Johnny Knoxville has discussed why he’s stepping back from stunts after Jackass Forever.

The actor and stunt performer told NME in an exclusive interview of his plans to step behind the camera for future films – a decision influenced by medical advice from his doctor. Knoxville is known for sustaining a considerable number of injuries during dangerous stunts over the years.

• READ MORE: ‘Jackass Forever’ review: pure, prank-filled fun (plus a lot of testicles)

“I knew going into this movie that this was going to be the last time I was going to do big stunts because I’ve got kids and I’ve had so many injuries,” Knoxville told NME. “I feel like I could go out good in this film by being my last with big stunts. I’ve got nothing left to prove in that area.”

Asked if he will be able to stay away from performing stunts, Knoxville said: “[Jackass co-creator] Jeff Tremaine is convinced I can’t. I hope I can but I don’t know.”

In Jackass Forever, the fourth mainline film in the franchise, Knoxville is knocked into the air by a bull and left with severe injuries, including a broken wrist, broken ribs and a concussion that resulted in a brain haemorrhage.

The injury, which took two months to recover from, threw off Knoxville’s plans to perform more stunts in Jackass Forever. “We backload my most dangerous stunts to the end of the film,” Knoxville said. “So I had two or three more stunts left to do, big ones, but after that I couldn’t.

“The doctor’s like, ‘no way, you can’t, you’ve had 16 concussions, you’ve just had a terrible concussion, your brain is scrambled right now.’ And I was like, alright, so those got kicked to the side.”

Knoxville has previously described an injury to his penis as one of the most painful from Jackass, after he tried to perform a backflip on a motorcycle in 2017.

In NME’s four-star review, Jackass Forever is described as “90 minutes of pure joy” with scenes that “might make you genuinely emotional”.

Jackass Forever is out in cinemas now.