Jackass star Johnny Knoxville greeted about 150 Boston University students with smiles and casual talk yesterday afternoon at a short-notice signing at BU Central in the George Sherman Union.

While the signing was not scheduled to start until 12:30 p.m., BU Central quickly filled up with excited students well before noon.

For one hour, Knoxville met with fans, signed promotional posters for his new movie, Jackass 2, and posed for pictures. Knoxville smiled at each student who approached him and started off conversations with, “Hi, how are you?” and threw in a “sweetie” or two.

Event coordinator Sarah Weinstein said in past events, the advertisements would reach so many people that the overcrowding would prevent many students from even getting near a celebrity. With shorter notice of the event, “they’d actually get to meet him.” Knoxville also did not confirm the event, presented by the Programming Council, until last week.

Students found out about the big event in many different ways.

College of Arts and Sciences freshman Mike Gomez said he had heard Knoxville was coming to BU through a Facebook.com message from the Programming Council.

College of Engineering freshman Dana Jaeger said her father was the one to reveal the news, and that he found out through a newsletter published by BU Today.

School of Management junior Elliott Gordon said his friend called him.

No matter how they got wind of the news, however, one thing was common amongst the waiting students — they were excited to meet Knoxville.

Some students did not find out about the event until it was almost too late. College of General Studies freshman Amanda Fakhreddine received a flier promoting the event only half an hour before it was scheduled to start. Fakhreddine, a self-proclaimed Jackass fan, said she was ready to get her picture taken, get an autograph and then “bolt” to her next class.

Because the event took place during prime class hours, many students had to squeeze in a quick picture and signing between classes. College of Communication freshman Allie Rubin said she and her friend, CAS freshman Kate Wrobel, had class at 2 p.m., but they were still willing to risk tardiness for a chance to meet the Jackass star.

“He’s such a badass, and that’s pretty sexy,” Wrobel said. “[He’s] best-looking when he’s doing crazy [expletive deleted].”

CGS freshman Ayesha Ahmed said she did not care about the stunts that made Knoxville famous.

“I just think he’s gorgeous, and he’s a legend,” she said.

Some students said the event would have been better had it been at night.

“This is a really bad time for me,” Fakhreddine said.

However, the students who were able to attend the event were enthused.

“[I’m] so excited,” BU Central volunteer and COM freshman Rachel Richmond said. “It’s gonna be fun. I think everything’s gonna go very well.”