] I would blow calls and they were so polite. And I was like 'Oh, this is sportsmanship!'
Q: How did you break into MTV?
A: We just had this show and a few people wanted it so it ended up on MTV.
Q: How do you get to feel so comfortable on camera?
A: You're really not thinking about the camera, because some imminent doom is coming your way so the camera's the least of your worries.
Q: Do you get hurt doing these things?
A: No, not really, just some concussions and some breaks.
Q: What'd you break?
A: God, I've broken so many bones ... just from childhood to now. I did my ankle like three times.
Q: Do you regret doing the BBQ scene?
A: I don't regret doing the BBQ suit, I do regret that the kid took it upon himself to imitate what he thought was his interpretation of the stunt which wasn't our stunt at all. From the beginning we've always emphasized 'don't try this at home,' in interviews and on the show and we mean it. When someone sends a tape in, we send it back.
Q: What did you do in this stunt?
A: I affixed steaks to a suit and laid on a grill.
Q: Did it hurt?
A: Yeah, it got hot.
Q: Did you eat the steaks afterward?
A: Yeah, unfortunately! They were the cheapest steaks and they weren't cooked very well; I'm surprised I don't have some kind of E. coli?
Q: Now what about "Big Trouble?" And working with Tom Sizemore?
A: (laughs) I didn't know what to expect going into it with Tom because. I've seen his role, he's an intense guy. But he's actually super nice to me and he helped me out a lot. I'm not just saying that ... he did! So I have nothing but good things to say about Tom Sizemore.
Q: How about playing this sweet, but dumb guy?
A: Yeah, just working with Mr. Sonnenfeld and everyone, this was my first, so everyone was really supportive. And it was a lot of fun. Yeah, you're in Miami for 3 mo's with per diem. Ensemble movie, you're off half the time - what's not to like?
Q: Did the director ask you to improvise or what?
A: His note is 'faster and funnier' ... that's his main bit of direction.
Q: And what about the 9/11 thing? Is this movie sort of sideswiped by that tragedy?
A: You know, one thing that I dislike is when actors pontificate on things especially something like that. And so I don't want to be evasive, I just hate when actors get self-important and talk about something especially of that magnitude. I mean, this is just a movie and we're just trying to make people laugh...
Q: What about the "Jackass movie?"
A: An hour and half long, much much naughtier version of the show. It's going to be an R-rating and we're going to take full advantage of it. Only adults will be allowed in ... more mature themes ... or immature themes (laughs).
Q: Can you tell us one of the stunts?
A: No, I don't want to give anything away. I hate to be like that, but...
Q: Casting?
A: It's the entire cast of the TV show. And we'll have Brad Pitt, and Shaquille O'Neal cameo, we had them on the show. I just hate to find out too much information about a movie.
Q: Who collaborated on the script?
A: There's no script. Just a lot of bad ideas rolled into one. (snickers)
Q: How about your young guy fans?
A: A lot of male attention. (Laughs)
Q: How do you spend your weekends?
A: Mostly with my kid.
Q: Any stunt someone suggested you do on the show that you just refused ... like hanging yourself?
A: What? You don't think I'm hung? (snickers)
Q: Does your wife ever say ... 'come on you cannot do this'?
A: She'll be happy when it's all over, we don't talk about it. I made the mistake of telling her what I was going to do the first stunt I ever did and she worried for two weeks. So after that ... Plus, after I got home she went on a big shopping spree. So I won't make those mistakes anymore.
Q: What's the best thing about the success coming quickly?
A: I like the life I can give my daughter. She can travel; she's been to Paris and Amsterdam.
Q: What was your best vacation when you were a kid?
A: Going to Daytona beach, playing in the sand, my dad always made me Rice Krispies with bananas and that was good.
Q: And "Jackass" is out when?
A: This summer.

The school of hard Knox
Film: MIB2

Your character in MIB2 has two heads. Tell me about that.
I've lived with two heads all my life. And just like in the movie, the little head makes all the decisions. You know, I'm an alien in the movie.
You're bigger than Will Smith, as far as MIB2's American fans are concerned. Audiences loved you.
Yeah. I hired those people. I flew my mom and my sisters around the country to sit in the theatre and whoop at my name. It's good. No, I don't know why. I think everyone roots for the underdog. I don't even know what that means.
Before MIB2, you'd really carved your niche as an improv guy. Was it tough making the transition to legitimate actor?
Coal mining is tough. Acting is just tedious.
Tell me about working with Lara Flynn Boyle.
I don't want to sound like Hollywood bullshit, but she's a blast. They put her in this corset, the smallest corset on the planet. It would choke Haley Joel Osment. She couldn't move. She could hardly talk. Goddamn, she looked good. The days she wasn't on set, I wished she was there. I'd get bummed, so I'd just get drunk.
Did she tell any Jack stories?
Um... Um... (laughs) Um... No (laughs).
Tell me about the Jackass movie.
Oh, man, the Jackass movie, we had so much fun. We went to Mexico, Tokyo, all over the US. They're all my friends, those guys. A crew of 10 or 15, rolling into a town. We worked all day, went out all night. Got a couple hours of sleep and worked all day again. It was probably the most fun I've ever had in my life. And it's the show times 10. No script. No plot. Shot as half-assed as the show, because we don't know what we're doing.
Will the film boast the same refined aesthetic appeal as the TV show?
Oh, yeah, man. It was funny, because before shooting they gave us a tutorial on the cameras that we'd be using. Since it's a movie, everyone's got to have a title, you know. So one of the guys who created the show with me, Jeff Tremaine, is now the director. One of the cameramen on the show, Dimitri, is now director of photography. The guy who gave him the tutorial got all solemn at the end, looked at Dimitri, and said, "Man, I've wanted to shoot a film my whole life. You guys are shooting a film." He was so bummed they were giving cameras and money to a bunch of idiots.
Will it be tough to lose the stigma of "that guy from Jackass", so that you can break into more mainstream fare?
I don't know if that's a stigma, is it? I think it's done pretty well for me. I'm not looking to lose anything. I'm looking to continue making movies. I'm happy with Jackass.
Gotta ask: Does it ever hurt?
Man, it always hurts. Everything, all the time. I got knocked unconscious three times on the Jackass movie. "I know this is going to end bad, but I'm going to pretend it's going to end good." My life's philosophy.

Cinema Confidential
Film: Big Trouble

Having becoming notoriously famous for Jackass where you became human barbeque, did you become under fire from the network when a real life boy tried to imitate it?
We were under fire from Washington D.C. and Hollywood. Oh, same thing. That did take a toll on the show, but we did as much as we could do on television. From the beginning, I always [felt] that it should last a short of time as supposed to a longer period of time. People become inured to things after awhile.
How many episodes did you ending up doing?
Twenty-four plus one special. It last ten months.
What was included in the special?
Actually, we did two specials. One special they had us doing some video countdown show, we didn’t think that was a great idea. So we did like the worse version of that. [Laughs] We did one special at the gumball rally where we went to London to Russia and back.
Did you ever get pressured to doing these stunts or were all the ideas concocted by you?
I produced the show myself, so it was all my fault. [Laughs]
What were some of the daredevil stunts that you used to get into during your childhood?
I really didn’t do that many stunts, because I was asthmatic. I was sick most of my childhood. So I was pretty much sitting next to my mom watching T.V. and movies.
What kind of movies did you love watching growing up? Oh, man. My favorite movies?
Harold and Maude, A Face in the Crowd, Cool Hand Luke, Cinema Paradiso. I don’t know, there are so many.
Did your wife ever participate on Jackass?
No, she told me she’d sue me if she ever ended up on Jackass. Yes, she said she’d sue me. So sometimes I’ll run at her with a camera and, you know, she’ll tell me to put it down.
How about the movie career? All of a sudden you’re the hot new guy that’s come to Hollywood?
[Laughs] Bad day for Hollywood. I don’t know what to think about any of this really. I’m just trying to not taking it too seriously. I just finished Men in Black II [also directed by Sonnenfeld] where I play a two-headed alien.
When did you start studying in the performance arts?
Two months after high school, I went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena. But I didn’t stay there long, because they don’t like you to audition while you’re there. I don’t want to bad-mouth the place, but it just wasn’t for me.
How did you survive after that?
Job to job. Waiting tables, bartending and umpiring little league. Which is the greatest job I’ve ever had to this day. The kids were really sweet and the parents were like really into it. They would yell at the umpire and I would blow calls and then they would also be really polite about it.
How did you break into MTV?
We had this show, and some people wanted it. And it ended up on MTV.
What was it like playing the sweet but dumb guy in Big Trouble?
Working with Mr. Sonnenfeld and everyone… they were just very supportive. It’s an ensemble movie and you’re half off the time. What’s not to like [about doing a movie shoot in Miami]?
Did Sonnenfeld ever give you acting notes?
His notes are faster and funnier. That’s all he ever tells you.
Sonnenfeld said that you were a very good actor and recommends you to every producer in Hollywood. How do you feel by that validation?
Oh, I never thought I had any talent. But I was literally sick growing up and I sat around watching television and movies, and that’s all I knew.

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