Performing and/or watching suspenseful, death-defying stunts has always been a major adrenaline rush for many people interested in high-risk sports. The stunt performance genre has naturally become successful in the past decade with the help of MTV’s popular stunt and prank television and film series ‘Jackass.’ Taking inspiration from the franchise’s star, Johnny Knoxville, motorsports competitor and stunt performer Travis Pastrana showed off his own daring stunt abilities in his new film documentary, ‘Nitro Circus,’ which is based on his Fuel and MTV show of the same name.
‘Nitro Circus’ follows Pastrana and his tight-knit, highly-skilled, adrenaline-addicted friends as they bring their adventures to the big screen for the first time. They dream of the most dangerous stunts in the world of action sports, including back-flipping a bike between two 60-story buildings and going air-born and destroying their friends in a life size, high-speed game of Freedom Flyer. Their high risk stunts are made even more dangerous, as no safety nets were allowed during filming.
Pastrana generously took the time to answer questions about what it was like filming the action comedy documentary, which is now available on DVD. Among other things, he spoke about why he decided to shoot his stunts for a film, what it was like working with Knoxville on the movie and why he decided to co-write the script for ‘Nitro Circus’ with its co-directors, Gregg Godfrey and Jeremy Rawle.
Question (Q): ‘Nitro Circus’ follows you and your friends as you film your most dangerous stunts in action sports in your first DVD. Why did you decide to shoot your stunts and include them in a movie?
Travis Pastrana (TP): Our goal with ‘Nitro Circus’ is to be able to travel around the world, push our limits and have a lot of fun. A movie is something we had always wanted to do. We had a lot of stunts that we hadn’t tried. We thought it would be wildly entertaining and in some cases, ground breaking. But we needed a reason to push ourselves that hard. All of that, plus the advances in 3D cameras and the timing seemed perfect.
Q: Some of the stunts you include in ‘Nitro Circus’ include back-flipping a bike between two 60-story buildings and going air-born in a high-speed game of Freedom Flyers. How did you decide which stunts you would include in the film?
TP: We did about three times as many stunts as we put in the film. It’s frustrating when you do something that you are really proud of and it doesn’t make the cut. We all had those moments, but we are all proud of the finished product. At the end of the day, we compete as athletes, but we make movies for entertainment.
Q: ‘Nitro Circus’ originally ran as a 2006 miniseries on Fuel TV, and then became an episodic reality television show on MTV in 2009. How was shooting the film similar and different than the series? Were there any stunts you wanted to include in the show that weren’t featured on the series that are included in the documentary?
TP: ‘Nitro Circus’ actually started as a video that we made years before it was picked up on Fuel. This self-funded film gave us full control of the content, like we had before the MTV show. There were a lot of stunts and ideas that we still wanted to try, most of which were out of our realm of reality just a few years ago. Stunts like putting a blob on top of a 63 story sky scraper or getting a supercharged LS7 motor to put in a bus to jump seven people over a 150′ ravine gap are examples of things we didn’t have the knowledge or funding to do until this film.
Q: Johnny Knoxville, who is widely known for his stunts in his ‘Jackass’ television and film series, also appeared in ‘Nitro Circus.’ What was it like working with him on the film?
TP: Johnny Knoxville called me when he was doing the MTV tribute to Evel Knevel. We instantly hit it off and, after he recovered from his injury, took us to pitch ‘Nitro Circus’ to MTV. Knoxville is both smarter and funnier in person then I ever knew from his shenanigans on TV. He wasn’t a big part of our movie, but he has been a huge help and an amazing friend.
Q: You co-wrote ‘Nitro Circus’ with the documentary’s co-directors, Gregg Godfrey and Jeremy Rawle. Why did you decide to co-write the film with Gregg and Jeremy? Did Gregg and Jeremy approach you with the idea to write the film, or did you ask them if you could write the script with them?
TP: ‘Nitro Circus’ started with Gregg Godfrey and me. Godfrey brought Rawle into the mix for our second Dvd and we’ve been a very tight group ever since.
To be honest, ‘Nitro Circus’ the movie was originally written completely different then it turned out. This was another reason it was so difficult to get a studio to fund it. With stunts, we can’t guarantee what will work, what will fail or what will make for great comedy and entertainment. As the injuries built up, it was obvious that we had to deviate from the story. The nitro live story was more a passion project, but as we looked further into how hard it was to create and how over the moon successful it turned out to be, the story pretty much wrote itself.
Q: Gregg and Jeremy are also featured in ‘Nitro Circus’ as you perform your stunts. How long have you known both Gregg and Jeremy, and why did they ultimately decide to be in the film as well?
TP: Everyone involved with ‘Nitro Circus’ does this for the love of what we do. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone on our crew that isn’t an action sports athlete of some kind. It makes filming a little tougher when the cameraman sets his camera down and does a video worthy stunt!
But for the most part, guys like Godfrey and Jeremy are relegated to the “no skill” or “stunt-meat” type of stunts. These usually require a lot of commitment and the willingness to hurl your body into the unknown at a very high speed. Most stunt-meat stunts involve cars or tubes. Godfrey is a baja 1000 winner and a very good motocross racer. Rawle is a snow ski specialist, but holds his own on a dirt bike as well.
Q: Besides writing and starring in the documentary, you also served as one of the producers on the film. Why did you want to produce ‘Nitro Circus?’ Did it provide you with more flexibility on what stunts you could include in the film?
TP: I really enjoyed filming and editing a lot of our first ‘Nitro Circus’ Dvds. The cameras have gotten too advanced and our editors do a better job than I can and do it in half the time. But I still like to have input on the film.
People always try to “Hollywoodize” a film by making things seem bigger or crazier than they really are. My job as a sport purist is to make sure that everything is represented accurately. First and foremost, I want people to know that everything they see in our film is real and done without any safety nets or trick angles. I like the action to speak for itself.
Q: ‘Nitro Circus’ had a fairly successful run when it was released in limited release in theaters this past summer. How have fans been reacting to the movie, and why should people who didn’t see the film in theaters buy the Blu-ray and DVD?
TP: I think you should run to the stores when this is released because it’s a lot of fun. You’ll laugh out loud at times and have to hide your eyes at others. The Blu-ray really helps you feel the height and danger. Our biggest complaint when it was in theaters was that the audience was genuinely scared with the high rise stunts. So, from our stand point, that was a success.
Q: One action sport you’re linked with is NASCAR, and you made your Camping World series debut at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. You have also has been competing in the NASCAR K&N; Pro Series East series. What is it about racing that you enjoy so much, and what was it like to compete in Las Vegas?
TP: I’ve raced in just about every form of motorsport. NASCAR has been a lot of fun and a big challenge. I started racing the K&N; series two years ago. This year I competed in select nationwide series events and a truck race, as well as the X games, four other rounds of the GRC Championship, two rounds of the TORC Pro 2 Off Road Championship.
Vegas is always a great time. I spun at 180mph while four wide but kept it off the wall and was able to come back to a top 15. All in all, it was a good experience.
Q: Are you interested in continuing your film career in the future, whether acting, writing, producing and/or directing? Do you have any movie plans lined up that you can discuss?
TP: I’ve written four scripts, but one in particular I’ve been working hard on for the past couple years. I’ve been learning a lot about story, and enjoy reading about how to do it better. The whole process has kept me entertained during all the travel for racing. I never want to act but it would be a lot of fun to write, direct and do some of the stunt work along the way.
Godfrey really took the lead with nitro circus the movie, but it was great for me to see how a real production works. I was very proud of my A.D.D. Buddis and how far the three of us have come since the first couple DVDs.
