Bruce Campbell Writes Himself the Part Hollywood Wouldn’t

Dan Bova (0:00)

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Bruce Campbell (1:42)

If this was a studio movie, I would not be starring in it.

It's that simple because they would have gone, this guy's got to chew the scenery for like 90 minutes. That's not, that's Giamatti. That sort of stuff will happen. I cast Serena Vincent as his, not love interest, but a woman who he starts to meet when he gets into the future. Again, we both have these genre backgrounds, but I know her, I know her sensibility, I knew what she radiated, and it's what I wanted. I didn't have to make a freaking phone call or argue with some guy who wanted someone with big tits. You know.

Dan Bova (2:25)

Hey, everyone, welcome to How Success Happens. I'm Dan Bova, writer and editor at entrepreneur.com. So if you were a film geek like me during the 1980s and 90s, the face and voice of today's guests are permanently etched in your brain.

Bruce Campbell is the absolutely legendary actor who brought to life the absolutely legendary character of Ash in the Evil Dead flicks. And the reason he is here today, along with his wife Ida, he wrote, directed and produced the fiercely independent film Ernie & Emma, which is now touring Alamo Drafthouse theaters. Check your local listings because he's on tour too. And you can sit in on a live Q&A session with the man himself.

All right. Let's fire up the boomstick. Welcome, Bruce Campbell.

Bruce Campbell (3:20)

Thanks for having me. I was in the neighborhood.

Dan Bova (3:22)

Yes. Great to talk to you, man.

So I watched the movie. It's great, but it's a departure. I mean, it's very funny, but there aren't chainsaws or popping eyeballs.

Bruce Campbell (3:34)

No.

Dan Bova (3:35)

What made you want to go in this direction?

Bruce Campbell (3:37)

Honestly, that's the direction I've always gone in. It's the real Bruce Campbell. People want to find out who Bruce Campbell is. Come see Ernie & Emma. I like Schmaltzy music. I like Sappy stories. I like Lawrence Welk. I like The Carpenters.

And horror movies were not really my bag. I got into it because of Evil Dead and got my career started. But I've tried to do a bunch of other stuff as well, just because it's more interesting for me to try different stuff.

Dan Bova (4:08)

Yeah.

Bruce Campbell (4:08)

But this was a chance to actually just do a sensibility.

If I had no oversight, this is the movie that I would make. If I was left alone, left to my own devices, which can be very dangerous sometimes, of course. But I've always wanted to function without restrictions aside from the budget. So my only boss was my wife on this. So that was pretty refreshing.

Dan Bova (4:33)

Yeah. How is she as a boss?

Bruce Campbell (4:36)

Good. We argued less making this movie than we did in normal everyday life. So we thought we got to go right back into production.

Dan Bova (4:43)

That's great.

Bruce Campbell (4:44)

Because it really focused us. She was a costume designer for years.

We both know the film set. We know how it works, how it operates. And she was the mother hen. She put out the fires all day long. And I could be Captain Happy making a movie.