Groovy! At New York Comic Con 2024, I sat down with the legendary Bruce Campbell, who talked about his role as Sheriff Dandridge for Peacock’s new show HYSTERIA! The Beat interviewed him earlier at SDCC about the series, but here’s the full new Bruce Campbell interview for NYCC, along with confirmed rumors about an Evil Dead animated series.
The Bruce Campbell interview back at SDCC 2024
Q: What drew you to the script?
BRUCE CAMPBELL: The writing.
Q: What about it?
CAMPBELL: It doesn’t suck.
Look, it’s that simple. I’ve done tons of movies that suck and it always points back to the script. I had a writer one time say his dialogue was actor-proof and that it was so good no actor could screw it up. I’m like no-no-no, it’s such shitty dialogue no actor can say your shitty words.
Some writers feel their words are precious when they’re not. Very few writers have a clause where an actor can’t change words. I’ve had that pulled on me by writers who don’t deserve it. So writing stands out to me. If it’s a horror project I ask even more questions.
Peacock is a good studio, and Universe is a horror studio, they always were. So I remember them even if they don’t remember me. I did Hercules and Xena with Universal. Burn Notice with USA. So I’ve hung around these schmos for a long time. That matters cause when someone comes and says come and be in my movie called Black Friday, a totally independent thing privately financed, you never know if anyone’s gonna see that.
My wife is good at pointing that out.
Q: She helps you vet?
CAMPBELL: Oh yeah. She’s brutal.
Q: Do you care about your legacy then?
CAMPBELL: No. That’s for pundits. I don’t curate my own legacy. I just try and make sure there’s not shitty pictures out there.
Q: Do you remember the satanic panic of the 80s?
CAMPBELL: To a degree. If I was a musician I would have been more aware, they took the brunt of it. The music was hardcore. Satanic. I just learned today what AC/DC meant: Anti-Christ Devil’s Child. KISS was knights in satan’s service.
Q: Was there anybody in the peripheries of your life who went through it more?
CAMPBELL: No. Here’s the thing: I read up about it. There’s this reporter who did a deep dive. All these cases that came up, who tried to prosecute these people, satanic this and satanic sacrifice, they didn’t find shit on anybody. Tells you what a crock it was and that disinformation is not new. Ever since they had this term: Yellow Journalism. Bullshit journalism.
Look, if you were a very religious person, even to this day, if you say that the demon’s real and it’s coming for you, they don’t like that kind of talk. Even in fictional worlds. Because you’re challenging their fundamental belief in their entire existence.
Q: Can you talk a little bit about your character in the show?
CAMPBELL: My character is trying to figure out if it’s real or not. He’s a very rational individual. I’m playing him as the chief of police people would want, I’d want him to be my chief of police.
Q: So he’s more wholesome than your traditional Ash type of role?
CAMPBELL: Yeah, but see it’s not Ash. I’m an actor. They give me certain words I say the words. I don’t have to put Ash into my role. That’s the trick. To be invisible as an actor and mold into it. I don’t interject Bruceisms into my work every day. If the director wants to come and fool around that’s fine, but if it’s pretty straightforward, I’ll be straightforward because that’s what it requires. You need one guy to be the voice of reason. You need the Marilyn of the Manson family you gotta have someone trying to keep their shit together.
Q: One would say you’re the heart of the show.
CAMPBELL: Exactly. I like the word. Thank you for that. Print that bit!
Q: Kind of like the sheriff in Stranger Things? Rational. Intelligent. Rather than…
CAMPBELL: Than a bullshit doofus? That’s the thing, he’s not a doofus. He doesn’t condescend to the teens either. He goes, “Dude just tell me what’s going on? What the hell you carved a pentagram in your hand – wow – tell me about that? What’s gonna cause you to do that?”
Q: He’s firm but there’s a kindness to him.
CAMPBELL: Absolutely. I think it’s more that cops get a bad rap. We worked with cops for 7 years on burn notice. Had a blast. One guy, we called him Taser Tom because he loved to tase guys because he loved to kind of watch them piss themselves, it was a powertrip, anyway, we got to know them as human beings. And this guy had problems. He got sick and he had problems at home with his wife, and his dog hates him – same shit. It was nice to see.
So when I see a script like this, it shows there’s some intelligence involved in the writing process and that’s all I ask for. Just put your thinking cap on. Think my character through. Don’t let my lines be interchangeable with anybody else’s lines. It should matter and that’s writing with an attention span.
Q: Bruce, I’ve heard rumors of an Evil Dead animated show can you say anything about that?
CAMPBELL: It’s not even a rumor. We talked about it but development crap takes forever and it’s slow and halting, so there’s nothing to report but we want to.
Q: Would you want to reprise your role?
CAMPBELL: Sure. As the voice. My voice hasn’t aged as much as I have so I’ll get in a recording booth in my little town in Oregon, sure.
Miss any news from Comic-Con? Check here for the rest of The Beat’s NYCC ’24 coverage
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