After more than two decades of insane stunts and silly antics, Jackass: Best and Last is putting a period on the Jackass franchise. Best and Last, a sort of greatest-hits/b-sides/retrospective/new-content hybrid, is now available for purchase with a Prime account (and everywhere else online) after hitting theaters earlier this year on the 2026 movie schedule.
One of the biggest stars to emerge from the franchise, of course, is Steve-O. I had a chance to talk to the now-legendary stunt performer about the movie and the franchise’s future, but I also needed to ask him about some of my favorite moments over the years. One answer he gave me about why he does what he does was surprising. He doesn’t like to think of himself as a daredevil. He’s something else entirely.
He Doesn’t Do It For The Rush
Along with Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O is the most notorious for doing the craziest things in the Jackass universe. He’s famously stapled body parts together, pole vaulted into disgusting water, snorted wasabi, and been launched into the air in a portapotty filled with poop. His stunts are not for the faint of heart. According to Steve-O, though, he doesn’t do it for the thrill or the adrenaline rush; he does it because he loves the reactions the stunts get. Here’s what he told me about it:
I have an irrational fear of roller coasters, and I just don’t like them. It doesn’t make any sense, given what I do, but that’s genuinely because I am not a thrill seeker. I am merely an attention whore. So, all of these antics, all of these stunts, all of these things, I’m not doing them for the experience of it. I’m doing it for the footage of it.
He explained that there is a real difference between the two. While Knoxville is all too willing to stand in front of bulls and get knocked out by Butterbean, Steve-O doesn’t want to do anything that could get him permanently injured, so that means he goes for the stuff that grosses people out. It’s safer. He says:
I don’t want to be in a wheelchair; I have nothing to do with that. But cover me in dog poop? Easy, ’cause I know that there’s no paralysis or death from that.
Of course, there is a twisted logic to that, and honestly, one that I totally understand. I don’t like roller coasters, either. I don’t want to snort wasabi, either, but I’d rather do that than get shot wearing a Kevlar vest like Knoxville.
So, while the Jackass franchise is officially over, it’s safe to assume that fans of the series (including me) will get to see plenty more of Steve-O in the future, because he still loves getting attention. That’ll never go away.
