When Tony Hawk walked the red carpet at SXSW for the premiere of the sweeping documentary of his life and his work, he did so with a broken leg on the mend.

Not that you could tell. A broken femur bone, less than a week before the premiere, could not stop Hawk.

True to form, he worked through the pain and vowed to get back skating, post-recovery. In an Instagram post Hawk said he was up for the challenge, but given the severity of the break and his age (53) it could be a difficult task. 

You can see where a lot of that grit and drive comes from in the Sam Jones’ documentary “Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Come Off,” which had its world premiere at SXSW.

The doc is a fascinating and comprehensive look at Hawk’s life, from when he was just another kid on a skateboard to his position as skateboarding superstar.

Jones and team pulls together some revealing archival footage from the early days which point to the underpinnings of how Hawk approaches the sport, and life in general. Rounding out the doc, there are plenty of other insights to discover through the interviews with family, friends and his peers. 

Even if you’re not into the sport, this is a compelling doc and a deeper look into the person whose name is synonymous with skateboarding.

His early years may have been a struggle, and his style was not always appreciated in the skateboarding community.  But, that only made him dig in that much more, and in the process he elevated the exposure of skateboarding and the stature of the sport. 

“Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off” streams on HBO Max beginning April 5.