Our own Fred Topel sat down with Bruce Campbell and asked him all sorts of questions. Bruce talked about his Old Spice spots and his role on Burn Notice, but most importantly he asked him about all the yogurt.
Crave Online: I know you’re very careful to maintain a sort of cult following status, so are you worried that if this show gets too popular you’ll accidentally become a huge star?
Bruce Campbell: Yes, I’m terrified and as a matter of fact, I have put plans in place to sabotage the show.
Crave Online: Cool. How are you adjusting to the life in Miami?
Bruce Campbell: I’m sweating more. That’s my change. That’s what I’ve changed. I stopped shivering in Oregon and starting sweating in Miami.
Crave Online: Since so many people knew you as Ash, what’s it like to have a whole new generation of kids that only know you from Burn Notice or even as the Old Spice guy?
Bruce Campbell: It’s kind of hilarious and I think it’s very refreshing to have a guy come up and go, "Man, I had no idea who that old guy was on Burn Notice until I found out later what you had done." So it’s okay to get fans retroactively. But most important right now, Jeffrey and I want to make sure that we please the fans of the current show, and hopefully we’re doing that.
Crave Online: What are your thoughts on this season's scripts so far?
Bruce Campbell: Ain’t going to be no slumpin’. Ain’t going to be no sophomore slump, my friend. People are still finding the show and I’ve had the weirdest batch of emails from people from very odd demographics who are following the show. The DVD is coming out. USA knows that it’s a hit now so that they’re going to promote it more. We’re all behind it. We’re doing 16 episodes instead of 10 or 11. So, there’s every reason to believe in my opinion, in my ignorant opinion that we’re going to do even better this year.
Crave Online: How has series television changed since the Brisco County days?
Bruce Campbell: It hasn’t really evolved that much. They usually pick seven or eight days that you get to make your movie. You either get a support crew to shoot stunts and carnage and mayhem, or you don’t. Generally speaking, you’re shooting between six and nine pages a day, which is really fast, really aggressive. So those aspects really haven’t changed. Somebody came across these genius amounts of days to make a TV show and everyone has stuck with that. So the actual process of shooting episodic has not changed that much aside from a second camera. I’ve noticed that pretty much two cameras are now standard whereas episodic I did years ago wasn’t always as much two cameras. But mechanically it’s similar.
Crave Online: Aside from a canceled TV series, have you ever gotten any kind of burn notice in your life and how did you take it?
Bruce Campbell: Yes. The second movie that I was going to make as an actor, I was supposed to star in it. It was a movie written by the Coen Brothers of all people, called Crimewave and the assumption was that I was going to play the lead. But the word eventually came down through the studio that you can produce this movie, Bruce, but you ain’t going to be in it. Well so, you know, that was an early taste of studios and Hollywood and it left a little bit of a bitter taste, I must admit.
Crave Online: Did you ever go Michael Westen on somebody?
Bruce Campbell: You have to keep going. You have to battle on and know that sometimes personalities are involved and it’s not just you being a loser actor, you know. So you have to get a little bit of a thicker skin and have confidence in yourself.
Crave Online: Sam Raimi ended up directing that movie, so did he at least give you a cameo?
Bruce Campbell: Well, no one saw the movie, so it’s only the people who rent the movie will be able to answer that. But basically, yes. In fact, I took a larger supporting role and we expanded the supporting role. I actually probably had more fun doing this goofy supporting role than the lead guy. So it worked out fine and I’m still standing.
Crave Online: How did the people who knew you as a producer react when you started to become a well known actor?
Bruce Campbell: Well I guess it’s because I’m like a bad rash. I never go away. I just never stopped. I never left. I never gave up. That’s what happens. Jeffrey will attest to this. If you stick around long enough, you get some really good roles and you get some really lousy opportunities come up, too. But right now I think both of us can say very unequivocally that we both have excellent roles. And we’re appreciating it.
Crave Online: Why is there so much yogurt in the house?
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