‘Being Evel’ Producer Johnny Knoxville on Why Evel Knievel Was a ‘Living Superhero’ (Video)
“There was fear, but he suppressed it — most of the time with Wild Turkey,” the “Jackass” creator tells TheWrap about the daredevil
Jeff Sneider | August 20, 2015 @ 3:56 PM
Last Updated: September 28, 2015 @ 2:07 PM
“Jackass” creator Johnny Knoxville dropped by TheWrap Studios to talk about “Being Evel,” the documentary about daredevil Robert “Evel” Knievel that he produced.
“Evel Knievel had such a big influence on me growing up,” said Knoxville, as one might’ve guessed from his own history of death-defying stunts.
Knoxville calls Evel “a living superhero.”
“There was fear, but he suppressed it — most of the time with Wild Turkey,” the actor said. “He’d never admit he was scared but the people around him knew he was scared. They could tell by the look in his eyes.”
He also relays a fun story about how Evel may have ripped off an entire arena full of people during a semi-pro hockey game in Butte, Montana.
Daniel Junge wrote the directed “Being Evel,” which Knoxville produced with Jeff Tremaine, Mat Hoffman, Brendan Kieran and Justin Moore-Lewy.
Gravitas Ventures will release “Being Evel” in select theaters and VOD this Friday, so watch the video and be sure to come back and let us know what you think of the documentary in the comments section below.
9 Jaw-Dropping Movie Stunts That Made Us Shout at the Screen (Photos)
These wild scenarios have actors squaring off at the box office, sequels competing with predecessors and audiences dumbstruck.
Colin Firth's "The Kingsman: Secret Service" masks bloody, violent super-umbrella madness with Saville Row suits and a posh accent.
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"Skyfall" has Daniel Craig boarding a train by using a dig machine to rip the roof off, jumping from the crane and landing with enough room to adjust his cufflink.
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Suction-cup gloves and the largest tower in Dubai? Apparently no problem for Tom Cruise in "Mission Impossible: 4."
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While we love Uma Thurman slicing and dicing the Crazy 88 in "Kill Bill," that's a lot of carnage from one person, one sword and one dope track suit.
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Tom Cruise braving the atmosphere clinging to the side of a jet in "Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation" -- in a tuxedo -- has got to be one of the biggest stretches in history. Well played.
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For Vin Diesel and co., "Furious 7" sees a ton of muscle cars dispense from an aircraft, parachute to the paved road thousands of feet below and switch immediately into gear.
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"Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" was a worthy sequel in terms of laughs and ass-kicking, but driving a truck over a bridge to have Cameron Diaz fire up a chopper on the flatbed and save the day? OK.
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Vin Diesel's character in "XXX" outran an avalanche on a snowboard. As one does.
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Call this the most localized super-stunt: in 2009, Jason Statham starred in "Crank 2: High Voltage," wherein his character jump starts his own body with cables and a car battery, then runs for miles at, well, high voltage.
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In celebration of the outrageous action sequences in “Furious 7,” we toast these far-fetched but highly rewarding action scenes.
These wild scenarios have actors squaring off at the box office, sequels competing with predecessors and audiences dumbstruck.