by: Sean Lechowicz, Contributing Writer

The Chronicle had the chance to mix it up and chat with Johnny Knoxville and director Jeff Tremaine of “Jackass 3-D”, which opened on Oct. 15. They elaborated on the willingness of the crew to reassemble and once again ravage their bodies for our entertainment’s sake. Knoxville and company jumped at the opportunity to take the mayhem into the 3-D realm.

The Chronicle: Whose idea was it to shoot in 3-D?

Johnny Knoxville: Paramount. They said, “Hey, why don’t you do it in 3-D?’ And we’re like, I don’t know man.” We were the last ones to come around. Not until we did a camera test in 3-D were we like “OK.” We did the camera test and it was fun, man. It didn’t slow us down the way we thought it would and at that point we were like, “Alright let’s do it in      3-D.”

The Chronicle: Did you have to do anything different as actors?

JK: Actors? (Laughs) Actors in ‘Jackass?’ My main thing was, uh, I just didn’t want to worry about what the camera was doing.

Jeff Tremaine: It took a little bit to get used to it, you know? It’s a big camera and we needed a lot of extra people. But once we figured it out, we learned how to do it to where it didn’t change our process at all.

JK: We hired a really great company, Paradise. We talked with a few different 3-D companies because they’ve gotta match us personality wise. They’ve gotta be good at what they do [be]cause things get crazy. You know, when stuff’s exploding and flying and there’s bodily fluids.

The Chronicle: What was it like working in a studio opposed to primarily in public?

JK: Well, we only worked in the studio twice; in the opening and the close. The rest of the stuff, we’re outside in a field or in our office. We didn’t shoot in any special locations. They’re very much

“Jackass” locations.

The Chronicle: Since you’re now used to being on posh Hollywood sets, is there any sense of dread going on a set to physically break your body?

JK: I couldn’t wait to get on set. I love it, I honestly love it. I wish we were still shooting right now.

JT: I mean, the problem with him, [is] once you start shooting you gotta keep shooting. He won’t let you stop shooting. He came up with this idea to get these elaborate nut shots. You know what I mean? You know some people get basketball shots, well we’ve got nut shots.

JK: Miraculous nut shots. All different ways.

JT: It worked out great for me. All I had to do was set up one camera on him

and one guy to throw the ball.

JK: Some would take like 13 hours.

The Chronicle: Was there difficulty getting all of the crew back together this time around?

JK: No, zero. I was the lone holdout, but then I really wanted to do it after talking to Jeff and then we just called everybody and they were instantly down.

JT: I think this movie is a little different. I mean, the cum-raderie—

JK: Cum-raderie?

JT: Cum-raderie. (Laughs) Normally when we would shoot it, like ‘Jackass 2,’ we would take a few guys and go somewhere. Then we’d take the next group of guys and shoot somewhere. Knoxville would pretty much go on every trip. But, you know, we’d go and shoot Bam [Margera] in Pennsylvania and we’d shoot Steve-O in Florida. This trip we kept the whole cast together the whole time. It really works with the 3-D you’re right there in with the guys.

“Jackass 3-D” opened in theaters nationwide Oct. 15.