He's tall, dark, handsome, talented and smart (as in aleck). David Hughes demands to know why Hercules' foil Bruce Campbell isn't a star... yet...
Is an actor the sum of his parts?
It's a question that comes to mind when you meet Bruce Campbell, better known as 'Ash' in THE EVIL DEAD trilogy, 'Brisco' in THE ADVENTURES OF BRISCO COUNTY JR and, more recently, Autolycus in the brother-and-sister shows HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS and XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS. Of course, like most actors, he looks like the characters he plays. But about five minutes after meeting him, one begins to realise that he also talks, wisecracks and even behaves a little like his on-screen counterparts - except that he's smarter than all of them put together.
"There is a large element of me in every role I do," he admits. "Actors who say they can dive inside a character are either schizophrenic or lying. My characters are basically me on my best [or] worst day."
Campbell began acting in a series of home-made Super-8 films made by his high school pal Sam Raimi, whom he met in his high school drama class in 1975. Having made the cult 'comedy of terrors' THE EVIL DEAD, the pair collaborated on a number of other projects, including two more EVIL DEAD movies, the comedy crim thriller CRIMEWAVE, and DARKMAN.
Campbell even made a blink-and-you'll miss-it (or rather, don't- have-a-laserdisc-player-with-a-freeze-frame-facility-and-you'll- miss-it) appearance in Raimi's biggest movie, the stylish, star- studded Western THE QUICK AND THE DEAD. "Sam always has been and always will be the star of his movies," Campbell says fondlu. "When people walk out of [them], they'll go, 'That's a Sam Raimi movie.' We don't see each other as much [these days]," he adds, despite the fact that Raimi is executive producer of both HERCULES and XENA. "But it's always very friendly."
It seems that Campbel was a born adventurer. When he wasn't studying as what he calls "a hero-in-training" - preventing his schoolmates from being bullied - he was building tree houses with his older brothers, Mike and Don, and playing 'Zorro' in his backyard. All good experience for an actor who would grow up to play a succession of dashing heroes and anti-heroes - there's more than a dash of Zorro in Autolycus. Today, ever the outdoorsman, Campbell likes nothing more than to go hiking or backpacking with his wife and two teenage kids. "I'm away an average of six months each year," he notes with regret. "It can get crazy, with very long hours, living out of hotel rooms, apartments, and shaving kits. On most shoots, my wife will fly out and hang ith me on location for as long as she can. E-mail and faxes actually help a lot of I'm in, say, the southern hemisphere and time zones are all over the place."
In the course of his twenty-year career, Campbell has become something of a Hollywood hyphenate, having tried acting, producing, writing, and directing - he even did his own 'foley' (basically, recording his own sound effects) for the original EVIL DEAD. Is there any one aspect of film making he enjoys the most?
"Each is rewarding/torturous in different ways," he considers. "Writing is very solitary and aggravating, but if you can get [a script] produced, you're the guy who controls the rights. Directing is a majpr brain-drainer - you're involved in all phases of film making and you're bombarded by questions all day long. But, the creative rewards can be pretty high. Acting, to use a football analogy, is like being a 'place kicker': you warm up on the dielines for most of the game, but then, at the last minute, you're brought in to win [it]. I'd like to do a project where I wear all of those silly 'hats' at the same time," he adds. "I like the whole mixed bag. In Detroit factory talk it would be referred to as 'job rotation.'"
Having worked in television and feature films on a wide range of budgets, from virtually zero (THE EVIL DEAD) to about $45 million (CONGO), Campbell can also define the distinctions between them with ease. "TV is very quick," he says. "The one-hour format is more of a grind. You have seven, maybe eight days to shoot an episode, which usually translates into harder work, longer hours and no rehearsals - you just kind of wing it.
"On sitcoms," he continues, referring to his recurring role as the uptight Ed Billik on ELLEN. "The hours are more forgiving and you get to refine the material all week and rehearse to try and get it right. The rush of performing in front of an audience is always cool too, but I'm pretty new to this. Feature films can take the time to tell a better/fuller story, but the shooting pace (or lack of it) can be maddening and the results are not always better than TV."
Now that Campbell doesn't have to worry so much about where the next job is coming from, how does he go about choosing which material to accept? "I read the script," he says simply. "If it's a part of story that's interesting, then I'll consider it. For the [made-for TV] movies ASSAULT ON DOME 4 and MENNO'S MIND, they actaully wanted me to play the hero in each. Instead, I opted to play what I felt were more interesting characters.
"The decisions are also sometimes based on exposure," he continues. "Sometimes, I choose large roles in small films but, as a result, not many people see the work. Other times, I get small roles in bug films that I know gobs and gobs of people will come to see. Ultimately, there are three facters: the part, the exposure, and the money, but not nexessarily in that order. I [like] to keep a healthy mixture of all genres, [but] I generally prefer the more ligh-hearted types of things, because I can ham it up."
Talk of 'hamming it up' brings us inevitably back to Autolycus, whom Campbell says he originally saw "as an 'Errol Flynn' type - the hammier the better", and now describes as one of his favourite characters. Indeed, such is his fondness for the man he calls 'Auto' that he fins it impossible to pick a favourie episode, either of HERCULES or XENA.
"King of Thieves [was a] great prototype HERCULES episode," he says. "Doug Lefler has worked as a storyboard artist for Sam Raimi, [and] he's made a great transition to director. Royal Couple of Thieves, directed by my high school pal John Cameron, was a real pleasure. The story was a little convoluted, but I just trated the episode like it was a Bob Hope 'Road' picture.
"The Quest followed Lucy Lawless's accident with Jay Leno. She couldn't do all her usualy stunts (or even walk, really), so I flew down to help her out. The schtick was that her spirit was in my body, so I really had to get in touch with my feminine side." And how did he prepare for that experience? "It was simple," he deadpans. "I just reminded myself what it felt like when I was actually inhabited by a Warrior Princess' spirit. Let's see, it would be four years ago with May."
Campbell has since completed another episode of HERCULES - Just Passing Through, in which Autolycus swallows a precious gem to avoid capture, only to discover that the gem was cursed - and two more for XENA: A Tale of Two Muses, in which Xena and Gabby recruit Autolycus to rescue a small town from "the oppression of expression"; and Key to the Kingdom, which Campbell, who directed the episode, describes as "RAISING ARIZONA, XENA-style - Auto, Joxer and Xena lookalike Meg kidnap a baby from two corrupt rulers."
This brings his total number of guest acting or directing stints on the shows to eighteen, and marks the eighth of eleven episodes, split between the two shows, for which he is currently contracted. The deal, struck last year, also included "a few directing assignments and a pilot for a new show later this year," he reveals. Any chance that the "new show" could be an AUTOLYCUS: KING OF THIEVES spin-off series, about which there has apparently been much discussion? "There has, but these are complicated issues," Campbell demures. "Auto isn't really leading man material - he lacks the strong moral core that leads traditionally have! Besides, he's a fun second fiddle - the spice to the main course!"
Has he found the transition from actor to director to be an easy one? "Having been an actor for a while, I am very sympathetic and responsive to the actors on set when I direct," he says. "I've taken mental notes on what bugs me as an actor, so as a director, I make sure to explain everything to the actors - why I want them to move on a certain line and how they are being filmed. Communication, in my opinion, is the key! I'm patient with the actors and crew, but very demanding on myself. I don't tolerate actors who don't know their lines, though - that's a 'bare minimum' requirement which, surprisingly, is often overlooked..."
Campbell says that his ever-growing fan base is now split between THE EVIL DEAD films, BRISCO COUNTY JR, HERCULES and XENA. "I appreciate my fans very muchm" he says with genuine warmth. "It's motivating to know that folks like what I can do - it's like having my own lobby! I haven't attended many conventions recently," he admits, citing bad management as a primary factor. "But, in general, I do enjoy them, and I think it's important to give your fans that kind of direct access to you every so often while you still can."
Actions speak louder than words, and Campbell can back up his'direct access' policy with hard facts: he answers every single piece of fan mail personally. "Fans deserve a personal touch," he explains. "Also, as silly as it sounds, I think a lot of it stems from the fact that I wrote to Steve McQueen when I was twelve, and he never wrote me back. Granted, I most likely had the wrong address, but I remember how crushed I was."
A waiting taxi indicates that it is time for Campbell to head Down Under once more, back to the set of either HERCULES or XENA - he isn't sure which. "I love New Zealand," he adds. "And I enjoy hanging around with Kevin [Sorbo] and Lucy [Lawless] - not to mention allowing Kevin to beat me at golf. It's always a lot of fun to head down there and work."
There is, however, a downside, apart from spending so much time away from his family. "The worst thing is probably the long- distance phone bill I get nailed with when I come back home! That, and the [fact that] the food is full strength - the concept of 'low fat' hasn't hit there yet. Getting used to driving on the opposite side of the road is also a neat trick."
Campbell says that he has come to terms with the idea the he is probably destined to work hard for a living. "My goals are simple: continuous work and a better choice of decent roles," he says. "This pursuit of the 'fame and fortune' thing is baloney - it's a slippery slope that demands too much time and attention for uneven results."
Nevertheless, just in case Oscar ever takes notice of a hard- working, wise-cracking, good-looking, risk raking actor with attitude, Campbell already has the first line of his Academy Award accepted speech worked out: "Do you guys validate parking?"

DREAMWATCH - October 1998 Issue # 49