There was something slightly surreal about the arrival of the stars at the Irish première of Jackass the Movie at UGC Cinemas in Parnell Street, Dublin, on Wednesday.
There was something you couldn't quite put your finger on; Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera and Chris Pontius took to the red carpet, signed autographs and shook hands like any other movie stars . . . and then it hit you, that's what jarred. There was no projectile vomiting, everyone had their clothes on and there was definitely no one "kicking their dad's ass".
They all seemed really nice. Knoxville said the success of Jackass hadn't changed his life, but did help him support his child a little better.
Margera asked politely if it was OK to say "ass" on Irish television. Pontius, aka "Party Boy", announced that he had reached maturity and would now like to be called "Party Man" (although in a concession to his character he did take his shirt off, but the pants stayed on).
The filth, fury and death-defying stunts were left to the film. Jackass the Movie, is really just an extended version of the TV show, there's no plot or story line, just a series of gross-out stunts and sketches liberally laced with Margera terrorising his parents.
It's a year-and-a-half since they stopped making the TV show and, said Knoxville, the film was an excuse to do all the things mainstream TV doesn't allow. "We're just trying to entertain, to make people laugh." And are the folks proud? "My dad loves it, he wrote a bit for the movie; my mom, well maybe if it was someone else's kid she wouldn't be so proud."
Margera claims that even his parents, who seem to suffer constant torture at the hands of their son, think Jackass is wonderful.
"My parents love it. They're in the film, I get to kick my dad's ass on the toilet and I brought an alligator into my house for my mom."
Physical injury is par for the course for the crew; Knoxville was concussed a number of times making the film, Margera broke his tail bone and some ribs while Pontius got off fairly lightly, just tearing cartilage in his knee. But, he said, the chicks dig scars.
"I definitely became a lot more handsome when I started doing Jackass, being on TV every week, but somehow I still manage to blow out with girls."
Pontius "shows his sexiness" a lot in the film and as he says, "the clothes are never on". So maybe his luck will change.