Next month will see Jackass Forever, the fourth film installment of the Jackass franchise, reaching theaters after countless setbacks. Already, the film is surrounded by a cloud of hype and rumor, from guest stars being attacked by sharks to medical bills that reached an estimated $24 million. Now, Jackass team leader Johnny Knoxville has revealed that the film might be his last foray into extreme stunts, as an encounter with a bull gave him brain damage.
Speaking to Howard Stern, Knoxville explained that the bull stunt in Jackass Forever gave him a litany of injuries: a broken wrist, broken ribs, and a brain hemorrhage as the result of a concussion.
“My cognitive abilities were in steep decline after that hit,” said Knoxville, as transcribed by Loudwire “The bull hit was the worst hit I’ve ever taken from a bull or maybe period. I remember taking some tests. The neurosurgeon said, ‘Do you have trouble paying attention right now?’ I said, ‘Yeah, why?’ He goes, ‘Because you scored a 17 on [your attention].’ That’s out of 100.
“I had to go under all these type of treatments,” he continued, “this transcranial magnetic stimulation, which they buzz your head with these magnets for about 30 minutes at a time for like, oh God, I would say 10 to 12 treatments over a series of two months, and it’s supposed to help with depression and help with my cognitive skills. It was a tough one to come back from. I was trying to edit the movie at the time, but I couldn’t sit still.”
Knoxville went on to say that it wasn’t just his cognitive abilities that were harmed by the incident, but his mental and emotional health as well.
“I did slip into a little bit of a depression with this last concussion,” admitted the actor. “That hasn’t happened before. 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. 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.”
Check out the full interview below:
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Words by Chris Krovatin
