Steve-O opens up about a disappointing reality check he faced during Jackass Forever. The actor, now 49 years old, has been a member of Jackass since his mid-20s, when Jackass first aired as a TV show. Since then, he has performed stunts for numerous other Jackass related content, most recently reuniting with his crew for Jackass Forever.

Steve-O reveals his complicated emotions in the filming of Jackass Forever. Getting honest with NME, the stunt performer revealed that filming Jackass Forever “was kind of a bummer” with everyone having aged so much since when they started. Steve-O even showed concern for co-star Johnny Knoxville’s Jackass work, “begging” Knoxville to stop performing stunts that hurt his head and induce potential brain trauma. Check out the full quote from Steve-O below:

This last Jackass movie… it was kind of a bummer, man. [Like the scene of Knoxville getting flipped by the bull and left with brain damage] It’s not fun to watch Knoxville get hit in the head anymore. I wrote this text to the whole cast that day, thanking Knoxville for the sacrifices he’s made for this team, and also begging that he stops with the brain trauma. It was one of my more serious and sincere messages.

The Long Legacy of Jackass

Taking the form of TV episodes, videos, and movies throughout the years, Jackass has been a long-standing entity since the show first aired on MTV in 2000. While some of the Jackass players have come and gone, the main few–including Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Dave England, and Ehren McGhehey–have stayed relatively constant throughout the various Jackass generations. Prior to Jackass Forever, Knoxville also appeared separate from the rest of the Jackass crew in Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa in 2013.

Jackass Forever acknowledges this legacy by bringing the crew back together. The film reunites the Jackass crew after 11 years (Bad Grandpa had featured mainly Knoxville, but more Jackass cast appeared in 2011’s Jackass 3.5). The stunt gang, noticeably older, performed equally wild stunts, including bull riding, a reptilian “quiet game,” and the return of Knoxville in aging makeup playing a grandpa.

From Steve-O’s statement, it is clear that unlike the title indicates, these Jackass stunts cannot last forever. While in front of the camera may seem like a more controlled environment, many of the Jackass cast have sustained injuries over the years, including several severe concussion for Knoxville. Steve-O and the team may appreciate the “sacrifices” Knoxville has made, but the legend cannot be endlessly invincible beyond Jackass Forever.

Source: NME