Johnny Knoxville’s latest movie, Tiny Fugitives, which hit the 2026 movie schedule this weekend, is a simple summer camp movie. Sure, Knoxville pulls off some really fun stunts, but it’s definitely not a Jackass movie. Still, there is one scene in the movie that isn’t a stunt that I just had to ask him about. It involves an electrified fence, reminiscent of the first Jurassic Park. No one was harmed in the production of the scene, but I wondered if, deep down, Knoxville had wished the electricity had been turned on. When I asked Knoxville about it, he admitted that it might have been better if it had been.
In the scene, Knoxville, who plays an overzealous camp counselor trying to thwart some campers' dreams of staying at summer camp forever, is pursuing the kids when he comes upon an electric fence. Everyone watching can see what’s coming from a mile away, but I was still ready to see it actually happen. As Knoxville’s character Bob starts to climb the fence, the kids turn the electricity on and zap! 10,000 volts (or whatever) coursing through Bob. Obviously, this wasn't Jackass; it wasn’t actually turned on. Here’s what Knoxville said about not being a “real” stunt when I asked if he wished it were:
I'm pretty good at compartmentalizing things I do, so yeah, it's never unfun when that kind of thing happens, but I knew this wasn't that type of movie. Honestly, it makes the performance easier if it is.
He still nailed the scene in the movie, of course. After watching Jackass: Best and Last earlier this year, I knew Knoxville’s days of doing really intense stunts were over, but I’m glad he still thinks that kind of thing would be fun.
Tiny Fugitives is really about the kids, though, and as funny as Bob the counselor is, he never really upstages those kids. In fact, I loved the movie less for Knoxville’s stunts (though they were fun) and more because the kids are really funny as they deliver some of the most explicit lines in the movie. There’s just something hilarious about kids swearing that gets me every time.
Knoxville may be the name at the top of the movie poster, but it’s his co-stars like Benjamin Pajak, Aaron Harris, and Isa Bernal Steiner who make the raunchy summer camp comedy really come to life. Knoxville is great, don’t get me wrong, but he understood the assignment. Let the kids shine.
Meanwhile, if you want to see Knoxville actually get hurt doing stunts, most of the Jackass series is available with a Paramount+ subscription. If you want to see him get outwitted by a bunch of precocious and foul-mouthed kids, check out Tiny Fugitives.
