Johnny Knoxville once turned down ‘Saturday Night Live’
Johnny Knoxville, best known for his daring antics on Jackass, had a career-defining moment when he was faced with the decision of choosing between Saturday Night Live and the iconic prank show he’s now famous for.
“I had to choose between going out on my own on Saturday Night Live, which was a very competitive show, or kind of bet on myself and my friends,” Knoxville recollected. He eventually chose the latter, marking a pivotal turning point in his career. He said on the specifics of the offer: “Well, they were going to offer me about five minutes each week to do something like a video piece.”
The decision, however, wasn’t straightforward. Knoxville mentioned that the deal for Jackass was only coming together at the time: “At that time, Jackass was — the deal was finally getting done, but then it took a couple of years.”
The news comes from a video interview with Vanity Fair, where the actor reflected on his past choices while hooked up to a lie detector. Although opting for Jackass over SNL was a “crazy move at the time”, Knoxville emphasized, “I just bet on me and my friends. It was a tough one.”
Despite not joining the show as a regular cast member, Knoxville’s fame on Jackass eventually led to an appearance on the popular sketch comedy show. He hosted an episode in 2005 where he hinted at what his SNL career may have looked like, considering the drastically severe limitations and censors on content in contrast to the ‘anything goes’ mentality of Jackass.
Reports also suggest that we may not have seen the last of Knoxville on Jackass, with rumours swirling about a new series in development for Paramount+ following the success of Jackass Forever. Knoxville hinted towards a more mentor-like role, stating, “If there was another one, I would probably step back and sit next to [director] Jeff [Tremaine], more times than not, behind the camera.”
On the possibility of a new instalment in the franchise, the actor made it quite clear that he and the rest of the Jackass gang were up for continuing the series, confirming: “But we could do another one, yeah.”
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