In the wake of that head injury Knoxville suffered on Jackass Forever – his 16th concussion – his doctor insisted he make a real change, lest he wind up like an ageing boxer, incoherent and drooling. That six-month recovery was a harrowing period marked by extreme brain fog, confusion and paranoia. Knoxville describes the “catastrophic thinking, ruminating, everything’s ending, your career’s ending,” saying, “My creative brain turned on me and turned on me hard.”
“It was a scary wake-up call,” Kimmel says, referring to that time as a fog. “I’m actually surprised he told you about it. I thought it was supposed to be something we didn’t talk about.” And with good reason.
“There was a lot going on right then,” confirms Jackass co-creator Jeff Tremaine. “We had to really get into the edit of the movie. And Knoxville was going through some marital shit, too. It was a mess for him. I was checking in, and it was scary at first. Something was wrong. More than I’d ever seen with him.”
After he was back on his feet, Knoxville separated from his second wife, Naomi, and started in earnest to confront his biggest fears. He had been in therapy before but had always refused to examine what made him so casually risk his life, fearing that dissecting his psyche might kill the cash cow. But he could no longer avoid it.
What did he find? “I have self-worth problems from growing up the son of an alcoholic,” he tells me, and issues with “magical thinking. And it all seemed to come from a side in me that needed healing. And that’s not the entire truth. Also, I’m wired this way. Some of it is biological and you come out how you come out.”
And that’s brought him some peace, it seems – at home, and in his acting, which is gathering steam again. He’s shot films with Olivia Wilde and Nicole Kidman, both of which may come out later this year. “For the longest time,” he says, “I felt like I didn’t belong.” But he’s hit his stride now, and the change came from within: “I don’t think it was about me feeling comfortable as an actor as much as feeling comfortable as a human.”
Before we leave the restaurant, a question comes to mind which I hadn’t thought to ask, but now seems to be maybe what this whole story is about. And it’s part of getting older. It’s also maybe the hardest thing to confront.
“Are you proud of yourself?” I ask.
He thinks about it, and then replies, “Yeah, I can say that. I can say that now.”
Johnny Knoxville will be at GQ Heroes in Oxfordshire, from 30 June-2 July 2026. For more information and tickets, visit GQHeroes.com.
Styling by Marcus Allen
Grooming by Sydney Sollod
Set Design by Rusty Snyder
Production by Fresh Produce NYC
Extras: Leyon Azubuike, Eddie Caldwell, Charles Karafotas, Errol Moore, Zack Palmisano and Gina Seriel. Snake: Venus
Snake handling by Art Of Scales
The snake was not harmed in the production of this feature
