Johnny Knoxville Q&A

The 'Jackass' star discusses 'The Dukes of Hazzard' movie and smoking Willie Nelson's stash.

Aug 12 2005

Since becoming America's clown prince of masochism with MTV's 'Jackass' and its spin-off movie, Johnny Knoxville has appeared in such films as 'Men in Black II', 'Grand Theft Parsons' and John Waters' 'A Dirty Shame'. He plays Luke Duke in the big-screen remake of 'The Dukes of Hazzard', alongside Seann William Scott as Bo and Willie Nelson as Uncle Jesse.

So we hear you sampled Willie Nelson's stash?

Holy shit. I did it once – that's enough. But you can’t turn him down. When Willie looks at you and offers it, my arm works without me – zhum! But man, it's a commitment.

Any other on-set shenanigans? Seann says you're kind of an exhibitionist.

Sometimes the pants fly off, I'm not going to lie to you. I gotta get that zipper fixed. It just comes natural – it's important you know what you're good at. And there was a lot of hitting each other in the crotches, so there's always that. I like to make things as uncomfortable as possible on set.

There are a few 'Jackass' touches to the film – whacking each other with a phone book...

The two worlds kind of fit – same type of vein and spirit.

Did 'Jackass' leave you with many scars?

I got a few, but nothing so great. Mostly it was concussions, and I wrecked my ankle. And my back is still really screwed up. But, oh well. People sometimes get physical because of 'Jackass'. They think that I like that – girls will come up and burn me with a cigarette or a lighter. I have burns up and down my arm. I've had a girl come up and go, 'Oh, I love your show!' and just rear back and hit me right in the mouth. With girls you just go, 'Heh, yeah'. Guys try that and it's like, 'Okay, here we go'.

As a Southern boy yourself, were you a fan of the 'Dukes of Hazzard' TV show?

Yeah, I'm from Tennessee and, hell, they're from Georgia, so we're practically neighbours. Obviously ['Dukes'] is a little overblown but south Knoxville, where I'm from, seemed very working class and small, and there was not a lot to get up to, so sometimes you’ve got to create your fun. And sometimes it involved automobiles, and sometimes it involved girls in short shorts.

The Dukes drive a car called the 'General Lee' with a Confederate flag painted on the roof. Isn't that a bit inflammatory these days?

[From] some people there was a little flak but it's, like, the most iconic car in history and the flag was on the TV show on the car, so you can't really change it. I think we dealt with it in a humorous way. And obviously Bo and Luke aren't racists – when the flag was on their car it signified rebellion, it had nothing to do with racism. People would be disappointed [if the flag weren't there] and so we fixed that. You don't have to feel that way no more.

And there's a blackface gag – provocative, no?

You're skating that line, but you've gotta push the boundaries a little. You can't be so PC all the time.

Was giving the Dukes a black buddy something that was ever considered?

I don't know, you have to talk to [director] Jay [Chandrasekhar] about that. God, I want one.

How do you rate yourself as an actor?

About five or six films ago I had a performance that was like, 'God, that's just not too good'. It was 'Grand Theft Parsons' – such a disappointment because I love Gram Parsons and all our hearts were in the right place making it. I just feel that we missed, and my performance wasn't what it should be. So, yeah, I got an acting coach and I think things are getting a little better. I don't suck nearly as bad!

What do you get up to in your free time?

Basically all my spare time I spend with my [nine-year-old] daughter. I wasn't doing anything before my then-girlfriend got pregnant; I was just rambling around doing nothing. It gave me ambition.

Is your daughter a 'Jackass' fan?

She couldn't see the stuff where I got hurt but we showed her some of the lighter bits. She loves all the guys – they were over the other night, just harassing her, and she was harassing them. I just talked to her on the phone and she wanted to make one of the guys a lemon pie but use shaving cream instead of meringue. I said, 'That is good, honey, I like the way you're thinking! When I get back we'll think of all kinds of mean stuff to do.' She said, 'Yeah!'

'The Dukes of Hazzard' opens on August 26.

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