Tony Hawk and Steve-O from Jackass are making a skating show together

Tony Hawk has teamed up with Steve-O  from Jackass for a new skating show.

The pair are helming Sk8 or Die: The Lee Ralph Story, a new scripted series telling the life story of the New Zealand skateboarder who reached the top of his game in the 1980s before suddenly vanishing from the scene.

The show is currently in active development and has been conceived as an anthology series with each new season exploring the life of a skating legend. Hawk and Steve-O both serve as executive producers.

Vinnie Bennett will star as Lee Ralph, with Oscar-nominee Keisha Castle-Hughes set to play as Lee’s sister Kim.

The series will explore Lee’s childhood in New Zealand, growing up the son of a heroin-dealing father and his rise to skating fame in the late 1980s, becoming known for skating barefoot. At the peak of his fame, as one of the sport’s top stars, he suddenly dropped out.

“Lee Ralph was a truly unique character, and that is saying a lot in the eclectic world of skateboarding,” Hawk said in a statement. “His skating was powerful and smooth, while his appearance and attitude was unapologetically grimy. But he always wore a smile and we were always stoked to see him.”

The series is co-written by Tom Hern and Halaifonua (Nua) Finau, who will also serve as showrunners, with Hern directing select episodes alongside Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe.

“I’ve known Lee for nearly 20 years. He’s a dear friend and one of a kind,” says Hern. “I’ve always known about his skating achievements and his somewhat mythical antics for years, but it wasn’t until researching this project that Nua and I learned about all the other crazy, incredible aspects to his story. In addition to the Forrest Gump-like twists and turns of his life, Lee and his family’s story is very touching and inspiring. We can’t wait to bring it to the screen.”

In other news, Steve-O recently explained why he changed his mind on getting breast implants, which he first announced in July was part of a series of planned pranks.

In an interview with Consequence, Steve-O reveals that the planned surgery faced setbacks: “I got within 10 hours of being in surgery for that,” he says.

“The surgery was supposed to happen at eight in the morning. And 10 pm the night before, I got a call that the anesthesiologist backed out of it, because he found out that it was me doing it as a stunt.”

“And that kind of set off a chain reaction where the doctor didn’t want to be associated with it anymore, and they were having trouble finding another surgery center to to make it happen.”

However, at the time, Steve-O was still determined to see through the ambitious and controversial stunt. It was a conversation he had with a transgender grocery worker that caused him to rethink it.

“On the day that the scheduled surgery was supposed to happen, I was checking out at the supermarket,” he tells Consequence. “And the person ringing up my groceries was evidently transgender, and it struck me as a sign from the universe. So I asked the transgender person if I could run something by them, and I had a conversation with this person that had a profound impact on me.”

“I knew what my motivation was, I knew what my intention was, and it wasn’t to be hurtful to anybody. I was just trying to get laughs,” he continues. “I had done a bunch of workshop shows to test out material, and I had a number of trans people come to me after the shows to voice support for [the stunt]. And I think some people would’ve been okay with it, and some people wouldn’t have. It would’ve been a mixed bag.”

The post Tony Hawk and Steve-O from Jackass are making a skating show together appeared first on NME.