Interview: Chris Pontius from Jackass

With the latest release of Jackass 3.5 hitting the shelves, TNS caught up with Party Boy, Chris Pontius to chat about the hit film, the crazy stunts and the injuries.

We all know about you in Jackass, but could you tell TNS a little about your childhood, was it just as wild?

“No not really, I grew up in the country skateboarding a lot before working for a magazine called Big Brother where the Jackass stuff really took off. We would go out on trips and start making videos of us doing some dumb stuff before MTV bought it.”

Is this how Jackass was born?

“Pretty much, I mean the skate mag weren’t as big as it was today, some people that were there, were down to film. Like there was a set cast, but we didn’t know the plots so some people weren’t as motivated as others when Jackass started.”

Jackass 3.5 has just been released on Blu-Ray and DVD in the UK. How’s it different from the other films

“3.5 is really awesome, in some ways it’s even better than Jackass 3D because there is more stuff. In 3 it was over 90 minutes and there was tons of extra funny stuff, some stunts and gross stuff that there wasn’t any room for in 3. But the stunts in 3.5 would never have been in the film because it was way too overboard and didn’t fit into the movie, there were too many similar stunts and they got edged out by other skits.”

Is it more of a reflective piece rather than stunt after stunt?

“Yes with 3.5 it is more of a reflective piece than the original film, it’s unique because it has interviews with every cast member along with a back story. 3.5 is presented in a different way, telling you how they felt for a stunt, in some ways I like it more than 3, it will make you want to watch another Jackass.”

But do we see more of Party Boy in this film?

“Did you know he was invented in the UK? Yeah his original name was Party-Boy UK, it just popped into my head when we was over there filming and I just came out in just a thong and the bow tie (his outfit), the silver thong was actually bought in Soho, we did want to get one with a British flag but couldn’t. Maybe it was harder to back then.”

So how do the stunts for the film come about?

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“With the stunts we usually just write them up, for the original film we had shot enough to make two movies, so that’s why 3.5 has come about, but we write them and pick the best person for it, usually the one that is afraid of the stunt.”

Are there any you were frightened of?

“I hate bulls, I saw something happen in Mexico during this event where it was all bloody, I was horrified. But there was nothing like that in this film, a few of my skits were wiener related. They would try and take the best view like in the third where I had it tied to a remote controlled helicopter. But there was one which freaked me out where my cock was put through a glass tube with a mouse costume around it, the guys put cats in there to go all crazy on it but each of them didn’t and it was really uncomfortable, like they started rubbing on it, it was just weird.”

Do we see more of your ‘wiener’ in 3.5 then?

“Yeah you see more of the montage where a woodpecker is going crazy pecking wood that is around it and it actually got me in the pee-hole, which kind of hurt. Some of it was shown during the end credits of the third film but the whole skit is now in 3.5 – my dick was so scratched up.”

Have you ever pulled out of any stunts?

“No never, only if I was already hurt of course.”

What was the worst that happened to you in 3.5?

“For one stunt I actually got whiplash after skimming across a bunch of rubber balls in a hotel hallway, I tried to strip into my party boy outfit while doing it but it didn’t work and ended up with whiplash which was the worst that happened in 3.5. We’re kind of use to it from falling so much while skating, you know how to fall after a while but you see other people like on YouTube and they just fall flat on their face.”

Do you have any favourites then?

“Yeah there is one in 3.5 called Barrel Surfing, where we would ride a surfboard over a bunch of barrels. I thought it should have been in the original film because it was the epitome of a Jackass stunt so that has to be one of my favourites.”

How often do you perform stunts?

“Only when filming, like we film for six to seven months straight but I don’t do it for fun anymore there are too many injuries.”

So what are you up to now? Anything planned for a fourth film?

“No not as of yet, but we would do other shows and movies in between but I hope that we do, I have written some stunts already but with Jackass 3 we had written so many we wouldn’t have stopped but watching 3.5 back did make me want to make another Jackass!”

Buy Jackass 3.5 now out on Blu-ray and DVD from Paramount Home Entertainment.

Interview: Chris Pontius from Jackass

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