BRUCE CAMPBELL ON LIFE, LOVE AND ACTION
FIGURES Evil Dead Star
Waxes Eloquent Over Macho Man Breakfast and Hot
Tea August 4,
2000
When cult film icon Bruce
Campbell rolled through town for a convention, the Spawn.com
crew quickly corralled him over breakfast and showed him his
new McFarlane Army of Darkness Ash action
figure, which he was stoked to
see. Campbell is an everyman sort
of actor - even the waitress recognizes him, though she thinks
he may be a comedian. Campbell, in his droll, comically
world-weary manner, doesn't correct
her. Though he's been in several
large Hollywood productions - Congo, Escape from
L.A., The Hudsucker Proxy - and done years of
television work - the new Jack of All Trades, The
Adventures of Briscoe County Jr., and appearances on
Ellen and The X Files - Campbell is best known
as Ash, the goofily demented anti-hero of the underground
horror classics Evil Dead, Evil Dead II and
Army of Darkness. "Ash is
the most extreme character I've done and has made the biggest
impression," Campbell stated. "The Evil Dead movies are
very irreverent, very belligerent and they attract a certain
audience." According to Campbell,
he is and isn't Ash in real
life. "I don't necessarily fit the
Ash mold," Campbell said. "I drive a Ford Explorer, I wear
sandals, I'd take Frank Sinatra over classic rock and I live
in the southern Oregon
woods." Still, he said, some parts
of the Ash persona are actually Bruce
Campbell. "Ash is me on my best and
worst days," he said. "The character evolved from nothing in
the original Evil Dead to the full-blown Ash in Army
of Darkness." "It's a great
twist on a lead character," Campbell continued, between bites
of corned-beef hash and poached eggs. "Ash is kind of like an
idiot and a jerk like the rest of us. Normally, if you went to
Universal Studios and said 'This is our lead character,"
they'd say, 'No fucking way. You can't do
that.'" He was excited about the
new Ash figure coming from McFarlane
Toys. "I kept getting bugged all
the time by fans saying, 'You should hook up with McFarlane.'
I'm glad it finally happened, it's like a fan's wet dream,"
Campbell said. "It's a good match of sensibilities: Ash and
McFarlane." And the timing of the
figure seems proper. "Since there's
not going to be an Evil Dead 4, this gives the fans
something to get their hands on." Along with the figure the
films are being re-released on DVD by Anchor Point and the
upcoming video game Evil Dead: Hail to the King, which
Campbell is doing voiceovers for, is set for
release. Despite his cult icon
status, Campbell maintains a relatively normal life.
BRUCE CAMPBELL
TRIVIA:
Dominant hand:
Left
Favorite food:
Hot Grape Nuts cereal with honey and
cinnamon
Favorite movie:
The Bridge on the River
Kwai
TV or Web?
Web
Grew up?
In
Michigan
Briefly attended?
Western Michigan
University
Met Sam Raimi?
In high school
Choice for last meal:
Egg salad sandwich on fresh bread with
cole slaw and fries
"Most
of my fans have a good sense of protocol. That's why I go to
so many conventions, to make myself available. It's pretty
rare that fans are intrusive," he
said. At which point, a man from a
nearby table comes to have an autograph signed for his clearly
enchanted, mid-50s wife. Campbell graciously gives his
autograph before redirecting his attention to the
half-demolished plate in front of
him. "Generally it's college
students and, for some reason, security guards and baggage
handlers that recognize me. Generally, though, I can get
through my day without being hassled, which is great," he
said. "You've got to be able to live your life without feeling
like a circus freak." In addition
to the Movie Maniacs III action figure, Bruce Campbell fans
have other things to look forward to: the aforementioned video
game, his new Jack of All Trades TV show, an upcoming
fan documentary called Fanalysis and Campbell's book
Confessions of a B Movie Actor, which is due in Spring
2001.
SERIES 22 R3 COMING YOUR WAY
