Bruce Campbell on Ted Raimi
By S. Silverwind
| Next Page |
 Actor, Producer, Director, and soon to be published Author, Bruce Campbell |
Most of Ted's oldest filmmaker friends tend to be almost
invisible "behind the camera" types, like Scott Spiegel, Josh Becker,
and of course Ted's brother Sam. But it would be a rare thing to find a Ted fan
who doesn't recognize the face of The Man, the Myth, the Legend - the
inimitable Mr. Bruce Campbell. Although Ted has yet to appear on Bruce's
current show, JACK OF ALL TRADES, almost everyone has seen Bruce and Ted
together on XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS. Quite a few have sought out the movies in
which they've both appeared, such as INTRUDER or LUNATICS: A LOVE STORY; and
the real diehards make an absolute sport of trying to spot Ted in the EVIL DEAD
trilogy for which Bruce is so well known. These two gentlemen have shared a lot
of time together, both on and off camera. |
Bruce counts his professional association with Ted as having started "Officially… on EVIL DEAD 2, in 1986. That's when he got his official Screen Actor's Guild card, by playing the monster Henrietta. Before that Ted was in a bunch of our Super-8 movies." He remembers Ted being as young as nine years old, long before they were making movies together. "I used to baby-sit him and I'd take him to cello lessons and stuff like that. I used to hang out at the Raimi's a lot, so they figured 'If you're going to hang out and eat dinner here, take Ted around and do stuff like that,' so that was fine."
| Recalling Ted's involvement with the many Super-8 short films the guys made as teens back in Michigan, Bruce says, "I think Ted had an interest. He then went off and made his own films - I remember DEATH PRONG, and then DEATH PRONG PART TWO." He rolls his eyes, a pained expression on his face. "As if he had shown the first one to anyone enough to be successful enough to make a PART TWO. Ted just thought he should make a sequel, right from the start. But even when he wasn't doing stuff with us he was always doing his own thing. Ted was always available, and we were happy to put him in stuff, but I'm sure it was like 'Go on, beat it kid. We're busy,' at times." |  Courtesy of Scott Spiegel |
Bruce agrees that Ted keeps everybody laughing, and that this was especially true while he played Joxer. "Ted's a character. You know, you look at the character of Joxer and it's 60% Ted. And then he just amps up the other 40%. That's the same as any actor, though. There's a little bit of Ash and Brisco and Jack in me. There would have to be, otherwise you can't do that part."
Asked if he thinks Ted and his older brother Sam are a lot alike or very different personalities, Bruce pauses for just a moment to consider. "Well… Ted just favors being in front of the camera rather than behind. But Sam ironically in the Super-8 movies we used to do was in front of the camera as much as any of us. I think he just developed a knack for camera and shooting and stuff and jumped behind the camera much earlier than the rest of us. And I think Ted just thought being in front was more fun. That's the main difference. But they're two very creative, very goofy guys." Bruce's eyes gleam as he adds, "From a crazy family."
Speaking of brothers, he talks for a moment about his own two siblings, "My one brother Don is a year older. He worked on EVIL DEAD, just as a production assistant. He went to Tennessee with us just so he could blow stuff up with a shotgun. He didn't really care about making movies. My oldest brother, Mike… he was amused by this, but it was off his radar. He was working on cars and dating girls, you know, cuz he's six years older."
 Hey, who are YOU calling an old fart? |
That's at least how much older Bruce, Josh, Scott, and the
others are in comparison to Ted, I point out. "Pretty much, yeah. I don't
know - I've never known how old Ted is," he says with a funny look. I
inform him that Ted is 34 now, and he grins, "Thirty-four? So he's getting
to be an old fart too now. That's good." We all laugh. (By the way, Bruce turned 42 on June 22, just a couple of weeks after this interview.) |
Bruce says he knew Ted was really serious about being an actor once he moved out to California. "That's a very serious step for anybody." Besides getting his feet wet with INTRUDER, Bruce points out, "He started to get sitcoms. I think he did an Alf episode, and that to me was all serious because it was like real network stuff. He started to work: commercials, sitcoms and independent movies. The cool thing about Ted is we realized that he was going to be an actor on his own because he didn't need anybody's help. It wasn't just Sam that was putting him in movies. He was getting his own work. It had nothing to do with any of us. So it was like, 'Jeez, this guy's really serious!' And it's been great to watch."
"And then SEAQUEST was a great little coup that Sam had nothing to do with," he continues. "XENA… I think if you had told Sam that Ted was on XENA it would have surprised him at one point. Sam's not like day to day in HERC and XENA, and it's not like Sam said 'You must use Ted.' I mean, Rob Tapert knew Ted for years - so it was a very logical thing to cast him."
When it's mentioned that for awhile Ted seemed to get a lot of flak from fans who thought he was only on XENA because Sam is one of the Executive Producers, Bruce bristles with Ash-like intensity. "He did, but you know… all those fans can bite my ass. Ted's an extremely talented actor. If they don't like the character, that's one thing. But a lot of the criticism seemed to be more directed at TED. It's like, that's the way the part is written. There's no one better for that part than Ted. And I think he's terrific. Frankly I think that show needed desperately to have some humor, because otherwise every episode you're crucifying Xena or making her run the gauntlet. It's like…" he rolls his eyes back in his head and goes into an imitation snooze-fest, complete with a loud snore, "Get a little humor in there, for God's sake."
Ted's greatest ability as an actor, Bruce says is, "To make a fool out of himself. He allows himself to make a fool of himself, and he's not concerned. A guy like Tom Cruise will never ever allow himself to be made a fool of - I just watched MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2 and I want my money back. You know, he's a poser - not an actor. He's so crucially aware of the camera. Ted's not aware of anything. He just acts, and he acts out of the love of it. I have much more respect for that than for any other actor, so I have a lot of respect for Ted. He'll do whatever you tell him."
There's no question in Bruce's mind about how Ted would do in a really serious role. "Fine. I've seen him do dramatic stuff, and Ted's fine. But it's like anything: Perception is nine-tenths of the law. If you're perceived of as playing buffoons, it's always difficult. All the serious stuff I've had to do we've sort of had to fight for and had to really chase after."
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