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Kiss his Ash

Burn Notice's Bruce Campbell may not be an A-lister, but the big-chinned actor is an icon, nonetheless

By Dan Sweeney

For a weird segment of the population, Bruce Campbell is the finest actor working today. The star of Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead" trilogy is treated with a sort of awe among his rabid fan base, so much so that the actor put out an indie film last year, "My Name Is Bruce," lampooning "Evil Dead" fanboys. Despite these accolades, Campbell has never quite hit mainstream success, a fact he bemoans in his two autobiographical books, "If Chins Could Kill" and "Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way." In fact, his current run as wisecracking sidekick Sam Axe on USA Network's "Burn Notice" may be the closest he's come to the great brass ring.

I have counted myself as something of a Campbell aficionado ever since his all-too-short-lived series "The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.," which I watched faithfully in high school. From there, I gained an appreciation for Campbell's complete oeuvre, and can now quote large parts of "Army of Darkness" from rote. So when I heard Campbell was appearing at this year's Florida Supercon, the annual comic-book convention held in Miami, I swept aside the usual format of this column and have replaced it with a Campbell Q&A. I reached the man by phone while he was driving to a "Burn Notice" set.

So where you headed exactly?
We're filming in downtown Miami, but we're all over town. Sixty percent of the show is outdoors, so we have to move around.

So you've gotten to know the city?
I guess so. I couldn't tell you where everything is. I go to a lot of places in the dark and come home in the dark. I'm in the dark a lot.

You're putting in an appearance at this local comic-book convention —
That's right. Supercon!

You do a lot of these appearances?
I squeeze 'em out. If it's time to sell a movie, I'll do a few to get the word out, but I don't do as many when I've got a television show. But this is in Miami, and I'm in Miami, so I figured I'd go out. Besides, it's market research. I look at what people are bringing me to sign, and I can gauge what people are into—more "Army of Darkness" stuff, less "Xena" stuff, or whatever. That, and I get to torment fans directly.

How do you go about tormenting your fans?
Throwing dumb questions right back at'em. Like, someone says, "Can you say, 'groovy'?" And I say, "Sure, if I'm your little monkey."

You actually get a lot of that? People telling you to say "groovy" or "Listen up, you primitive screwheads"?
There's some of that—say this line, say that line. And there's a lot of the Ash vs. so-and-so: Who would win? Like Jason vs. Freddy. And the answer is nobody, the franchises wouldn't allow it.

Still, that kinda shows what dedicated fans you have. Explain the Bruce Campbell je ne sais quoi.
I think I'm as irreverent as the average college kid, and they like that. I don't think they like the straight hero role. Some people like the antihero more than the regular hero. I'm not the CIA operative, "Bourne Identity" thing. To me, that's too humorless. … Also, I think there's a group of people that like weirder stuff, more extreme stuff. And I'll do a movie every so often that suits that palate.

Speaking of more-extreme stuff, what do you think about Sam Raimi's return to horror with "Drag Me to Hell?"
I think it's gonna kick some serious ass. I think "Drag Me to Hell" is gonna make Sam feel heavenly. Now that he's done all these studio pictures, he's finally allowed to have control over his film, and he hasn't had full control since the first "Evil Dead" movie. Control is quite the aphrodisiac to a creative type. And so this audience is gonna be punished bad. … Audience members pay for their own punishment. It's a weird thing. These are the thrill-seekers, the people that go on rides at amusement parks. They want to have that feeling of thinking, "Oh, my God, I'm gonna die! Oh, wait, I'm still alive."

You've certainly got a wider audience with "Burn Notice" now, though. How's that coming?
We hit the airwaves for the third season June 4. New time slot, 9 p.m. instead of 10 p.m. I guess they want us to be even more successful. Every time I don't star in the show, it lasts a long time. So being supporting, it'll last five, six years at least. People can only take so much of me is what it boils down to, I think.

I've been disappointed myself in how brief your starring stints have been. I watched Brisco County religiously.
Ah, so you were the one.

Yeah, that was me. So you spend a lot of your time in Miami now, yeah?
Almost seven months of the year. Each of 16 episodes takes seven days to shoot. I have a place in Oregon, and I haven't seen it since February, and I don't know when I'll see it next.

So how do you like our town?
It's pretty freewheeling. Not a whole lot of rules here. And if there are, people aren't really following them. It's a collision of cultures, which is a good thing because it's something we all have to get used to. Very good-looking people here, too, which is good. And if you like sweating, this is it. Oregon is so dry my face cracks off. Here, it's a little better.

Any drawbacks?
The minuses? I'll take a few more sidewalks. It's not a pedestrian or bike-friendly town.

Anything to add for the people coming to Supercon?
Just want to get the word out to folks that want to come out to this convention. There are many, many luminaries there to gawk at. My good friend Ted Raimi'll be there. … I hope these are fun for fans, some conventions are nice to people, others are not. And these fans are my clients! I gotta make sure my homies are taken care of.

Last question. Will you say "groovy"?
I'm not your monkey.