WALKING TALL Q&A with Johnny Knoxville Continued from page 1

So how did a small-town kid from Tennessee grow up to be an internationally-recognized star? How did JACKASS come about? About two months after graduating high school, I moved from Knoxville to go to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena, California. I dropped out after two weeks and then knocked around Hollywood for about five or six years. Then my then-girlfriend got pregnant so I went, “Oh – now I gotta do something.” So I started writing for some skateboarding magazines. I was working on a story for Big Brother magazine, about self-defense equipment. I was testing the devices on myself and the magazine’s editor, Jeff Tremaine, convinced me to start filming my articles. Soon my antics were being put in skateboard videos and it kinda took off. It turned into a TV show, which turned into a movie. Then I got other offers for movies. Do you sometimes sit back in bewilderment at how it all came off? Yeah. I try to not think about it too much. I try to pretend it’s all normal. But it’s pretty incredible, how everything came together. What is the worst injury you have had? I went to the hospital four times for the show, three times for the movie. Mostly it wasn’t too bad. It was just sprains or concussions. I don’t remember having breaks on the show but I have broken a lot of bones in my life just because I am really clumsy. I was kind of lucky in terms of JACKASS. But was there one particular stunt where you thought, “What the hell am I thinking?” Anytime I worked with guns or bulls, I pretty much thought, “What the hell am I doing?” I rode a bull called Mr. Mean which none of the cowboys would get on. Sitting on his back in the shoot before they unleashed us was one of the loneliest moments of my life. He was bucking and snorting. I got a sprained elbow out of that but luckily he didn’t get me too bad. The thing I did for Big Brother, I was testing self defense equipment on myself and someone else was supposed to shoot me with a .38 in a vest, which I just bought off the Internet. I didn’t have much money at the time so I had to buy the cheapest vest they had. When we got out there my friend refused to shoot me so I had to shoot myself. I haven’t messed with guns that much and I was preying the vest would work. It did and I am here. We know you have thousands of female admirers. What’s the weirdest offer you’ve received from a female fan? I have had girls come up to me and punch me in the mouth and say, “I love your show”. Or they’ll burn me with cigarettes or lighters. I have cigarette burns all up my arm. Look. Some will say, “Can I ask you a question? Are you looking for a little pussy tonight?” I’m like, “A little?” It’s weird. Most times they come up and say hello but other times you get the extreme version of that. That’s what you get for being a star, Johnny. It’s what I deserve. That’s what you get for dragging down American culture. And international culture. Were you amazed at the success of JACKASS? We didn’t think it could be a TV show much less a hit TV show. We were confused as anybody. And it was really successful in a lot of countries. I travel abroad a lot and I get recognized all over from Singapore to Tokyo to somewhere in Europe. Who is the most famous person you’ve got to meet as a result of your JACKASS fame? Me and the JACKASS boys met Brad Pitt. He couldn’t have been any nicer or any cooler. He hung out with us in our van for half a day and he was just like one of the guys. He was up for doing whatever and finally at the end of the day he gets out of the van and leaves. All the guys are sitting there and everyone looks at one another and is like, “Yeah, I’d do him.” Even we had to admit how good-looking he was. He was a cool guy. So you obviously like a drink. What is your alcoholic drink of choice? What have you got? I like scotch but if they don’t have scotch, tequila’s good. If they are out of that I’ll drink vodka and if they are out of that, gin’s real good. I will drink whatever you got. Anything that’s too thin to eat. Are you a smoker? No, I don’t even smoke that much weed. It always hits me wrong. It hits me so wrong. And then you’d wind up getting a tattoo, right? No, that was just booze. Because, given your extracurricular activities, it would be pretty funny if you said you didn’t smoke because it was bad for your health. No, I’m asthmatic. And it is bad for your health! Continued on page 3

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