Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 fans were delighted when it was announced that Bam Margera was one of the game’s unlockable characters. ComingSoon spoke to the Jackass and Viva La Bam star to learn how his last-minute appearance in the skateboarding game came to be. Check out our 9/10 review to learn more about the game, which is out now on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.

“Get hyped for the legendary franchise to return with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4. Everything you loved is back, but revamped with more skaters, new parks, gnarlier tricks, eardrum shattering music, plus a whole lot more,” says the official description.

Tyler Treese: Congrats on being in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4. This is kind of a mini-miracle that you got in the game. Your inclusion came in very late, and it is so special that it happened. Can you speak to when you learned that, you know, that Tony, the fans in Activision had all come together to get you in the game last minute because fans had been, you know, wanting this inclusion and, you know, everybody worked hard to make it possible.

Bam Margera: Yeah. I was in a very bad way for about 10 years. I didn’t skate too much at all. I was on like a world rock and roll tour and just drinking a lot and not just not skating at all. And then when I went to treatment, they kind of put me on more pills than what I was when I was out on the streets. So it was very confusing and frustrating figuring out what to do with me.

And you know, when I met my wife — she’s a stretch coach — so she stretched my legs back. At one point I would’ve wished, “I’ll give everything up just to have my legs back and be able to skate again.” And now that they’re back, my passion for skating is back. And I had a day off in Los Angeles.

I came to see my son Phoenix, who’s seven. And I said, “Should I give Hawk a call?” It’s been about a year. Last time he saw me, I wasn’t doing too good. She’s like, “Yeah, give him a call.” So he’s like, “We’re down at the vert ramp. I’m skating with Bucky, Christian Hosoi, and Alphonzo Rawls. Why don’t you come by and say hi?”

Well, he knows that I don’t really skate vert, and the fact that I grabbed my board and we wound up doing doubles. Ollie over each other on the big gap there. He was like, “What’s going on? You’re back.” I’m like, “Yeah, man. I married a stretch coach. I’m skating every day again.” He’s like, “Wow. Bam’s back.”

So, you know, without any intention of even thinking that I would be in the game, he made a phone call to Activision, knowing that there was a very strict deadline, and pulled a hell of a lot of strings to make it happen.

Yeah, yeah. It’s incredible. And I’ve been playing as you in the game. It’s super fun, and it’s great seeing you back on the skateboard recently. And you know, there’s the skate video inside the game, which has some recent footage of you that was really cool to see. What has it meant for you to be back skating, and especially to be embraced by that community, because that’s almost like a support system of its own?

Completely. I mean skateboarding is what got me to where I was with everything, including and going on Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon and all these talk shows and getting all these cool commercials and whatever, hosting the VH1 Rock Honors… it all stemmed from skateboarding.

And to hear from a doctor in 2013 that they declared my legs as dry-rotted rubber bands from alcohol abuse. [It] really made me lose a lot of hope on even thinking I could get them back. But now that they are back, “I’m not gonna take that for granted.”

I make it a goal to skate every single day. And I can’t come home unless I get a trick done. And you know, from that, all these cool things have been coming. So as long as I keep keep skateboarding and love what I’m doing, then all other cool things happen from there.

So you know, it’s really good to take a 10-year break when that’s all I really wanted to do was get back on the board. At one point, you might not believe me, I was over 250 pounds. I was on 18 different medications that I was forced to take under a contract that if I didn’t take, then I would be losing out on a lot of money and not being involved in a movie that I wanted to be in because I pretty much helped invent it to the fullest.

And you know, all these pills led to side effects of hair, hair loss, weight gain, stiff muscles, erectile dysfunction, and suicidal tendencies. I pretty much had all of those things happen, and I felt so hopeless and doomed that, you know, I just stopped taking all that stuff cold turkey, and I realized that skateboarding is my medication. I don’t need any of that stuff. Now my balance is back. My muscle memory’s back, and I’m just happy to be back on the board.

It’s remarkable. I love seeing you doing better, and it’s great that you’re in this game because 3 was your first Tony Hawk game that you were in, and you’ve been a staple of the series since then. What has it meant to you to be in this series? Because this really took skating to another level and fans love these games, I’m sure, like during signings and stuff, people are bringing them to you all the time.

Bam Margera: Oh, yeah. At the Comic-Con signings, pretty much almost every person has the Tony Hawk game that they want me to sign. And they always told me that I was the only character that they played in the game. And I heard through the grapevine that they were getting a lot of heat, saying like, “Yo, you better put Bam in this game, man, because if you don’t, then I’m gonna contemplate getting it.”

So everything worked out really well, and I’m just happy to be in it. You know, it really puts skateboarders on the map of people that don’t skate. When they find out that you’re in that game, it defines you as a legit pro skateboarder. You say the name Tony Hawk, and the 80-year-old grandma will know that name. You say the name Jamie Foy, they wouldn’t know so much. But now that he’s in the game, they might just know his name now [laughs]. You gotta be a diehard skater to pay attention to all the good skateboarders that are out right now.

It’s been really cool seeing this rollout because Activision’s been having these big events. How’s it been seeing all your old friends and these young new skaters all coming together for the game? It always feels like a celebration of skateboarding in general.

Bam Margera: Coming to the Tony Hawk opening of the game, it was kind of like a party with you know, fans coming, but it was almost like a skateboard reunion. I’m seeing all these people that I haven’t seen in the longest time. Kareem Campbell, Geoff Rowley, Dave Duncan, and Bucky, who I’ve seen from time to time.

But everybody came together, and it was like a big skateboard reunion thanks to the video game. Tony did a really good job picking out legendary skaters like Steve Caballero, Bucky, and Muska to be in a game mixed with new skaters that deserve it, such as Jamie Foy, who got skater of the year twice, who does that, and Yuto Horigome, who won the Olympics. Nyjah Huston, of course.

And I’m really stoked about this girl Chloe [Covell], who’s from Australia and is straight up 15 years old, who kills it, is in the game. I’ve been skating with her in Florida. It’s just so cool to see, who would’ve thought that she would get the opportunity to be in a video game skating that good at the age of 15, a female from Australia.

You mentioned that the fans were very passionate about this, and I feel like with Viva La Bam and all your reality shows, people really have a personal connection with you, like beyond just finding the stunts funny or enjoying your skating. When you see that support and people really still being this ride or die with you and being in your corner, what does that mean for you?

I mean, you know, with fans and followers come haters as well, and I was getting a whole ton of hate, man. It was bad, but I mean, I could see why. I’m not skating at all and I’m on these rants about all my problems, you know, and this and that and the other thing.

But, you know, it seemed that all the hating had stopped because all I do now is skate, and I was doing what I did before when you liked me from the beginning. So it’s really cool to, whenever I do get a chance to scroll through the comments, everybody just puts a fire emoji saying “Bam is back.” So it’s a really good feeling.

And I used to buy those old CKY videos and that you put out and there’s a real like DIY attitude to how you guys are just gonna make a path regardless. Can you speak to that attitude? Because you’re willing to be creative and reckless, and that really resonated with people because there was an authenticity.

And it was really one of the first videos that kids were watching that they realized that this is not a Hollywood production and it’s basically a movie with no budget. You could go out and make a really cool movie if you just have a little bit of bravery and a little bit of talent. You don’t need a big production. As long as your buddy is willing to press record on the camera, then getting into a shopping cart and getting pushed full speed into no Pricker Bush is free. So <laugh>, so you don’t need a big budget to make a hit movie.

I saw a clip of you on The Nine Club, so obviously a Jackass reunion isn’t looking likely, and that chapter seems done with your life, but what are you most proud of out of those first three movies and the show? Because Jackass really does have a legacy, and that show lives on and still makes people laugh.

Bam Margera: What I’m proud of is, you know, just putting out a movie that got so much recognition. Even people like… I went to an event and, and I would bump into like Mark Wahlberg and he would come up to me and be like, “I just wanted to say I’m a real big fan.” Like, really? That’s crazy.

Just the people that have seen, and you know, it just really had such a big following that it put a lot of us on the map. There are a lot of people who do what we do, and nobody’s ever going to hear of ’em because, you know, they’re just not followers of that. But, you’re gonna flick channels eventually and wind up seeing it, and you’re gonna tune into it eventually. So it’s, it’s rather that it got us on the map.

Thanks to Bam Margera for taking the time to talk about Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4.