Phillip John Clapp (a.k.a. Johnny Knoxville) is much more than the host and producer of this fall's shocktacular montage of men behaving badly, "Jackass: The Movie."A hero, bold innovator and social dingleberry, Johnny Knoxville is looking more and more like Hollywood's next big and inebriated star. The man is already no stranger to the movie scene, having had roles in "Coyote Ugly," "MIB2," "Big Trouble," "Deuces Wild" and a soon-to-be released indie flick about the death of Graham Parsons. With "Jackass" on its way to theaters this Friday, "Johnny Knoxville" will soon, for better or worse, become a household name.

For those who do not know who Knoxville is or what "Jackass" is all about, here's the skinny: Knoxville started out as the protg of his practical joke cracking father in Knoxville, Tenn. Papa Knoxville was known to put Ex-Lax in his employees' milkshakes, and, with an open fly, sneak into little Johnny's room at night and rub a warm hotdog on his son's lips. When Johnny woke-up, his dad would hide the frankfurter and zip up his fly - draw your own conclusions.

It was from this compost heap of an environment that the younger Knoxville's own brand of special humor took root and blossomed. After attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in California, Knoxville started trying out for parts in commercials. To make ends meet, he also freelanced as a journalist for a few magazines, most notably "Big Brother Skateboarding Magazine."

In 1996, Knoxville wrote an article for "Big Brother" about self-defense equipment and had the brilliant idea of filming himself while being shot with pepper spray, stun guns, tazers and a .38. The video was a huge success on the Cali skating scene, and Knoxville teamed up with future "Jackass" co-stars Chris Pontius, Dave England, Jason "Wee Man" Acuna and Steve-O to shoot more videos of a bunch of guys getting badly hurt. Soon, the West Coast team joined forces with a similar masochistic movement on the East Coast fronted by Ban Magera, Ryan Dunn and Brandon Dicamillo. The marriage of the East Coast-West Coast screwballs resulted in a deformed lovechild: MTV's "Jackass." Never intended to "change social values or lower or raise any bars . . . (the show is about) trying to make people laugh," said Knoxville.

The other day, justArts had the opportunity to meet Knoxville. A word on the man: He is an all around good guy. He came to the interview hoarse and hung-over from the previous night's festivities. He has grown a goatee since the movie, although it is barely distinguishable from the scraggly facial hair of too many days without a shower and a shave. And, despite a hectic publicity schedule, not to mention the stress of making a movie, the man could not have been nicer.



justArts: So you started out three years ago writing for a skating magazine and know you're touring the country doing publicity press - what has the transition been like?

Knoxville: Inebriating, very inebriating. It's all ridiculous because we didn't mean for "Jackass" to be a TV show really, and then a movie; we didn't see that at all. But, actually it was Jeff (Tremaine, Director/ Producer) and Spike's (Jonze, Producer) idea for the movie. After I quit the show really abruptly it seemed like there was unfinished business and Jeff and Spike called me and said, "Why don't we just do a naughty 90-minute version of the show and show all the things we couldn't show on TV?" Because we went as far as we could on TV. And, I was like, "you know what, that's a great a idea." But, this is it for "Jackass" . . . but the movie is really naughty. A lot of things going in and out of holes.

justArts: If there were no "Jackass," would you still be doing crazy stunts?

Knoxville: Someone in Japan said that we worked when the cameras were off. So, I guess, I mean there's nothing fake about us, it's all for real. So yeah.

justArts: Was the atmosphere of taping this movie different from taping the show?

Knoxville: Yeah, definitely. Everyone knew it was a movie and everyone acted their complete worst. Everyone was really psyched with all the latitude we had plus we had a budget to travel more.

justArts: Is the movie all new material, or do you incorporate old material into it?

Knoxville: We had so many ideas that we couldn't do for the TV show that we brought some of those over, and we also have a bunch of new material. It's all new footage. We wrote as we went and over a period of three months we were writing bits and preparing to shoot and then we shot for three or four months.

justArts: Were you worried about lawsuits at all?

Knoxville: No, not really. I don't think like that. Plus, I think we don't really have imitatable stuff in this movie. I mean, we determine how imitatable a stunt is by seeing if the kids have easy access to the stuff. There was a bit (in the movie) where Dave England talks Ehren McGehey into gulping down a whole spoonful of flour, and it about chokes him to death. And we thought, well, kids can get a spoon and they can get flour. And then there was another thing when we had a world champion wrestler and legendary Hollywood stuntman come by and choke the cast right in a row, and what he was doing was cutting off the blood supply to the brain and not the wind and we were afraid that kids would cut-off the wind. It also has an R-rating so you have to be an adult to get in. That helps.

justArts: Who endures the most pain on the set?

Knoxville: I don't know. In the movie I actually bore the most pain, but on the show it was pretty equally distributed. In the past couple of years, I've had five or six concussions plus my other sprains and breaks, but guys come up to me and list their sprains and breaks to me and I think, what are you doing with your time that your sprains and breaks mean that much to you.

justArts: What drives you to go through all of these stunts?

Knoxville: Its just fun being with the guys and traveling and someone gets a bit, and it's super funny and you just want to keep generating bits. It's what we did and do. It's one of the only things I'm halfway descent at. And, even then, it's because I fail all the time.

justArts: Do you find that for the crazier stunts you've got to do them over and over again to get them right for the film?

Knoxville: It's actually about getting it wrong for us, and so there are no real mistakes we made. If you do it and it doesn't work, then you do it again. But, if you do it and you do get hurt that usually means: Good.

justArts: Did you find that everywhere you went to shoot you guys got recognized?

Knoxville: A lot of things in the movie are based around stunts, but there were a few pranks we did. And, uh, we only go to areas where there are a lot of old people. We only got recognized once or twice. Plus, most of the time things happen so quick and people are so confused, if they do recognize us it's always after 30 seconds of great reaction.

justArts: So, will your daughter follow in your footsteps and attach hooks to herself and role around in meat?

Knoxville: No.

justArts: Before doing your poop stunts, how many injections do you have to get? (For those who don't know, "Jackass" is a fecophiliac's dream, with stunts involving poo on nearly every show).

Knoxville: On the episode with the porto-potty (where Knoxville locks himself in a used porto-potty which is then shaken, flipped upside down, and jostled violently) I got two immune boosting shots and I forget the other shot I got. All the cast before the movie had to get blood tests because there's a lot of vomiting, peeing and spitting going on amongst full-grown men and so they wanted to make sure no one was carrying any diseases. Amazingly, no one had a disease. No venereal diseases, which is fucking amazing.

justArts: Do you have a favorite bit?

Knoxville: Yeah, there's a bit that closes the film. Usually when things are too naughty they go to Steve-O. Steve-O turned this one down. So, Ryan Dunn stood up and took one for the team. I can't give it away (the stunt), but you'll never look at little toy cars again in the same way - or Ryan Dunn . . . (When Steve-O got his entire body waxed) that was so funny to us. When his eyebrows came off and he looked like such a mutant, I was crying, rolling on the floor, and oh my God, I was half in the bag for that one, so it was even more funny. On the show I also like the one with Steve-O and the goldfish trick (where he swallows a live goldfish and throws it back up - alive).

justArts: What is you favorite story that came out of the film?

Knoxville: We were in Europe and Pontius has a masturbation problem. And, so he's constantly doing it in the van and everywhere. Pulling out of London we got this '89 Jag and he was in the back going to town and Steve-O was sitting next to him, and Steve-O decided to go to town and meanwhile people in the double-decker bus were driving beside us and they were just killing it. We went from England to Russia and back and by the time we got back to England the back of the seat was just a science project. Horrible. I didn't ride in that car. That didn't air on television.

justArts: Do you guys have any favorite pranks?

Knoxville: When you go out drinking with the guys they have their little favorite stunts they like to pull when no cameras are around and they're just being assholes. You know, you'll be at the bar ordering a drink or you're not watching and your leg will feel warm and then wet and you're being pissed on. Or, whoever has a wife or girlfriend, before they go home for the night a couple a guys will grab them and put a hickey on their neck for them to describe to their significant other. It's always something with the guys. Hitting in the balls is also very simple, but always gets a laugh.

justArts: So, you've been in Boston a while, do you have a favorite bar?

Knoxville: Any place with a jukebox and McEwan's Scotch I'm a pretty big fan of.

justArts: What's it like being the hero of a generation of kids who just want to jump around and punch each other?

Knoxville: We're no heroes. We're just a bunch of regular guys like everyone else.

justArts: What's the deal with Steve-O? Was he just not raised the same way as everyone else?

Knoxville: Well he told me that all he's ever learned from life is from heavy metal music and skateboarding. And, yeah, that's pretty much his whole attitude. But that said, he's actually sharp. He just plays that idiot thing up to the nth power.

justArts: Has your lifestyle changed much?

Knoxville: I can buy more drinks then I used to, but I've got the same friends, we all have the same friends we always did before all this happened. And, I've got the same shitty shoes and I drive the same shitty car.

I hate to wax philosophical here, but we could all learn something from Johnny Knoxville and "Jackass." Here are group of guys who don't take themselves, or life, too seriously. If that offends some people, the "Jackass" players could not care less. They aren't trying to tangle the moral fiber of society, but only add a few silly stitches here and there. The movie is an expression of an unbridled desire to run around and extend pain (and humiliation) thresholds to superhuman limits, and, most importantly, to have a blast. Knoxville and the usual gang of idiots on "Jackass" are lude, crude and glorious social misfits, and I can't help but admire them.