Johnny Knoxville Admits Parenthood 'Terrified' Him at First: 'I Was Frozen' (Exclusive)

"I don't think I've ever had that much fear in my life," Knoxville says of the moment he learned his then-girlfriend was pregnant

Johnny Knoxville has taken part in some of the most outlandish stunts in pop culture history throughout his decades-long career, but nothing "terrified" him more than learning he was becoming a dad for the first time.

Knoxville tells PEOPLE that upon discovering that his then-girlfriend turned first wife Melanie Lynn Clapp was pregnant, "I was frozen."

"When I was 24, and my first wife, she was then my girlfriend, said she was pregnant, we're going to have a baby. I don't think I've ever had that much fear in my life," the Jackass star recalls.

The star remembers that he was "waiting tables" for work when Clapp told him she was pregnant, noting that at the time, "I didn't have any money." Nonetheless, he was fully aware that being a dad is "a great responsibility"

"I'm like, 'Well, I don't mind' ... All of my acting, I can forget about that,' " Knoxville says of his willingness to give up his acting career in its early days to support his child.

Still, he explains that he wondered, "How am I going to support this kid?" Knoxville highlights that "the cycle of things that runs through your head when you get frightened over something" was a major contributing factor to his early worries about raising a child of his own.

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Related: Johnny Knoxville Proudly Poses After Letting His Daughter Do His Makeup: 'I Do Look Pretty Hot'

When his and Clapp's daughter, Madison, was born on Jan. 4, 1996, the actor's worries about parenthood quickly faded away. "I don't want to sound corny, because it sounds corny, but in the hospital, the baby was born and she was put into my arms. Just looking at her, all of my fear went away. It just went away."

"I was like, 'I think we got this,' " Knoxville remembers telling Clapp after the baby's birth. "And it was a wonderful feeling. Being a father is... I don't know if there's a greater thing, you know, it's a responsibility and it's hard, but it's great. I love being a parent."

Knoxville, whose new film Sweet Dreams and podcast Pretty Sure I Can Fly with Elena Baker are both out now, is also a parent to son Rocko and another daughter named Arlo.

To the actor, one of the best aspects of parenthood is indulging in his children's willingness to spend time with him.

"Just when they ask me 'Hey, Dad, [will] you come out and hit volleyball with me?' or 'Will you go throw base? We can play catch.' I'm like, 'Yeah, let's do it.' It's so fun. And just I know, their personalities and the things they come up with. It's great."

"People would always be like, ‘Oh, it's great. It's the greatest thing.’ And like, if you don't have kids, you're like, ‘Oh, just shut up, you're standing on my foot,’ " he continues, explaining that he won't ever push parenthood onto anyone. "You never know until you have one. You never know what it's like. So I don't want to, I don't want to be that person to be, you know, how people were to me."

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