Jason Shannon Acuña (born May 16, 1973), better known by his stage name Wee Man, is an American

stunt performer A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

, television personality, professional

skateboarder Skateboarding is an action sport that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. Originating in the United Stat ...

, and actor. He is one of the stars of the reality comedy series '' Jackass'' and the host of

Fox Sports Net Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by the Walt Disney Company on Mar ...

's skateboarding show ''54321''. Acuña has

achondroplasia Achondroplasia is a genetic disorder with an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance whose primary feature is dwarfism. It is the most common cause of dwarfism and affects about 1 in 27,500 people. In those with the condition, the Rhizomeli ...

, a form of

dwarfism Dwarfism is a condition of people and animals marked by unusually small size or short stature. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than , regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dwarfism is . '' ...

Life and career

Born in

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

, Italy, Acuña grew up in

Torrance, California Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the metropolitan ...

, and attended North High School. He is of Mexican and German descent. He was the subscription manager for the skateboard magazine '' Big Brother''. His association with that magazine led him to become involved with the '' Jackass'' television series in 2000. Acuña's ''Jackass'' antics include skating as an Oompa-Loompa, kicking himself in the head, dressing as a king while rolling

Johnny Knoxville Philip John Clapp (born March 11, 1971), known professionally as Johnny Knoxville, is an American stunt performer, actor, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known as a co-creator and star of the MTV reality stunt show ''Jackass (franchise), ...

down a staircase in a red carpet, and doing deep-knee bends while holding basketball star

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...

on his back. A recurring gag involves

Preston Lacy Preston Lacy (born August 14, 1969) is an American stunt performer, actor, comedian and one of the stars of the reality stunt show '' Jackass''. Career Lacy was born on August 14, 1969, in either Sarcoxie or Carthage, Missouri. He worked as ...

asking someone to help him with his bags, only to have Acuña pop out, causing Lacy to chase him. In 2007, Acuña starred in the

reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 199 ...

series '' Armed and Famous'', and in July 2007, Acuña appeared on TV as a host of

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's '' Scarred''. Acuña appeared on the first season of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's '' Celebrity Circus''. In the fourth week of competition, he became the first contestant to receive a perfect score (a 10-point average). Acuña ended the season in third place. Acuña is an investor in the Chronic Tacos chain of fast casual Mexican restaurants. His first franchise location opened in 2010 in

Redondo Beach, California Redondo Beach (Spanish for ) is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent Beach Cities, beach c ...

. After a few years of trying to make this location a success, Acuña closed the location permanently, and in February 2018, he opened a Chronic Tacos franchise in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

. In 2012, Acuña starred in the direct-to-video holiday film '' Elf-Man'' as the title character. This was his first role in a family-friendly feature film.

Filmography

Films

Television

DVDs

Video games

Music videos

Web series

References

External links

*
Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Acuna, Jason 1973 births American people of German descent American male actors of Mexican descent Actors with dwarfism American actors with disabilities Italian emigrants to the United States Participants in American reality television series American male film actors American male television actors American stunt performers Hispanic and Latino American male actors Sportspeople from Pisa Living people