38 Fun Facts About Joe Dirt

Who plays Joe Dirt?

Spade also co-wrote the film. Erik Per Sullivan of Malcolm in the Middle plays young Joe.

What is Joe's job at radio station 98.6 KXLA in Los Angeles?

Joe works as a janitor at KXLA, mopping the station's floors; shock jock Zander Kelly drags him on air to mock him, and Joe's life story becomes a hit with listeners.

Who plays shock jock Zander Kelly?

Dennis Miller plays Zander Kelly, the KXLA shock jock who puts Joe on air to ridicule him; Miller reprised the role in the 2015 sequel Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser.

Why does Joe wear a mullet wig?

After a head injury near the end of the film, Brandy replaces it with a dreadlock wig.

Where was eight-year-old Joe abandoned by his family?

Joe's parents drove off and left him, aged eight, at the Grand Canyon during a family sightseeing trip; he spent the rest of his childhood in foster homes.

In which state is Silvertown, the small chicken town where Joe meets Brandy?

Silvertown, Idaho is where Joe meets Brandy, her dog Charlie and her alcoholic father, and where he first runs up against Robby; he leaves town to search for his parents.

Who plays Brandy?

Brittany Daniel plays Brandy; Daniel was known from Sweet Valley High, where she and her twin Cynthia played the Wakefield twins, and she reprised Brandy in the 2015 sequel.

Which musician plays Robby, the Silvertown bully who competes for Brandy?

Kid Rock plays Robby, the mulleted Silvertown bully who competes with Joe for Brandy; the Detroit rapper-rocker took the part fresh off his multi-platinum album Devil Without a Cause.

What does Joe's 'meteorite' turn out to be?

Joe's prized 'meteorite' is frozen waste dropped from an airliner: a ball of sewage jettisoned at altitude, as a passer-by points out after Joe has hauled it around, and it thaws on him.

What does Kickin' Wing sell when Joe meets him in New Mexico?

Kickin' Wing runs a roadside fireworks stand and insists on stocking only snakes and sparklers; Joe badgers him to sell the loud ones instead, which sets him on the road to success.

Who plays Kickin' Wing?

Beach starred as Ira Hayes in Flags of Our Fathers five years later.

Joe dates a fairground worker named Jill and starts to fear she is his what?

Joe fears Jill is his sister after she describes being separated from her family as a child in details that match his own; Jaime Pressly plays the fairground worker.

Which film is parodied when a serial killer keeps Joe in a pit?

The scene parodies The Silence of the Lambs: Buffalo Bob, played by Brian Thompson, keeps Joe in a pit and orders him to 'put the lotion in the basket', echoing Buffalo Bill.

Christopher Walken's Clem Doore is a former mobster hiding from the Mafia under what programme?

Clem rescues students from a mustard-gas explosion and lets Joe take the credit; Joe then blows his cover on TV. Clem resurfaces as 'Gert B. Frobe'.

What job does Charlene give Joe at her Louisiana farm?

Charlene, played by Rosanna Arquette, hires Joe as an alligator wrangler at her Louisiana gator farm, where he wrestles the animals for tourists and lands badly on one.

What is Joe's real surname, which he remembers after landing badly on an alligator?

Joe remembers his surname is Nunamaker when the fall jolts a childhood memory of a sibling shouting it at him; the name finally lets him trace his parents.

Why did Joe's parents finally get back in touch after his TV appearance?

Joe's parents resurface only because his new fame could boost sales of their clown figurines; they admit they abandoned him deliberately, and Joe walks away from them for good.

On which MTV show does Joe appear, prompting the call from a woman claiming to be his mother?

Joe appears on TRL, MTV's afternoon video countdown, with host Carson Daly playing himself; the broadcast is what prompts the call from a woman claiming to be his mother.

What lie did Brandy tell Joe about his parents, and why?

Brandy admits she told Joe his parents were dead to protect him from their greed, having found out what they were like; she also reveals that Robby's claim to be engaged to her was a lie.

How does Joe end up with a head injury near the end of the film?

He wakes at Brandy's surrounded by Kickin' Wing, Clem and Charlene, who are now engaged, and a new dog fathered by Charlie.

What has Brandy retrieved for Joe by the end of the film?

Brandy has tracked down and retrieved Joe's Hemi, his pride and joy; it is waiting for him when he comes to in Silvertown at the end.

Who directed Joe Dirt, in her feature debut?

Dennie Gordon, a television director, made Joe Dirt her feature debut; she went on to direct What a Girl Wants (2003) and New York Minute (2004).

Who co-wrote the screenplay with its star?

Wolf later directed the sequel and cameos in it as an airplane tech.

Which two actors originally filmed the roles of Joe's parents before Caroline Aaron and Fred Ward replaced them?

Roseanne Barr and Gary Busey shot the parents' scenes first, but the sequences were refilmed with Caroline Aaron and Fred Ward, and Barr and Busey are absent from the final cut.

Blake Clark's Farmer Fran is reprised from which earlier Adam Sandler film?

Blake Clark first played the unintelligible Cajun Farmer Fran in The Waterboy (1998), the Adam Sandler football comedy; Joe Dirt brings the character back for a cameo.

Which Joe Walsh song appears on the soundtrack?

Rocky Mountain Way, Joe Walsh's 1973 talk-box and slide-guitar hit recorded with his band Barnstorm, is the Walsh track on the Joe Dirt album.

Which Eddie Money song is on the soundtrack, from a singer who also cameos in the film?

Walk on Water, Eddie Money's 1988 top-ten hit, is the Money track on the Joe Dirt album; Money also turns up on screen playing himself.

Which Bachman-Turner Overdrive song is on the soundtrack?

You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet, Bachman-Turner Overdrive's 1974 US number one with its famous stuttered chorus, is the BTO track on the Joe Dirt album.

Which George Thorogood song is on the soundtrack album?

Who Do You Love, George Thorogood and the Destroyers' 1978 cover of the Bo Diddley song, is the Thorogood track on the Joe Dirt album.

Which Doobie Brothers song is on the soundtrack album?

China Grove, the Doobie Brothers' 1973 single from the album The Captain and Me, is the Doobies track on the Joe Dirt album.

Roughly how much did Joe Dirt gross worldwide, against a budget of $17.7M?

Joe Dirt grossed about $31 million worldwide, most of it from a $27 million North American run, against its $17.7 million budget, after opening in April 2001.

Which studio released Joe Dirt in cinemas in April 2001?

Columbia Pictures released Joe Dirt in April 2001; the same studio put out later Adam Sandler comedies such as Mr. Deeds (2002) and Anger Management (2003).

On which streaming service did the sequel Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser premiere in July 2015?

Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser premiered on Crackle, Sony's free ad-supported streaming service, on July 16, 2015, skipping cinemas entirely.

What is Joe's upbeat catchphrase, delivered to Zander Kelly and his listeners?

Joe's motto is 'Life's a garden, dig it', the philosophy he offers Zander Kelly for staying cheerful through abandonment, foster homes and ridicule.

In the sequel, a tornado sweeps Joe's trailer away and drops him in which year?

The tornado lands Joe in 1965; stuck in the past, he tries to get rich by buying comics at cover price and burying them under a tree for his future self.

Who plays Foggle, the biker who turns out to be Joe's guardian angel in the sequel?

Patrick Warburton, the deep-voiced actor known as Seinfeld's Puddy, plays Foggle, the biker who reveals himself as Joe's guardian angel in the 2015 sequel.

Who produced Joe Dirt?

Robert Simonds produced Joe Dirt; the comedy producer had also backed Billy Madison (1995) and Happy Gilmore (1996) and went on to produce The Hot Chick (2002).

Who plays Jimmy, Joe's rival for Brandy in Joe Dirt 2?

Mark McGrath, the Sugar Ray frontman, plays Jimmy, the smug rival who pursues Brandy in Joe Dirt 2; it was one of several acting turns for the 'Fly' singer.