Johnny Knoxville on Stunts, Cell Phones, and the Star-Studded New 'Bad Grandpa .5'

You probably know Johnny Knoxville for being an immature jackass, and rightly so: he’s built a career on pranking innocent people and sacrificing his body, all in the name of a sophomoric laugh. But Knoxville has actually grown up (a bit) into a thoughtful, introspective, and, dare we say, artistic jackass.

At least that’s what we found when we spoke to Knoxville recently while promoting Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa .5, an addendum to last fall’s so-wrong-it’s-right hit about Irving Zisman (Knoxville), a skeevy octogenarian who escorts his grandson Billy (Jackson Nicoll) across the country in search of Billy’s dad. While speaking over the phone on the occasion of .5's digital release, Knoxville told us about his new first-look deal with Paramount, how cell phone culture affects his work, and whether or not he’s ready for retirement.

Why Bad Grandpa .5? Why not leave it at just Bad Grandpa?

Johnny Knoxville: We had so much new footage that didn’t make it into the film. We had a narrative this time, and so many funny pranks: [We had] Spike Jonze playing my old girlfriend, this 80-year-old feisty lady named Gloria, and Catherine Keener playing my 80-year-old wife. [Those scenes] would have never seen the light of day had it not been those .5 bits.

How different is it working with a narrative?

JK: You never know what you’re going to get when you’re doing a prank. And we have enough latitude in the story [that], if something goes really amazing with this prank, we’d let it change the story. So we really had to be on our toes, especially within the context of a prank.

But you know where you need to end up for the prank. Like, [in the scene in which] I ship Billy my grandson at the FedEx station, I knew that I had to come out of the store with the kid, because it’s already been determined. But at one point [while filming], I could have not come out of the store with the kid [because the stunt was going so well] —and maybe he would have been the first eight-year-old boy to have been shipped.

Is the narrative prank movie the way you’re planning on continuing with the new Paramount deal?

JK: I’d love to definitely do some more hybrids like that. We also want to do some scripted comedies as well, but we have a lot of things planned and working on a couple right now, so we’re very excited.

Will there be another Jackass movie?

JK: We’re not writing one. There are no plans for one right now, but I’m not saying there will never be one.

How do you draw the distinction between funny and mean?

JK: Well, we’re not out to make anyone look like assholes. It’s like we don’t mind confusing people, and getting them a little angry, but most of the time, we’re looking like the assholes.

Do you think cell phone culture has changed the way you guys operate?

JK: It has. [When] you’re in the middle of a bit, you don’t want anyone to see. [But] everyone’s got their cameras out, filming. Sometimes, those people are going to walk away, and you’re stuck in one spot, and you have to send in one of our people to go in and get that person’s phone [and ask them to] erase it, without letting other people standing nearby know that we’re filming. It’s very tricky.

What was the first time in your life that you did a Jackass-worthy stunt?

JK: Well, I don’t even remember it, but they said I would throw myself out of my crib at nine months. And I weighed around 30 pounds then, so that was quite a thud hitting the ground.

As you get older, do you worry about having to outdo yourself, as far as the stunts go?

JK: Well, we always have to be entertaining and funny. It’s a little much to always think we have to outdo ourselves. That gives me stress.

But don’t you worry about getting older and how long your body can sustain this kind of thing?

JK: Well, I know there will be a time when I probably won’t be able to do stunts like I used to. But that time’s not now, and I don’t sit around worrying about when that time is. I just want to continue making films.

Jackass Presents Bad Grandpa .5 is out now on Digital HD and available on Blu-ray/DVD July 8.

Photos: Getty, Paramount Pictures

[Related: Johnny Knoxville Signs First-Look Deal With Paramount]