In my recent kick-ass trip to Hollywood, courtesy of the nice folks at Paramount, I had three major categories of experiences. First of all, I was in Hollywood. Home of the Walk of Fame, the big letters on the hill and just about every kind of freak imaginable. You have to admit, it’s an appropriate setting to contemplate the cast of “Jackass,” who by comparison seem downright normal. Then, there was the movie screening, which alternately made me want to laugh and vomit. And finally, I got to actually hear from the stars. It was hard, sitting across the table from Chris Pontius, not to be thinking, “Hey, man, I’ve seen your naked junk.” But once I got past everything I had seen them do, it hit me: Yes, these guys were insane. But they were also pretty normal guys, with families, personal issues, and semi-valid reasons for choosing to do what they do.

Steve-O—This is Steve-O’s first Jackass movie post-rehab. He’s now two-and-a-half years sober. “It was really important to me to prove to myself and everyone else that I wasn’t a lame, boring wimp.”

Jeff Tremaine— The director was once a member of Sigma Nu right here at Washington University “We don’t have macho guys. That doesn’t work; when there’s no consequence, no fear going into it, there’s no emotional connection.”

Chris Pontius—It took three days to film a scene of Chris in a mouse costume getting his penis caught in a mousetrap. The scene didn’t even make the final cut for the movie.

Bam Margera—Bam’s parents were featured in one of the movie’s pranks: “My mom just sees that her hotel room is destroyed and they’re like, ‘Phil, they didn’t even clean up the room.’ Then a gorilla comes out.”

Johnny Knoxville—The cast and crew of Jackass had to hold an “intervention” to tell Johnny he was doing too many stunts and they were bottlenecked with footage. “That was the only time I cried in the movie.”

Ehren McGheney—McGheney was one of the few who cried during the course of the movie when he had a tooth pulled out by a Ferrari. He needed a bone graft afterwards.

Jason “Wee Man” Acuna—Before coming to Jackass, Wee Man was featured in an article about little people who skateboard—him and one other guy.

Preston Lacy—Nearly all scenes involving Preston specifically involve his weight, especially in comparison to Wee Man. “I don’t have a yearning to get hurt. I have a yearning to make people laugh, and this is how I do it.”

Read Nora’s review of “Jackass 3-D”