'Jackass Forever' Almost Featured an Oscar-Nominated Legend for Key Role

By Daniel S. Levine

Jackass Forever includes several appearances from celebrity guests, but not too many of them are too surprising. However, there could have been one cameo that really would have stunned moviegoers if the actor called up Johnny Knoxville sooner. Bruce Dern, the two-time Oscar-nominated living legend, wanted to join in on the chaos.

"Bruce Dern had contacted us... Someone had contacted us [saying] 'Bruce Dern wants to be in Jackass,'" Knoxville recalled during a stop on The Howard Stern Show Wednesday. "I... we would love Bruce Dern to be in Jackass, but now we're kind of done filming."

Although Dern, 85, did not contact Knoxville in time to be in the movie, many other celebrities did. Eric Andre, Tony Hawk, Machine Gun Kelly, and Tyler, the Creator are among the celebrities to make cameos. Former Mythbusters star Tori Belleci also has a scene in the movie.

Stern asked Knoxville if anyone they approached to appear in the film turned them down. "I don't believe there were," Knoxville said. "Because, we usually reach out to people we have a relationship with, so everyone agreed."

Knoxville also told Stern that a stunt at a rodeo in Forever led to him breaking a wrist and ribs, and he suffered a concussion that led to hemorrhaging of the brain. If there are more Jackass movies, he won't perform any more extreme stunts.

"I can't take any more hits to the head... My brain was just playing tricks on me. I got really depressed and over-focused on things. I did have to start medication for the first time in my life. It completely turned me around – that and doing therapy," he said, via TooFab. "It was a really hard recovery from this last injury but I'm great now. I feel like I'm the healthiest I've ever been."

Jackass Forever is finally scheduled to hit theaters on Feb. 4. The movie, the fourth in the Jackass franchise, has been delayed several times during the coronavirus pandemic. At first, it was set to hit theaters in March 2021, then July 2021, September 2021, and October 2021. In September 2021, Paramount pushed it to 2022. It is the first Jackass movie since Jackass 3D opened in 2010. Inbetween 3D and Forever, the Jackass team made Bad Grandpa, which earned an Oscar nomination for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

Dern might be in his 80s, but he's still one of the busiest actors working. In 2021, he appeared in Last Call, Buck Alamo or (A Phantasmagorical Ballad), Overrun, The Gateway, Hands that Bind, Christmas vs. The Walters, and Last Shoot Out. He also starred in the fourth and final season of Billy Bob Thornton's Prime Video series Goliath. Dern has been acting since 1960, but only has Oscar nominations for Coming Home (1978) and Nebraska (2013).  

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