Johnny Knoxville Teases $10 Million 'Surgery' Stunt He Wasn't 'Allowed to Do' in 'Jackass Forever'

Johnny Knoxville says the stunt for Jackass Forever would've cost "a $10 million deductible," and involved "a surgery that no one needs"

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Published on February 4, 2022 04:53 PM

Johnny Knoxville. Photo: Dia Dipasupil/Getty

Jackass Forever isn't short on jaw-dropping stunts, but according to Johnny Knoxville, there was one wild idea that didn't make the cut.

"We did have something on this film that we wanted to do that we weren't allowed to do because it was going to be a $10 million deductible," Knoxville, 50, said in a recent Zoom interview with IndieWire.

He couldn't get into specifics, either, because he said he and his fellow Jackass castmates "may do it one day" in the future.

"But it was a surgery that no one needs," Knoxville added.

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Not that the stunts in Jackass Forever haven't involved hospital bills. In the newly released film, Knoxville gets leveled by a bull in an outdoor ring while dressed in full Matador gear. He suffered a broken wrist and broken ribs in addition to a concussion.

"My doctor said I can't take another shot to the head, I've had so many concussions. I put my family through enough, quite honestly. I don't think I have anything else to prove," Knoxville tells PEOPLE in this week's issue, on newsstands now, of potentially being ready to throw in the Jackass towel.

The fourth film from original stars Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Dave England, Wee Man and more, Jackass Forever ups the ante with stunts involving bears, bulls, scorpions and hordes of bees. In one harrowing — and hilarious — sequence, Knoxville gets shot out of a cannon.

"Luckily, I'm not very in touch with my body, which has cost me, but we got some great footage because of it," he tells PEOPLE.

RELATED VIDEO: The Cast and Creator of Guns Akimbo Credit Their Stunt Team for the Film's Fun Action Scenes

Knoxville — who's dad to son Rocko, 12, and daughter Arlo, 10, with wife Naomi Nelson, as well as daughter Madison, 26, with ex-wife Melanie Lynn Clapp — has no desire for his kids to keep Jackass alive.

"My son, he's got the same gene that my father had and I think that I have, so I definitely want to keep him out of it," he tells PEOPLE. "I made it very clear to him he won't be going into the family business."

The raunchy, don't-try-this-at-home franchise began as a television series on MTV in 2000, spawning a big-screen iteration in 2002. A second Jackass film then arrived in 2006, and a third (in 3-D, no less) in 2010. There's also the 2013 offshoot Bad Grandpa starring Knoxville.

In Thursday previews alone, Jackass Forever raked in $1.7 million at the box office, according to Variety. It currently holds a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 95% Audience Score.

Jackass Forever is in theaters now.