Jackass - Where are They Now?

It's been almost 22 years since the first episode of MTV’s Jackass aired. While two decades is a long time (I feel old just typing this out), Jackass had such a large impact on the media landscape that it feels even longer. It’s hard to remember a world before actor Johnny Knoxville conceived the series with filmmakers Spike Jonze and Jeff Tremaine. Blending reality television with slapstick, crude humor, and the inherent fascination with seeing just how much the human body can withstand, the professional pranksters took the world by storm in the early 2000’s. The show inspired countless reality series and played an integral role in laying the foundation for the homemade pranks and general craziness of viral internet culture, something that would become a dominating force only a few years later.

Despite the best efforts of producers, television censors, and even politicians to keep the squad down, they’ve continuously returned stronger than ever. A movie series, TV spinoffs, and even radio shows are just a few of the ventures they pursued to remain relevant after the show’s end during its third season. With Jackass Forever on the way over ten years since the last mainline film, we thought we’d check up on the Jackass crew to see what they’ve been up to in recent years.

Knoxville, of course, went on to have success in Hollywood. His range has remained fairly small, sticking to comedies and the occasional action movie. Still, Knoxville has been in a steady stream of films and TV shows since Jackass left the air, even if you haven’t heard of many of them. He’s no Tom Cruise by any means, but you can’t call him a failure when he’s starring in films alongside Andrew Garfield either. Knoxville has recently stated that he will be ending his career as a stuntman with Jackass Forever, after years of bodily injury that he can no longer tolerate.

Steve-O, on the other hand, is having a renaissance. Despite being hospitalized at the start of filming Jackass Forever, he’s generally in the best shape of his life. Nearing 14 years of sobriety, Steve-O has pivoted from being a stuntman as his primary profession, branching out into stand-up with two successful specials. His new comedy podcast Steve-O’s Wild Ride has also found him a great deal of success. Even though he isn’t jumping to stick fishhooks through his face as readily as he used to be, Steve-O shows no signs of losing interest in crazy stunts. For that, we can all be thankful.

Outside of Jackass, Dave England returned to his snowboarding career in different ways, primarily through founding Skintight Magazine, and starring alongside Tom Green in the snowboarding film Shred. Otherwise, England hasn’t done much the last two decades in the world of film and television, excluding a handful of small roles. Honestly, if I had to eat the “vomlette,” I’d probably want a quiet life too.

Bam Margera has always had an eclectic and diverse career outside the world of Jackass, so it isn’t much of a surprise to hear that he was busy throughout the 2010s. Multiple Jackass style spinoffs, skateboarding partnerships, independent films, and two hard rock projects kept Bam busy through the years; and that isn’t even the half of it. Recently it seems that Bam is all but retired from skateboarding, and sadly his alcohol addiction has landed him in rehab more than a few times since 2017. In a heartbreaking turn of events, Bam was fired from Jackass Forever, and is currently moving forward with a lawsuit against Knoxville and director Jeff Tremaine.

Wee Man, whose real name is Jason Acuña, has had a successful career in reality television since Jackass. Most notably Wee Man starred in Armed and Famous and came in third place on the first season of Celebrity Circus. Preston Lacy, who often worked alongside Acuña, has mostly stayed within the Jackass sphere. Much like England, Lacy’s presence in pop culture really only rears its head when Jackass is touring, unless you’re interested in watching some hokey holiday themed movies.

Chris Pontius has gone on to have a career working alongside fellow Jackass members, as well as appearing in countless roles in film and television. Working on Wildboyz with Steve-O, Pontius eventually moved on, playing himself in an episode of Raising Hope on Fox. He has more recently appeared in Netflix’s Game Over, Man! as well as Action Point with Knoxville in 2018. After performing what has to be the grossest stunt in Jackass history in the second film (which we will have the good grace not to describe), it’s nice to see that he’s had a relatively easy go of things since then.

Ryan Dunn, one of the boldest members of the Jackass crew, had his life cut tragically short in 2011 after a drunk driving accident that resulted in his death. Despite his relatively short career, his influence as a founding member of Jackass has immortalized him in a way that very few people ever get the opportunity to be, and he is dearly missed. It’s safe to say that Jackass Forever will leave something to be desired without his presence. 

Now you should be totally up to speed on the crew. With Jackass Forever coming out February 4 with no signs of another delay, there should be no ambiguity about the past eleven years in the lives of these deranged stuntmen. While not every member of Jackass has had the same level of success or personal growth in the years since, we still think it’s only right to celebrate the lives of each of these fringe culture icons, imperfections and all.

Written by Josh Sandler