Bruce Campbell Answers Your Questions

As you know, we sent questions out to Bruce Campbell a few weeks ago, and his answer are below. Please note that Bruce didn't have time to reply to all of them via email as he was pretty busy, so he called and dictated answers. I've done the best I can to convey his answers below. Thanks to Bruce for the interview! Also, if you haven't picked up his book yet, you should. It is in it's 8th printing, so it's been doing well. Favorite character?
by mbessey on 07:52 PM November 12th, 2001

Bruce, you've played a number of "unconventional" heroes on TV and in films. Which character was the most fun to play?

Answer: Bruce noted that characters he portrays are pretty fun to start with. But movies are over too quickly for him to truly enjoy and develop the characters. Something like Brisco County you can have a lot more fun with, experiment more, and figure out which works and which does not over the course of many episodes. Like in spiderman, there is a 1 year distance between filming the scene and the feedback you get from seeing the finished product. With TV (Jack of All Trades and Brisco County) you can mess with the character and get immediate feedback. And then there are the ones that are completely outside the "winking-wise ass" category, like the appearance on Homicide where people come up to me and are like "You did a role where you weren't a funny guy", which is nice, he noted, because it shows that he's more than just the kookie actor.

Ideal TV Show?
by GusherJizmac on 07:56 PM November 12th, 2001

I loved Brisco County, Jr. and Jack of All Trades, and I was wondering if you had like a billion dollars to make a TV show, and there was no one else holding the purse strings, would you bring one of those two back, or make a new one (and if so, what would be it be?), or would you forget TV and make a movie, or even just lay in your bed of cash with several beautiful women?

Answer: Bruce said he would definitely revive Brisco and Jack of All tracks. With Jack of All Trades Bruce wanted to make it a more marines going in the clean up the Barbary Coast for civilization thing. But there was not the chance for that.

When asked if he would he forget TV, Bruce said "It's not about the budget it's about the creativity". "Jack of All Trades" was great because he didn't have some asshole telling him what to do for the most part. You don't need billions , Bruce notes that if he had 500k a year, he could make a movie a year. (although 2m is Bruces sweet spot).

Duke Nukem
by Sludge on 07:58 PM November 12th, 2001

I heard you were fairly choked when you heard Duke Nukem 3D ripped off some of your lines. Now, those lines weren't written by you presumably, but by a third party. How tied do actors feel to their lines? You seemed to take personal offense to this.

Answer: If they use one or two, it's not a big deal. But they used more than seems appropriate. But he felt is was kind of sad to see someone not even try to make their own one liners and instead gather up those from the a number of movies and such. So, it's not as if he was pissed about it, but he saw it more as yet another indication of a creative malaise that has gripped a number of people. He related the story of a film-maker who called him and pitched him on a movie with "John Woo action, Tarentino dialog and Kevin Smith characters" to which he replied "Save us from your shitty movie.", and added , "Right from the start he's sold out."

Being "B-Grade"
by NMerriam on 08:03 PM November 12th, 2001

What is it like to be a b-movie star, and a very successful one at that? I assume that everyone going into acting has the fantasy that they'll be the A-list guys making $20 million a picture, so are you happy to be in that "middle ground"?

Answer: Bruce is pretty happy with his position as an actor, noting that as a "b" actor, you're well-known and very liked (probably more so than the hunk-of-the-month actors). Bruce noted that B actors joke with each other in a very non-sour grapesy way that they had "dodged a bullet, as a B movie actor can do what he loves and still shop at the safeway".

For the book, B was an important qualifier, but the B world is more fun in realty. "Let's see Jim Cameron shoot a movie in 10 days" (noting that Jim Cameron did the B-movie "Pirannha") He'd love to take any of the big directors and say "you have two weeks to shoot a movie" and see who comes out on top. But he did note that it might be really cool to see a Scorsese or a Coppola return to their low budget roots.

Pseudonyms "Pete Perkinson" and "Roc Sandstorm"
by chipuni on 08:14 PM November 12th, 2001

According to the IMDB [imdb.com], you're sometimes credited as "Pete Perkinson" or "Roc Sandstorm". Where did you get those names from?

Answer: Bruce noted that Roc Sandstorm is Sam Raimi, and that the IMDB has that incorrect. Pete Perkinson is Bruce, however. He calls it his "elevator name". You see, instead of using real names in elevators when they didn't want to let on to strangers what they were doing. He and Sam would use these joke names and put them on projects they were too embarrassed to be attached too. The names they liked, but decided against included: Ida Kiein, Myra Ggrets and M. Barrass.

Brisco County Jr. on DVD
by Black Art on 08:16 PM November 12th, 2001

When are we going to see Brisco Country Jr. on DVD? It was a series ahead of its time. (I especially liked the anachronistic references. Timothy Leary as the preacher was hysterical!)

Answer: Brisco County is out on VHS right now, via Columbia House video. Bruce did the liner notes for each episode. He'd like to do the DVD mostly so he can get the commentary on it for each episode.

Batman?
by nedron on 08:32 PM November 12th, 2001

There has been a persistent rumor that you were up for the role of Batman before Burton was brought in (and subsequently selected the lamentable Michael Keaton). Is there any truth to this, or was it all wishful thinking on the part of your fans?

Answer: There is no truth whatsoever to the Batman rumor. Bruce was never called. "Cross old Batman off the superhero list." Superheros are not attractive characters to play. No character development, etc... Since everyone "knows" the character (parents dead, billionare,etc) you have a result that people develop every character but the hero. Proof is in the way they had 3 actors play Batman and no one really noticed. 3 actors, same suit, no character.

High School Question
by compugeek007 on 08:37 PM November 12th, 2001

Bruce, I went to same High School as you (Birmingham MI) and graduated about 8 - 10 years ago. You and Sam Raimi are somewhat of a legend there and my 10th grade Drama teacher choreographed the skeleton dance from Evil Dead 2. My question is rather off beat - Back in high school, what were your goals? Did you ever imagine "making it" in acting as a career?

Answer: This was answered in the book. Which everyone should read. The answer is yes. It was more towards the end of High School. It was either college or movies.

Book Signings
by thetechweenie on 08:58 PM November 12th, 2001

What's the craziest thing someones has asked you to write at a book signing?

Answer: It's not about what people asked Bruce to write, it's about what Bruce was asked to do. He's doing another chapter for the paper back edition of the book about the book signing called "Chins Across America". One guy had Bruce propose to his fiancee for him at the book signing. He sent an email, guys name was Nik, and his Fiancees name was Elizabeth. Anyhow, Nik requested that Bruce write "Gee Elizabeth, Nik would make a great husband don't cha think". She turns around and he is on his kneee. Tears all around, except for Bruce. Bruce notes that he said to Nik beforehand that "You're sure that she's gonna say yes, right buddy?"

Friends with your fans?
by FattyMcMurphy on 09:07 PM November 12th, 2001

A while back there was a terrific piece on "This American Life" where your literary agent - a self-confessed Bruce super fan - detailed how he worked his way into your life. His story ended with the bittersweet realization that he couldn't get over his "oh my God, I'm hanging out with Bruce!" feelings long enough to simply chill out and be friends with you.

Answer: With his experience in mind, have you become good friends with any of your fans, or is it just too weird?

It's not really that, Bruce has worked with fans for things like con bookings and become friends with them. The rules of becoming a pal aren't different just because someone is an actor. It should be noted that it is just not practical to become a friend with every fan, just because of the numbers involved. The "This American Life" guy in particular he considerers his pal, no matter what you might have gleaned from that taping.

Cliche
by number one duck on 09:22 PM November 12th, 2001

Its been said and said again that Evil Dead IV will not be made, simply because the studios didn't make money on the last encounter, and are unlikely to make any profit on a further sequel.

However, have you considered doing a further sequel the old fashioned, low budget way? On, say, an Evil Dead I budget?

Answer: Bruce noted that Evil Dead 4 won't be made on a an Evil Dead 1 budget. First, try and take a crane away from Sam Raimi, try to take Sam to 1 camera instead of 4. Try take away the digital effects. It's hard to rip those things out of a persons hands.

Working on Spiderman, for instance, Sam probably had not as good a time on it as on Evil Dead. With the constant financial oversight and money involved, 5 minutes down on the spider man set would pay for a week of evil dead. Evil Dead 4 not being made is financial. The Evil Dead movies made money, but not a lot and not quickly , mostly later from video.

Also, The last movie was made in 89. "Movies age like fish, not wine". Low budget isn't so fun sometimes. For Part 4, it wouldn't be charity anymore, back the truck up, there isn't a cheap part 4, and frankly, the world will live without it. Bruce asks the following of people when they ask for an Evil Dead 4 "Do you remember what happened in Nightmare on Elm Street 4? Or Friday the 13th 4?" Most people haven't, and it was my impression that Bruce felt there just wasn't a market for it, or an overwhelming desire to do it on the part of himself and the rest of the crew.

So again a big thanks to Bruce Campbell for a great interview.

Comments

Re:Boring

[Anonymous Coward]

Agreed, I took a look at the first few answers and saw, "Bruce noted" at the top of every one and moved straight to the comments. Kinda disappointing, I'm really only interested in what Bruce says, not what someone says what Bruce says. Oh well, I guess I shouldn't be reading /. while at work anyway, one less story to read.

Now that we've had Wil and Bruce on the show...

[Bonker]

Which was the better interview?

Trying to discount the fact that Bruce Campbell's interview was related third-person, I felt like Wil Wheaton's interview was more interesting, and answered the questions more thoroughly. Wil Wheaton was more interested in participating in the interview process, and getting his opinions out in the air.

Re:Now that we've had Wil and Bruce on the show...

[osgeek]

Well, no offense to Wil, but it's not like he has much else to do besides surf the Internet and respond to fan questions.

Bruce seems like a much busier guy.

Re:Now that we've had Wil and Bruce on the show...

[_xeno_]

Trying to discount the fact that Bruce Campbell's interview was related third-person...

I wouldn't do that if I were you. That's would be like saying "Trying to discount the fact that the car is on fire, the previous car that wasn't engulfed in flames looks like it'd be a safer ride."

Seriously, the whole tone of this interview is ruined because chrisd doesn't have a tape recorder and didn't think to try and schedule a better time for the interview. I mean really, Wil answered using his own writing style, Bruce phoned in and had Chris butcher whatever he said in a half-assed sort of transcription.

[Chris: For future reference, should something like this come up again, tell the interviewee to hold off for a while until you can set up a way to record the call and then properly transcribe the interview. At least try and edit the results so that the mix-and-match "Bruce thinks" and direct quotes reads a little better. This reads like notes I take in class on my iPaq - I don't have time to write down every word, but I write down what I think it's important to know for the class. In the case of an interview, it really should be recorded so an appropriate transcription can be made - every word the interviewee speaks is important to the audience.]

The better interview was the one where the interviewee wrote his own answers and didn't rely on a third party to get the message across. It's not suprising that Wil's interview sounded better.

(Although this interview at least delineated the end of the question and the start of the answer...)

Ugh....

[scaramush]

I understand the man is busy, but can you get any lamer than "The answer is in the book, go buy it"? (The "High School Question" by compugeek007)

/. is probably consists of a large number of Bruce's fans. Throwing us a bit of a bone (IE actually taking the time to answer the questions with an iota of thought) wouldn't have killed him, and would have been a nice gesture. The interview looks esp. lame compared to the recent interview with Ben Edlund.

I guess somebody told Bruce geeks don't buy dead-tree volumes, so we didn't make it on to the PR schedule.

Not a good analogy

[felipeal]

So, when asked Bruce says "Tell me the plot of nightmare on elm street part 4" or "Friday the 13th part 4".

I can't tell you the plot from those movies, because they were basicly the same (or even Halloween IV). But I can tell you the plot from New Nightmare (the 7th movie), Jason goes to Hell (the 9th) or Halloween H20 (the 7th too), because they were diferent. Similarly, I don't remember the differences between the ED1 and ED2 (they were basically the same), but I do remember Army of Darkness (a.k.a ID3).

And there are many other examples, like the Lethal Weapon, Superman and Rocky series.

Signings...

[ackthpt]

Not with Bruce, but with Bill Bryson (Walk in the Woods, Neither Here nor There, etc.) I asked him, jokingly to sign it "Congratulations eBay High Bidder!"

It was good for a chuckle, but something in his laugh suggested it was actually a little bit sensitive. I wonder if Bruce (or even Wil, if he's reading) has any thoughts on the weasels who show up to get things autographed generically to hawk as soon as they get home.

Too Bad....

[oliana]

We've been spoilt by interviewees who answer big and huge, and now we get half tales. 'Tis a pity too, because it sounds like chrisd had a real neat time interviewing.

Kudos on the attempt, but feel free to tell Bruce that Slashdot is not done with him. :)

Maybe next time?

O

Lest Aspersions Be Cast

[jmoriarty]

The reason for the odd answer format has already been discussed, but lest anyone think less of Bruce I must post the following.

Bruce is one of the most genuine "showbiz" people I've ever met or even heard about. I met him at a book signing in Phoenix a few months ago. He was articulate, genuine, and funny. He stayed to sign autographs for oer 5 hours! The bookstore was past it's closing time but he had the employees stay until every single fan had their book (or Ash action figure, or DVD, etc) signed. Why he doesn't have an arm like Popeye from all those autographs, I have no idea.

Check his site to see if his is going to be in your area, and make the time to see him. The book is also a very good read, and you will learn far more about Bruce than you will from this interview.

Re:Boring

[alazor]

The interview wasn't bad considering the cirumstances. I read it right through.

In defense of the interviewer...

[Major]

I'll probably get flamed back to medieval times (sans nifty anachronistic weapons) for attempting to defend a slashdot editor, but here goes anyway.

I maintained a website for an actor for over 2 years, and we used to do periodic phone interviews. Fans would submit questions through a form on the website, I would round up the best of the bunch, and then ask the actor. I would then record his answers on a tape recorder connected to the phone (thank you, Radio Shack) and transcribe the interview word-for-word, as everyone's been clamouring for in this instance.

Now here comes the swat to all you complaining bozos... if the Very Busy Actor calls you and actually has time to sit down and do an interview, you cannot and do not say "I'm sorry man, but now's not a good time for me." No matter how nice a celebrity is, or how much he/she/it would love to do an interview, they're always going to be pressed for time (unless they're a former child-star or an ex-football player ;-)).

You thoughtless idjuts should thank ChrisD for doing the best he could with the resources at his disposal. Be glad you got what you got!

Thus endeth the rant.

--=Major

Re:Getting the job done despite the boss.

[Longstaff]

Why do the bosses hire creative people and then expect them to be well, dull?

You may have heard of this thing called "business".

There are two ways to run a business:

1) Be creative. Hope your ideas are too far out to be useful or interesting and actually strike a chord or hit some sweet niche. In short - gamble

2) Play it safe. You know what works - you see everybody else doing it. Take their stuff, add sugar and milk it for all it's worth.

Now, everybody likes to hire "creative" people so that they can make a run for "the big time", but the reality is, most of the people in middle and upper management want a guaranteed return. Thus, out with the gambling and "Gimme some sugar" :-)

The entertainment business is *usually* just that - business. Just enough creativity to give you an edge.

Re:Boring

[rbuysse]

I'm pretty sure that each and every one of us would jump at the chance to interview Bruce. That's just not realistic, now is it?

Some personal insigts

[bryan1945]

I have had the chance to meet Bruce twice, and got to ask some of the same questions.

As for the busy part- the first time I got to speak with him, he had flown out that afternoon for the 8PM or so show and stayed till 3AM talking and signing autographs. He then had a 7AM flight out. At the time he was in between seasons of Xena, so he wasn't at peak operating tempo. So I can se him being rather busy, plus he is not a huge computer guy, and he does tend to do things off the cuff.

At that time, Autolocus was his favorite character- kinda offbeat, trying to be a bad guy but not quite pulling it off all the way. He also claimed that his horse from Brisco County really was that smart... but he had a firm smirk when he said it, so take it or leave it.

As for Evil Dead 1 & 2- the official word (from the commentary off ED2 Special Edition) is that Ash was dumb enough to go back to the same cabin after the first slaughter. Yes, it's similar, but it is not a remake.

As for his "buy the book" comments... this is part of his livlihood. If someone interviewed you about your consulting practices (assuming you are a consultant), would you freely give out all your experiences learned or would you tell them to hire you? Remember, he's not in the $20Mil actor's club.

Another interesting bit for you horror fans- Bruce is actively being courted to play a lead part in Phantasm 5(6?). The plot is a Romero/Phantasm combo that forgets about the last couple of abominations of Phantasm sequels.

As for Chris's transcription- tough break. Try and get Bruce back sometime with email or a recorded conversation to clarify, and also use this as a learning experience for future interviews.

As for the second time I met Bruce.... well, he tried to dissuade my (then fiancee) from marrying me. Luckily it didn't work! I'm still not sure how serious he was, but he did have that smirk going....

maybe i'm lame...

[spir0]

but I thought it was ok.

I mean, as long as they are bruce's opinions and if it's pretty accurate, then what's wrong with it?

it's still an interview.. it's just given to us differently. some people hate change..

thanks chrisd. you did good with what you had.