Johnny Knoxville had a problem. He was getting too old to jump off buildings or get hit by bulls, but he wasn’t ready to stop being a menace to society. Enter Irving Zisman. Most people don't realize that the cast of Bad Grandpa wasn't really a "cast" in the traditional sense. It was more like a small strike team of makeup artists, producers, and two very brave actors surrounded by a sea of completely clueless civilians. That’s the magic of the 2013 Jackass spinoff. It’s a scripted narrative buried inside a series of real-world ambushes.
If you’ve seen the movie, you know the vibe. It’s crass. It’s loud. It’s surprisingly heartfelt. But the logistics of how they pulled it off are actually more interesting than the poop jokes.
Johnny Knoxville as Irving Zisman
Knoxville is the anchor. Period. He’d been playing Irving since the early days of Jackass on MTV, usually just to mess with people on the sidewalk or crash a funeral. But for a full-length feature, he had to live in that skin. He spent roughly three hours in the makeup chair every single morning. The legendary Tony Gardner and his team at Alterian Inc. were responsible for the transformation. They used silicone appliances that were so thin they could show Knoxville's actual muscle movements and wrinkles. It wasn't just a mask; it was a second face.
He stayed in character even when the cameras weren't rolling. Why? Because the moment someone realizes they're being filmed for a movie, the "reality" dies. Knoxville had to commit to being a 86-year-old lecherous widower for weeks on end. He’s said in various interviews, including one with Rolling Stone, that the most difficult part wasn't the stunts—it was the heat. Wearing that much latex in the North Carolina sun is a recipe for a heatstroke.
Jackson Nicoll: The Secret Weapon
The real MVP of the cast of Bad Grandpa is undeniably Jackson Nicoll. He played Billy, Irving’s grandson. At the time of filming, Jackson was only eight or nine years old. Think about that. Most kids that age can barely sit still for a haircut, and this kid was holding his own against one of the world's most famous pranksters.
Knoxville actually discovered him while filming Fun Size in 2012. He saw the kid's timing and realized he had a "no-fear" attitude. Jackson didn't blink. When they did the infamous "Beauty Pageant" scene—which is probably the most famous part of the film—Jackson was out there dancing to "Cherry Pie" in front of a room full of horrified parents. He wasn't scared of the reaction. He leaned into it.
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The chemistry between an aging stuntman and a pre-teen kid is what makes the movie work as a story rather than just a highlight reel of pranks. Without Jackson, the movie is just a guy in old-man makeup being a jerk. With him, it’s a weird, twisted road trip movie.
The Supporting Cast (Who Didn't Know They Were in a Movie)
This is where things get tricky. The cast of Bad Grandpa officially includes people like Catherine Keener (who played Irving’s late wife in photos/flashbacks) and Spike Jonze (who often cameos in various Jackass projects), but the real cast members were the victims.
Take the Guardians of Children, for example. In one of the film’s more "serious" moments, Irving tries to drop Billy off with his deadbeat dad at a biker bar. The men in that bar were part of a real-life organization dedicated to protecting abused children. They didn't know Knoxville was a celebrity. They didn't know the kid was an actor. They were genuinely ready to throw down to protect that little boy.
Knoxville has admitted that was one of the few times he felt he might have pushed it too far. The tension was real. The anger was real. When the producers finally "popped" the prank (revealing the cameras), the relief in the room was palpable.
- The Funeral Mourners: These were real people attending what they thought was a legitimate service.
- The Pageant Moms: None of those women knew the "little girl" was a boy in a wig or that the grandfather was a 40-year-old stuntman.
- The Moving Company: The guys hired to move Irving's "dead wife" in a box were just local workers looking for a paycheck.
Behind the Scenes: The Crew
You can't talk about the cast without the director, Jeff Tremaine. He’s the glue. Tremaine has been directing Knoxville since the late 90s, and he knows how to frame a shot so the hidden cameras don't get spotted. They used everything from potted plants to fake walls to hide the lenses.
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The production was constantly moving. They filmed in places like Gastonia, North Carolina, and parts of Ohio. They chose locations where people might be a bit more "reactive" but also polite enough to let a scene play out. If they filmed this in the middle of Times Square, people would just walk past and ignore them. In the suburbs, people stop to help an old man. That’s when the prank strikes.
Why the Casting Worked
The brilliance of the cast of Bad Grandpa lies in the contrast. You have the hyper-professional prosthetic work of an Oscar-nominated makeup team (yes, this movie was actually nominated for an Academy Award for Makeup and Hairstyling) mixed with the raw, unscripted reactions of the public.
It’s a bizarre social experiment. It asks: "How much nonsense will people tolerate from an old man before they snap?" Usually, the answer is "a lot." People have a natural reverence for the elderly, and the film exploits that bias perfectly.
Interestingly, Greg Harris—the guy who played Billy's dad, Chuck—had to play a very specific role. He had to be loathsome enough that the audience (and the prank victims) would believe he was a terrible father, but not so aggressive that he'd get punched before the scene was over. It’s a delicate balance.
The Legacy of the Pranks
Looking back, Bad Grandpa represents a specific era of comedy. It was the bridge between the "hurt yourself for laughs" style of early Jackass and the more sophisticated, narrative-driven prank movies like Bad Trip (starring Eric Andre).
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Most of the people pranked in the film eventually signed releases. They were paid a small fee for their appearance, and most were just happy to find out they weren't actually witnessing a kidnapping or a corpse being mishandled. Jackson Nicoll eventually stepped away from acting as he grew up, but his performance remains a benchmark for child actors in comedies. He was never "cute" in a scripted way; he was funny in a "this kid is a menace" way.
Next Steps for the Curious
If you're looking to dive deeper into how this movie was actually made, your best bet is to track down the "Bad Grandpa .5" release. Unlike the theatrical cut, the .5 version acts as a documentary-style look at the production. It features extended segments with the cast of Bad Grandpa and shows the moments when the pranks went wrong—including several times Knoxville nearly got arrested or beaten up.
You should also look into the work of Tony Gardner. His ability to turn a well-known face like Johnny Knoxville into a completely anonymous senior citizen is the reason the movie exists. Without that specific makeup cast, the "real-world" element of the film would have collapsed in seconds. Check out the behind-the-scenes footage of the prosthetic application to see the sheer level of detail—down to the liver spots and ear hair—that went into the character.
Finally, if you’re a fan of the "hidden camera narrative" genre, compare this film to Borat. While Sacha Baron Cohen focuses on political and social satire, Knoxville’s cast focused on the absurdity of human nature and the weird bonds of family. Both are masterclasses in casting the "un-castable" general public.