The Real Reasons We Don't Hear From Johnny Knoxville Anymore

Even if he were able to train his way to Oscar-level acting chops, Knoxville faces another career obstacle: he's been typecast. Knoxville's on-screen persona in Jackass was always that of the good-looking, slightly dumb mischief-maker (in other words, the title of the show). When Knoxville finally did start to take on scripted roles, casting directors slapped him with the same kind of roles he'd "played" on Jackass. The screwball comedy Big Trouble cast Knoxville opposite Tom Sizemore as a bumbling idiot ex-convict. Men in Black II used him as a bumbling two-headed alien. Walking Tall paired him with Dwayne Johnson and finally offered him a meatier role, though it was still another ex-con serving as comic relief.

Given all his typecasting, it should come as little surprise that after acting in a string of similar roles, Knoxville spent the late aughts focusing on off-camera projects. When he returned to the screen, it was to appear in a third Jackass movie, which he followed up with another series of small parts where he was cast as — you guessed it — the quirky funny guy until his next big starring vehicle, Bad Grandpa, which was basically Jackass with old man makeup.