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Bruce Campbell Answers Your Questions 179

Posted by chrisd from the giving-us-some-fructose dept.
As you know, we sent questions out to Bruce Campbell a few weeks ago, and his answer are below. Please note that Bruce didn't have time to reply to all of them via email as he was pretty busy, so he called and dictated answers. I've done the best I can to convey his answers below. Thanks to Bruce for the interview! Also, if you haven't picked up his book yet, you should. It is in it's 8th printing, so it's been doing well.
Favorite character?
by mbessey on 07:52 PM November 12th, 2001

Bruce, you've played a number of "unconventional" heroes on TV and in films. Which character was the most fun to play?

Answer: Bruce noted that characters he portrays are pretty fun to start with. But movies are over too quickly for him to truly enjoy and develop the characters. Something like Brisco County you can have a lot more fun with, experiment more, and figure out which works and which does not over the course of many episodes. Like in spiderman, there is a 1 year distance between filming the scene and the feedback you get from seeing the finished product. With TV (Jack of All Trades and Brisco County) you can mess with the character and get immediate feedback. And then there are the ones that are completely outside the "winking-wise ass" category, like the appearance on Homicide where people come up to me and are like "You did a role where you weren't a funny guy", which is nice, he noted, because it shows that he's more than just the kookie actor.

Ideal TV Show?
by GusherJizmac on 07:56 PM November 12th, 2001

I loved Brisco County, Jr. and Jack of All Trades, and I was wondering if you had like a billion dollars to make a TV show, and there was no one else holding the purse strings, would you bring one of those two back, or make a new one (and if so, what would be it be?), or would you forget TV and make a movie, or even just lay in your bed of cash with several beautiful women?

Answer: Bruce said he would definitely revive Brisco and Jack of All tracks. With Jack of All Trades Bruce wanted to make it a more marines going in the clean up the Barbary Coast for civilization thing. But there was not the chance for that.

When asked if he would he forget TV, Bruce said "It's not about the budget it's about the creativity". "Jack of All Trades" was great because he didn't have some asshole telling him what to do for the most part. You don't need billions , Bruce notes that if he had 500k a year, he could make a movie a year. (although 2m is Bruces sweet spot).

Duke Nukem
by Sludge on 07:58 PM November 12th, 2001

I heard you were fairly choked when you heard Duke Nukem 3D ripped off some of your lines. Now, those lines weren't written by you presumably, but by a third party. How tied do actors feel to their lines? You seemed to take personal offense to this.

Answer: If they use one or two, it's not a big deal. But they used more than seems appropriate. But he felt is was kind of sad to see someone not even try to make their own one liners and instead gather up those from the a number of movies and such. So, it's not as if he was pissed about it, but he saw it more as yet another indication of a creative malaise that has gripped a number of people. He related the story of a film-maker who called him and pitched him on a movie with "John Woo action, Tarentino dialog and Kevin Smith characters" to which he replied "Save us from your shitty movie.", and added , "Right from the start he's sold out."

Being "B-Grade"
by NMerriam on 08:03 PM November 12th, 2001

What is it like to be a b-movie star, and a very successful one at that? I assume that everyone going into acting has the fantasy that they'll be the A-list guys making $20 million a picture, so are you happy to be in that "middle ground"?

Answer: Bruce is pretty happy with his position as an actor, noting that as a "b" actor, you're well-known and very liked (probably more so than the hunk-of-the-month actors). Bruce noted that B actors joke with each other in a very non-sour grapesy way that they had "dodged a bullet, as a B movie actor can do what he loves and still shop at the safeway".

For the book, B was an important qualifier, but the B world is more fun in realty. "Let's see Jim Cameron shoot a movie in 10 days" (noting that Jim Cameron did the B-movie "Pirannha") He'd love to take any of the big directors and say "you have two weeks to shoot a movie" and see who comes out on top. But he did note that it might be really cool to see a Scorsese or a Coppola return to their low budget roots.

Pseudonyms "Pete Perkinson" and "Roc Sandstorm"
by chipuni on 08:14 PM November 12th, 2001

According to the IMDB [imdb.com], you're sometimes credited as "Pete Perkinson" or "Roc Sandstorm". Where did you get those names from?

Answer: Bruce noted that Roc Sandstorm is Sam Raimi, and that the IMDB has that incorrect. Pete Perkinson is Bruce, however. He calls it his "elevator name". You see, instead of using real names in elevators when they didn't want to let on to strangers what they were doing. He and Sam would use these joke names and put them on projects they were too embarrassed to be attached too. The names they liked, but decided against included: Ida Kiein, Myra Ggrets and M. Barrass.

Brisco County Jr. on DVD
by Black Art on 08:16 PM November 12th, 2001

When are we going to see Brisco Country Jr. on DVD? It was a series ahead of its time. (I especially liked the anachronistic references. Timothy Leary as the preacher was hysterical!)

Answer: Brisco County is out on VHS right now, via Columbia House video. Bruce did the liner notes for each episode. He'd like to do the DVD mostly so he can get the commentary on it for each episode.

Batman?
by nedron on 08:32 PM November 12th, 2001

There has been a persistent rumor that you were up for the role of Batman before Burton was brought in (and subsequently selected the lamentable Michael Keaton). Is there any truth to this, or was it all wishful thinking on the part of your fans?

Answer: There is no truth whatsoever to the Batman rumor. Bruce was never called. "Cross old Batman off the superhero list." Superheros are not attractive characters to play. No character development, etc... Since everyone "knows" the character (parents dead, billionare,etc) you have a result that people develop every character but the hero. Proof is in the way they had 3 actors play Batman and no one really noticed. 3 actors, same suit, no character.

High School Question
by compugeek007 on 08:37 PM November 12th, 2001

Bruce, I went to same High School as you (Birmingham MI) and graduated about 8 - 10 years ago. You and Sam Raimi are somewhat of a legend there and my 10th grade Drama teacher choreographed the skeleton dance from Evil Dead 2. My question is rather off beat - Back in high school, what were your goals? Did you ever imagine "making it" in acting as a career?

Answer: This was answered in the book. Which everyone should read. The answer is yes. It was more towards the end of High School. It was either college or movies.

Book Signings
by thetechweenie on 08:58 PM November 12th, 2001

What's the craziest thing someones has asked you to write at a book signing?

Answer: It's not about what people asked Bruce to write, it's about what Bruce was asked to do. He's doing another chapter for the paper back edition of the book about the book signing called "Chins Across America". One guy had Bruce propose to his fiancee for him at the book signing. He sent an email, guys name was Nik, and his Fiancees name was Elizabeth. Anyhow, Nik requested that Bruce write "Gee Elizabeth, Nik would make a great husband don't cha think". She turns around and he is on his kneee. Tears all around, except for Bruce. Bruce notes that he said to Nik beforehand that "You're sure that she's gonna say yes, right buddy?"

Friends with your fans?
by FattyMcMurphy on 09:07 PM November 12th, 2001

A while back there was a terrific piece on "This American Life" where your literary agent - a self-confessed Bruce super fan - detailed how he worked his way into your life. His story ended with the bittersweet realization that he couldn't get over his "oh my God, I'm hanging out with Bruce!" feelings long enough to simply chill out and be friends with you.

Answer: With his experience in mind, have you become good friends with any of your fans, or is it just too weird?

It's not really that, Bruce has worked with fans for things like con bookings and become friends with them. The rules of becoming a pal aren't different just because someone is an actor. It should be noted that it is just not practical to become a friend with every fan, just because of the numbers involved. The "This American Life" guy in particular he considerers his pal, no matter what you might have gleaned from that taping.

Cliche
by number one duck on 09:22 PM November 12th, 2001

Its been said and said again that Evil Dead IV will not be made, simply because the studios didn't make money on the last encounter, and are unlikely to make any profit on a further sequel.

However, have you considered doing a further sequel the old fashioned, low budget way? On, say, an Evil Dead I budget?

Answer: Bruce noted that Evil Dead 4 won't be made on a an Evil Dead 1 budget. First, try and take a crane away from Sam Raimi, try to take Sam to 1 camera instead of 4. Try take away the digital effects. It's hard to rip those things out of a persons hands.

Working on Spiderman, for instance, Sam probably had not as good a time on it as on Evil Dead. With the constant financial oversight and money involved, 5 minutes down on the spider man set would pay for a week of evil dead. Evil Dead 4 not being made is financial. The Evil Dead movies made money, but not a lot and not quickly , mostly later from video.

Also, The last movie was made in 89. "Movies age like fish, not wine". Low budget isn't so fun sometimes. For Part 4, it wouldn't be charity anymore, back the truck up, there isn't a cheap part 4, and frankly, the world will live without it. Bruce asks the following of people when they ask for an Evil Dead 4 "Do you remember what happened in Nightmare on Elm Street 4? Or Friday the 13th 4?" Most people haven't, and it was my impression that Bruce felt there just wasn't a market for it, or an overwhelming desire to do it on the part of himself and the rest of the crew.

So again a big thanks to Bruce Campbell for a great interview.
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Bruce Campbell Answers Your Questions More

Bruce Campbell Answers Your Questions

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  • Boring (Score:1, Redundant)

    by Pentagram ( 40862 )
    This was a bit of a soulless interview. Couldn't we just have waited until he was a bit less busy?

    • Re:Boring (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Agreed, I took a look at the first few answers and saw, "Bruce noted" at the top of every one and moved straight to the comments. Kinda disappointing, I'm really only interested in what Bruce says, not what someone says what Bruce says. Oh well, I guess I shouldn't be reading /. while at work anyway, one less story to read.
      • It was free, no one got paid for it, and the answers were much more complete than alot of other interviews.

        Why complain unless you are willing to step up and do better?
        • Sorry, I don't understand. If Slashdot wants to interview me, then no problem, I don't mind typing in a few answers...

        • Re:Boring (Score:2, Insightful)

          by rbuysse ( 72162 )
          I'm pretty sure that each and every one of us would jump at the chance to interview Bruce. That's just not realistic, now is it?

    • Re:Boring (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      It was all part of a cunning new IRC bot; 3rdprsnbruce 1.0
    • All these gadgets at our disposal, and we can't even record Bruce's exact words for all to see. A tape recorder could have done it. A sad day.
      • Yea, when I read the topic, I expected that whoever was talking to him recorded the conversation, and then after that, wrote down what he said word for word.

        When I read the first line, "Bruce noted that characters he portrays are pretty fun to start with" it almost sounded like he was talking himself, but in 3rd person.. seems kinda lazy not to do it the correct way..

        Zeno

    • Re:Boring (Score:2, Insightful)

      by alazor ( 3947 )
      The interview wasn't bad considering the cirumstances. I read it right through.
    • Chris, You're right, dude. This *was* a shitty article. The third person thing is just not working. Too bad you couldn't get to a tape recorder. I love Bruce Campbell, and I really wanted to read this article, but I just couldn't get into it.

  • Getting the job done despite the boss. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Audent ( 35893 ) <audent&ilovebiscuits,com> on Wednesday November 28, 2001 @06:31PM (#2627359) Homepage
    Sounds like Bruce enjoyed working on Jack (filmed in New Zealand by the way!)because of the freedom to be creative. How is it that so many actors/writers/creator types say this - isn't creativity the core of their jobs? Why do the bosses hire creative people and then expect them to be well, dull?
    I guess it's similar in any job - hands up all those who got hired to do one thing and then get stopped doing that by their bosses? Maybe it's a nerd thing.
    • Why do the bosses hire creative people and then expect them to be well, dull?

      You may have heard of this thing called "business".

      There are two ways to run a business:

      1) Be creative. Hope your ideas are too far out to be useful or interesting and actually strike a chord or hit some sweet niche. In short - gamble

      2) Play it safe. You know what works - you see everybody else doing it. Take their stuff, add sugar and milk it for all it's worth.

      Now, everybody likes to hire "creative" people so that they can make a run for "the big time", but the reality is, most of the people in middle and upper management want a guaranteed return. Thus, out with the gambling and "Gimme some sugar" :-)

      The entertainment business is *usually* just that - business. Just enough creativity to give you an edge.
  • Well, IMO, anyway. It always feels to me like there was too much time spent playing with cool special effects; I like Evil Dead 2 far more than 3.

  • Now that we've had Wil and Bruce on the show... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Bonker ( 243350 ) on Wednesday November 28, 2001 @06:35PM (#2627377)
    Which was the better interview?

    Trying to discount the fact that Bruce Campbell's interview was related third-person, I felt like Wil Wheaton's interview was more interesting, and answered the questions more thoroughly. Wil Wheaton was more interested in participating in the interview process, and getting his opinions out in the air.
    • Opinions? Since when do we normally ask actors/actresses for opinions and expect an educated answer? Not often.

      Did you read the interview? Bruce was asked questions about his movies and his life. It seemed to me the responses were based on experience, and didn't express an opinion (at least overtly).
    • Well, no offense to Wil, but it's not like he has much else to do besides surf the Internet and respond to fan questions.

      Bruce seems like a much busier guy.
      • Oh come on, Wil was on the Star Trek episode of Weakest Link on Monday, which was pretty funny. Shatner got voted out pretty quickly, though. I don't think Denise Crosby should have been on it, she was only on one season of ST:TNG, couldn't they have gotten Marina Sirtis or somebody who'd actually put in a full tour of duty?

        Wil was hilarious on the show, and did pretty well, though I think it was LeVar Burton who beat Robert Picardo for the $$$. It's too bad Shatner got voted off when he did, I would have loved for him to get the toupee question that went to Armin Shimmerman.

    • Re:Now that we've had Wil and Bruce on the show... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by _xeno_ ( 155264 ) on Wednesday November 28, 2001 @07:07PM (#2627545) Homepage Journal
      Trying to discount the fact that Bruce Campbell's interview was related third-person...

      I wouldn't do that if I were you. That's would be like saying "Trying to discount the fact that the car is on fire, the previous car that wasn't engulfed in flames looks like it'd be a safer ride."

      Seriously, the whole tone of this interview is ruined because chrisd doesn't have a tape recorder and didn't think to try and schedule a better time for the interview. I mean really, Wil answered using his own writing style, Bruce phoned in and had Chris butcher whatever he said in a half-assed sort of transcription.

      [Chris: For future reference, should something like this come up again, tell the interviewee to hold off for a while until you can set up a way to record the call and then properly transcribe the interview. At least try and edit the results so that the mix-and-match "Bruce thinks" and direct quotes reads a little better. This reads like notes I take in class on my iPaq - I don't have time to write down every word, but I write down what I think it's important to know for the class. In the case of an interview, it really should be recorded so an appropriate transcription can be made - every word the interviewee speaks is important to the audience.]

      The better interview was the one where the interviewee wrote his own answers and didn't rely on a third party to get the message across. It's not suprising that Wil's interview sounded better.

      (Although this interview at least delineated the end of the question and the start of the answer...)

    • Now that we've had Wil and Bruce on the show...


      Gee...can't we get some real guests? =)


      (It's a joke, not flamebait. Learn the difference.)

  • to say "Campbell's performance was 'mmm, mmm, good'..."

    Probably not, too obvious.

  • Safeway? (Score:5, Funny)

    by soulsteal ( 104635 ) <soulsteal@RABBIT ... minus herbivore> on Wednesday November 28, 2001 @06:39PM (#2627400) Homepage
    "dodged a bullet, as a B movie actor can do what he loves and still shop at the safeway"


    Doesn't he mean S-Mart??


    Shop Smart, shop S-Mart!

  • Couldn't his answers have been recorded and written down word for word? If the slashdot editors can handle the Slashdot website, I think they can handle a tape recorder.
    • As Chris DiBona answered, Bruce called them 'out of the blue', so they weren't prepared to record the phone call. And if you've ever tried to hold a manual tape recorder up to a phone, you'd know how impractical (and tiring) it is. Plus the sound quality sucks ass.
      • That is no excuse.. I mean, I am 100% ready to record any call that comes to me, trace it to the source, and have my men on them before I hang u.. oh nevermind..

        If he did get a call just out of the blue, from someone that seems to be so busy, he really had no choice but to write as he talked. To tell you the truth, I hadn't really heard of this person before this article came up, and I found it fairly informing, but all the 3rd party references was a bit annoying.

        Ah well, the stories will still come, not really a big deal.

        Zeno
      • And if you've ever tried to hold a manual tape recorder up to a phone, you'd know how impractical (and tiring) it is.

        Uh, the technology to tape a telephone conversation has been around for quite a while. For $14.99 he could have just bought the RadioShack Recorder-to-phone adapter 43-1237 [radioshack.com] and done a proper interview.

        • Again, according to Chris, he called out of the blue. And he was supposedly in a hurry. That's no time to run to Radio Shack to pick up one of those. I would hope that they went out and got one for the next time this happens, but if they didn't already have one . . .

          I mean, even if they did, if Bruce was really busy, Chris probably didn't want to tell a big movie star "can you hang on while I go searching for our tape recorder, it'll only be 10 minutes or so..."

  • Ugh.... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by scaramush ( 472955 ) on Wednesday November 28, 2001 @06:42PM (#2627422) Homepage Journal

    I understand the man is busy, but can you get any lamer than "The answer is in the book, go buy it"? (The "High School Question" by compugeek007)

    /. is probably consists of a large number of Bruce's fans. Throwing us a bit of a bone (IE actually taking the time to answer the questions with an iota of thought) wouldn't have killed him, and would have been a nice gesture. The interview looks esp. lame compared to the recent interview with Ben Edlund [slashdot.org].

    I guess somebody told Bruce geeks don't buy dead-tree volumes, so we didn't make it on to the PR schedule.

    • The answer is yes. It was more towards the end of High School. It was either college or movies.

      Geez, what more do you want, an excerpt from the book? RTFB!

    • Hey, some of us didn't know he had a book, so saying that was a good thing (salesmanship-wise.)
    • I think the problem is that the slashdot staff are not writers. I could hear Bruce making a joke, hence 'which everyone should buy'. It's funny that way, but it didn't come across readily.

      If he were being an ass, he wouldn't have answered it at all.

      That said, I think full transcriptions of a taped interview (both interviewer and interviewee) would be best in future non-email situations.
    • OK, if Bruce is busy enough to the point that he can't write the answers in email format himself, can we expect him to explain something that is truley covered in his book.

      BTW, the book was a fun and relatively quick read. I would definately recommend picking it up for some light reading.
  • Kind of weird reading an interview expressed in 3rd person. It just doesn't pack the same punch. But I guess Bruce is cool ... may I call him Bruce?
  • I love how the interview changes from first to third person consistently.

    Instead of feeling like a third party acting as a laison (which it is), it feels like Bruce is speaking and just referring to himself in third person ;)
  • I know that this was one of the more-anticipated interviews done recently here, and I know that you were in a hurry to get it out, but this half-assed transcription is lifeless and boring -- I gave up after two questions.

    Please sit down and take the time to actually transcribe Bruce's answers in full from tape. (You did tape this, right?) If you really can't be bothered to do that, just convert them to some appropriate audio file format and put them up somewhere where they can be downloaded.
    • Ive heard that he got called out of the blue..

      I think a better suggestion would be this, when they send out the questions to whoever, just have something that says if they are going to call by phone they have to give advance notice. They could then properly tape and transcribe the call.
  • I wanted to get Bruce's reaction to Wil's question! Dammit, call him back and ask it!
    • I actually thought that was one of the funnier questions. And many of the questions asked were already asked/answered in the book or on the web site.

      But given that ChrisD wasn't expecting the call, the hastily asked questions make sense and are to be expected on such short notice.

      robi

  • Not a good analogy (Score:2, Insightful)

    by felipeal ( 177452 )
    So, when asked Bruce says "Tell me the plot of nightmare on elm street part 4" or "Friday the 13th part 4".

    I can't tell you the plot from those movies, because they were basicly the same (or even Halloween IV). But I can tell you the plot from New Nightmare (the 7th movie), Jason goes to Hell (the 9th) or Halloween H20 (the 7th too), because they were diferent. Similarly, I don't remember the differences between the ED1 and ED2 (they were basically the same), but I do remember Army of Darkness (a.k.a ID3).

    And there are many other examples, like the Lethal Weapon, Superman and Rocky series.
    • I thought ED2 was a remake of ED1, with ED3 actually being ED2...

      Maybe that's just how similar they seemed...
      • Maybe. It's been a long time since I watched them (they're actually in my TOREDO list :)
        ED1 was a very-low budget film (I think Sam Reimi was still a student at the time), but was a great one. Maybe ED2 could be considered as a sequel and remake (with better budget) at the same time. It's very similar to the El Mariachi/Desperado saga (which coincidently has a 3rd movie in production too, Once upon a time in Mexico :)

  • Sorry if you don't like the transcription. (Score:5, Informative)

    by chrisd ( 1457 ) <chrisd@dibona.com> on Wednesday November 28, 2001 @06:52PM (#2627477) Homepage
    I was actually expecting Bruce Campbell to email the answers, and out of the blue he called on the phone. I have no phone-connected tape-recorder on hand either, so I just typed like mad, and some of that, ahem, quality came though. I tried to get quotes down as well as I could and convey the conversation as well as I could. It was this or not get the questions back for a month or more.

    Chris

    • hehehe.. thats what it looked like ;) The jeers aren't really at you Chris, but more towards Bruce for not taking slashdot seriously enough to properly answer by either e-mail or having his assistant/book publisher make an appointment to have the interview dictated properly.

      bad bruce bad

      • I wouldnt' blame Bruce actually as I think there was some confusion in the me-publicist-bruce triangle. I certainly could have done a better job in the writing. It's a real shame that , as another poster noted, that you can't really convey his style and speaking though this sort of write-up.

        Chris

        • I do find the manerisms of the interviewed subject particularly interesting especially with real fun people like Will W. & Bruce.

          I'll just plan on staying tuned to read the text interview when/if Bruce gets back with you.

          robi
        • While I agree that waiting a month wouldn't be so bad, I'd like to say thanks to Chris for giving it his best shot. So maybe he made a bad decision, but at least he tried to make the best of an apparently awkward situation.

          I think the reason we wouldn't mind waiting a(nother) month is that we've gotten used to it. I simply forget about the interview once the questions are posted, and am later delighted to find the responses!

          -Paul Komarek
    • Hello. I mean no disrespect, but that does not seem to be a terribly professional way to conduct an interview. This is simply my opinion, and I do not mean any criticism.

      Personally I would have rather waited a month for a more coherent interview. (Or maybe that is just my poor English skills ^_^) Again, that is only my opinion. I must say that I am not a large Bruce Campbell like many here appear to be, but I am familiar with his career and movies, and I was interested in a better representation of his answers.

      Thank you.

      R. Suzuka
      • Hello. I mean no disrespect, but that does not seem to be a terribly professional way to conduct an interview. This is simply my opinion, and I do not mean any criticism.

        Speaking as someone who has been involved in several interviews over the past couple of years (for radio, newspaper, TV, and webcasts), I think I can say that if you mean 'professional' as 'done the way it normally is', then this interview pretty much illustrates the quality of much of today's journalism. (No offense, chrisd--I thought you did a lot better than many people do in your situation.)

        Often when you get interviewed, it is over the phone or sitting in a cafe or--god forbid--standing in front of a display in Miniature World. :) Even if some form of recording is made at the time, what ends up getting relayed to the public is usually chopped all to hell, rearranged, and sometimes presented completely out of context. I like to think that it's not malicious and is just due to time contraints, but sometimes you wonder whether it was done to make something sound better.

        The usual Slashdot method of 'interviewing' doesn't really even deserve the name--it's too honest. Whereas a newspaper or TV show will present snippets of what the interviewee actually said. On Slashdot, you get the actual words--all of them. You get that in very few other venues.

        So maybe we're just spoiled here, but I don't think that from a journalistic integrity point of view that there is a problem with this interview...it just isn't as different from what you get in a newspaper than Slashdot interviews normally are.

        • hummmmmm

          I hadn't looked at it like that. Good point. The amount of editing done by the /. team on the response is probably next to nill so you can actually get what the subject meant to say! I already guessed that the /. interviews were pretty honest (purely supposition on my part), but this theory makes even more sense.

          robi
      • I am not a large Bruce Campbell like many here appear to be

        Don't let appearances fool you, most here use the Gimp to doctor themselves. I, on the other hand, really am a large Bruce Campbell.
    • I really would have rather waited the month or more. you could have explained the reasons in a slashback and we would have understood. instead, we're now faced with an interview that barely answers any of the questions, lifeless, and presents Bruce Campbell in a severely unflatering light. your shoddy interview makes Bruce look like he doesn't care about his fans, and that's not fair to him or to us. I suggest that you shoot Bruce an email and tell him that you'd like to do a second, more in depth interview ON HIS TIME, and appologize for this butchery. it's only fair.

      .
    • Why didn't you post a reply to the original post, rather than start your own thread ?
    • ...is that you, being a prominent geek, didn't have a line from the phone to your computer, where you could digitize the signal and pipe it through a speech recognition engine, and transcribe it directly to Slashdot in real time. Isn't that what geeks are for? Whatsa matta wit you? ;)

      On a serious note though, why didn't you schedule the phone interview for the next day or something (or whenever was good for Bruce), and then go immediately acquire a tape recorder in the meantime? Too much Oh-My-God-Ash-Is-On-The-Phone-Now-Now-Now syndrome? :)

  • Snowfox's Post Comment (Score:5, Funny)

    by Snowfox ( 34467 ) <(ten.xofwons) (ta) (xofwons)> on Wednesday November 28, 2001 @06:53PM (#2627484) Homepage
    Snowfox said that the article was interesting and amusing, but felt it was a little strange that a third party was relaying the answers for him.

    Response typed for Snowfox by an amused coworker.

  • The reason behind 3rd Person (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 28, 2001 @06:55PM (#2627492)
    chrisd: "So, Um, this guy online asks if you would ever hang out with a fan"

    Bruce: "What the hell? What kind of stupid question is that, asshat? I can't believe I let my agent talk me into replying to some nerds questions. Damn, go back to your nerd convention and talk about how Spock's ears were pointier in Star Trek 4 or something, I'm outta here"

    chrisd, typing 2 hours later: "Bruce has worked with fans for things like con bookings and become friends with them."

  • Hey, give the guy a break (Score:5, Funny)

    by dlek ( 324832 ) on Wednesday November 28, 2001 @06:57PM (#2627508)

    So the guy doesn't have the time to type in answers to the questions. It's not easy to type when one of your arms is a chainsaw, you know.

    <grin>

    -dlek.

  • Signings... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ackthpt ( 218170 ) on Wednesday November 28, 2001 @07:04PM (#2627534) Homepage Journal
    Not with Bruce, but with Bill Bryson (Walk in the Woods, Neither Here nor There, etc.) I asked him, jokingly to sign it "Congratulations eBay High Bidder!"

    It was good for a chuckle, but something in his laugh suggested it was actually a little bit sensitive. I wonder if Bruce (or even Wil, if he's reading) has any thoughts on the weasels who show up to get things autographed generically to hawk as soon as they get home.

    • I think authors in general know the value of their books go up when they sign them. Its really a win-win situation. Authors sell more books when they do tours, so they go on tour. Bookstores sell more books when authors come to sign. And the people who buy books get extra value when they come to a booksigning and buy a signed book.


      We were lucky enough to get BC to come to our store for a signing, and believe me, this interview would have been much more interesting if they just transcribed it rather than doing the 3rd person thing. Bruce is just as funny in person as he is in his movies. Bruce signed all the books with funny soundbites from his movies(mine says 'Shop Smart!') so I know he was well aware of the collector value he was imparting to the people buying his book. I doubt it bothers him at all.

      • Interesting. I'm not much of an autograph hound, as I prefer to cut celebs a wide berth, expecting they would appreciate as much. I have been to a few book signings, but chiefly to hear the authors speak. I wouldn't dream of selling any of these. I've had the luck to meet

        the late Douglas Adams w/Terry Jones

        Bill Bryson

        Neil Gaiman (thanks to a timely interview and link on /.)

        Dave Barry

        I wish I'd caught Bruce, but often schedule or shear distance doesn't allow (had to drive 120 miles, each way, for DNA and TJ, but Bill Bryson was walking distance from home.)

  • This format is terrible, what were you thinking. Isnt there a standard for interviews, if Bruce sees this he might burn /.

    its sad how it goes from "he" to 'me" in the same paragraph without quotations:

    And then there are the ones that are completely outside the "winking-wise ass" category, like the appearance on Homicide where people come up to me and are like "You did a role where you weren't a funny guy", which is nice, he noted, because it shows that he's more than just the kookie actor.

    If Bruce is talking, shouldn't you quote him.

  • Too Bad.... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by oliana ( 181649 ) on Wednesday November 28, 2001 @07:35PM (#2627651) Homepage
    We've been spoilt by interviewees who answer big and huge, and now we get half tales. 'Tis a pity too, because it sounds like chrisd had a real neat time interviewing.

    Kudos on the attempt, but feel free to tell Bruce that Slashdot is not done with him. :)

    Maybe next time?

    O
    • I think people have forgotten just how bad the Metallica (was his name Lars or something?) phone interview went. The Metallica guy came off as a complete dick, ass, and idiot. I believe that interview was transcribed more-or-less exactly, and several people commented that Lars or whoever really did sound that dumb in "real life".

      When people sit down and write, they're much more careful than when they talk. Oral and literate styles are very different. When someone answers the questions via email, they have a chance to reread the questions and edit their responses, possibly doing so multiple times. Yet some people still screw it up, like the Bush campaign in their slashdot interview.

      If we've forgotten just how bad it can be, then we are definitely spoiled brats. I'm glad Bruce cared enough to make the phone call, and that Chris did the best he could at the time.

      -Paul Komarek

  • Lest Aspersions Be Cast (Score:4, Insightful)

    by jmoriarty ( 179788 ) on Wednesday November 28, 2001 @07:37PM (#2627663)
    The reason for the odd answer format has already been discussed, but lest anyone think less of Bruce I must post the following.

    Bruce is one of the most genuine "showbiz" people I've ever met or even heard about. I met him at a book signing in Phoenix a few months ago. He was articulate, genuine, and funny. He stayed to sign autographs for oer 5 hours! The bookstore was past it's closing time but he had the employees stay until every single fan had their book (or Ash action figure, or DVD, etc) signed. Why he doesn't have an arm like Popeye from all those autographs, I have no idea.

    Check his site [bruce-campbell.com] to see if his is going to be in your area, and make the time to see him. The book is also a very good read, and you will learn far more about Bruce than you will from this interview.

  • Still haven't heard anything about Bubba Hotep (Score:3, Informative)

    by Spy4MS ( 324340 ) on Wednesday November 28, 2001 @07:43PM (#2627675)
    I asked that question and I guess either nobody had heard of the film or nobody cared (or everybody hates my handle!). The more I look for info on it, the less new stuff I find. I heard filming is complete, but it hasn't been released yet.

    The plot (penned by Joe Lansdale) sounds really cool: an aging Elvis (Bruce) with penis cancer battles a soul-sucking mummy, with help from a guy who thinks he's JFK. It's also directed by Don Coscarelli of Phantasm fame.

    BTW, the interview was not that bad -- I learned a few (very few) things I didn't know from his book. But you really have to get it firsthand to appreciate how funny the guy is. Maybe this is a mistake, but here's his personal email address: BCACT(at)aol.com. I hear he answers most mail personally. He's also got a pretty good website www.bruce-campbell.com.

  • Let's ask Wil! (Score:2, Flamebait)

    by BrynM ( 217883 )
    What about asking Wil to interview future stars? That sould lend a bit more credibility to /. so we don't get shoved aside like this in the future. I can hear it now...

    Bruce (or PR guy):"Who the fsck is slash dot? I don't have time for this!"

    How about it Wil? Wil you help us? If not Wil, does anyone else out there with entertainment clout want to help?

  • Whatever.... (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by ellem ( 147712 )
    I can't believe my 5 Funny Question was not asked!

    You know the one about who he's slept with...

    Damn you Taco, damn you to Hell!
  • Many interview I've read have the thoughts and observations of the writer interpreting the interview subject. But in those interviews, when the actor wants to convey a key point, a direct quote is used. Not here. I can't tell what Bruce said from what Chrisd wrote. I don't know if anything here is verbatim. That sucks, because I was looking forward to this interview. Hell, Bruce's agent could've answered this stuff.

    And it would have been nice if you didn't ask a bunch of stuff that's already on Bruce's website. Hell, anyone who went to bruce-campbell.com [bruce-campbell.com] already knew why there's not going to be an Evil Dead 4. I felt like I've read all of this stuff before. Next time, maybe the interviewER could do some homework.

  • In defense of the interviewer... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Major ( 14936 ) <major@optonline. n e t> on Wednesday November 28, 2001 @09:13PM (#2628101) Homepage
    I'll probably get flamed back to medieval times (sans nifty anachronistic weapons) for attempting to defend a slashdot editor, but here goes anyway.

    I maintained a website for an actor for over 2 years, and we used to do periodic phone interviews. Fans would submit questions through a form on the website, I would round up the best of the bunch, and then ask the actor. I would then record his answers on a tape recorder connected to the phone (thank you, Radio Shack) and transcribe the interview word-for-word, as everyone's been clamouring for in this instance.

    Now here comes the swat to all you complaining bozos... if the Very Busy Actor calls you and actually has time to sit down and do an interview, you cannot and do not say "I'm sorry man, but now's not a good time for me." No matter how nice a celebrity is, or how much he/she/it would love to do an interview, they're always going to be pressed for time (unless they're a former child-star or an ex-football player ;-)).

    You thoughtless idjuts should thank ChrisD for doing the best he could with the resources at his disposal. Be glad you got what you got!

    Thus endeth the rant.

    --=Major

  • Some personal insigts (Score:4, Insightful)

    by bryan1945 ( 301828 ) on Wednesday November 28, 2001 @09:45PM (#2628240) Journal
    I have had the chance to meet Bruce twice, and got to ask some of the same questions.

    As for the busy part- the first time I got to speak with him, he had flown out that afternoon for the 8PM or so show and stayed till 3AM talking and signing autographs. He then had a 7AM flight out. At the time he was in between seasons of Xena, so he wasn't at peak operating tempo. So I can se him being rather busy, plus he is not a huge computer guy, and he does tend to do things off the cuff.

    At that time, Autolocus was his favorite character- kinda offbeat, trying to be a bad guy but not quite pulling it off all the way. He also claimed that his horse from Brisco County really was that smart... but he had a firm smirk when he said it, so take it or leave it.

    As for Evil Dead 1 & 2- the official word (from the commentary off ED2 Special Edition) is that Ash was dumb enough to go back to the same cabin after the first slaughter. Yes, it's similar, but it is not a remake.

    As for his "buy the book" comments... this is part of his livlihood. If someone interviewed you about your consulting practices (assuming you are a consultant), would you freely give out all your experiences learned or would you tell them to hire you? Remember, he's not in the $20Mil actor's club.

    Another interesting bit for you horror fans- Bruce is actively being courted to play a lead part in Phantasm 5(6?). The plot is a Romero/Phantasm combo that forgets about the last couple of abominations of Phantasm sequels.

    As for Chris's transcription- tough break. Try and get Bruce back sometime with email or a recorded conversation to clarify, and also use this as a learning experience for future interviews.

    As for the second time I met Bruce.... well, he tried to dissuade my (then fiancee) from marrying me. Luckily it didn't work! I'm still not sure how serious he was, but he did have that smirk going....

  • maybe i'm lame... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by spir0 ( 319821 )
    but I thought it was ok.

    I mean, as long as they are bruce's opinions and if it's pretty accurate, then what's wrong with it?

    it's still an interview.. it's just given to us differently. some people hate change..

    thanks chrisd. you did good with what you had.
  • The way i see it, any professional not doing live tv is used to a certain amount of procedure in their work. If any of you super-pundits received an unexpected phone call from Bruce "come get some" Campbell in his own voice, I can almost guarantee that your eloquent appraisal of the situation would sound very much like....

    "auauauauauauauauahhhhhhhhhhhh"

    Cheers to chrisd for at least giving us a whiff of Bruce.

    j
  • Is he famous for anything I'd have seen in the UK?

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