59 Quotes by Bruce Campbell
Bruce Campbell, born on June 22, 1958, is an American actor, producer, and writer known for his roles in cult classic horror films, particularly his portrayal of the iconic character Ash Williams in the "Evil Dead" franchise. Campbell's distinctive combination of humor, wit, and physicality has made him a beloved figure in the horror genre.
His collaborations with director Sam Raimi, including the "Evil Dead" series and "Darkman," have become cult favorites, showcasing Campbell's unique blend of slapstick comedy and over-the-top action. Beyond horror, Campbell has appeared in a wide range of film and television projects, showcasing his versatility as an actor.
He has also embraced his status as a cult icon, engaging with fans at conventions and in various media outlets. Campbell's charismatic presence, sharp comedic timing, and dedication to his craft have made him a fan favorite and a staple in the world of cult cinema.
Bruce Campbell Quotes
When life gives you lemons, throw them at the zombies.
People who sleep around to get roles are frail and scared and most likely without talent. It's their own little horror show that only they can deal with.
Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun
All men think they're fascinating. In my case, it's justified.
If you have it you don't need it. If you need it, you don't have it. If you have it, you need more of it. If you have more of it, you don't need less of it. You need it to get it. And you certainly need it to get more of it. But if you don't already have any of it to begin with, you can't get any of it to get started, which means you really have no idea how to get it in the first place, do you? You can share it, sure. You can even stockpile it if you like. But you can't fake it. Wanting it. Needing it. Wishing for it. The point is if you've never had any of it ever people just seem to know.
We make our own problems every time. Everything that we complain about is something we can solve.
If I had all the money in the world, I'd still make movies. But I'd want them to pay me in donuts.
Every word out of my mouth is a word that I've approved.
Only comedies can get you that engaged in a movie, dramas people just sort of sit there and eat their popcorn and nothing really happens, they might cry a little bit, but that's it. Horror movies are talking at the screen, guys are elbowing each other, laughing at each other because they got scared. That's the beauty of a horror movie.
Once you look past the hype, actors are nothing more than fugitives from reality who specialize in contradiction: we are both children and hardened adults—wide-eyed pupils and jaded working stiffs.
Actors who say they can dive inside a character are either schizophrenic or lying.
Sometimes you fail your chemistry test and other times it's explosive.
I'm not really that sick of Evil Dead. I can trace all roots back to The Evil Dead movies, so I have nothing against them. It's just that I've done more non-Evil Dead stuff; it's not the only thing I've done. There are some actors who have done a cult movie and they are forever going to be the Policeman #2 in Plan 9 From Outer Space.
A cult classic is one that has been fully embraced by an alternative audience, not the popular audience.
You have to be careful with fans, they'll turn on you. They turn quick. Twitter can go dark fast. If you talk about something serious on Twitter, you better be ready. If you try to pull out real facts or talk about political opinions or something religious, forget it. Like if people asked me who I was voting for, you couldn't touch that one.
If you ain't got socks, you ain't got much. But if you got 'em, you might as well pull 'em up. It's a statement of self-sufficiency. We should all be more self-governed.
I'm sick of over-trained heroes. I'm really bored with that. Guys that are just ripped to shreds and full of skills. That's boring me. Give me the mechanic that picks up a weapon. Now I'm interested. That's my hero.
There are MAYBE 30 years worth of ideas out there... watch for the feature version of ER in about 25 years... Hollywood has become hopelessly chained to the bottom line.
Genres pop up and get hot and then they die down.
Actors are always going to have a little bit of themselves in everything.
Studios might cast an actor because he is too tall next to the leading lady, who is too short, or they might not cast your guy because he's blond, and they wanted a brunette. There's all kinds of reasons why they want one person over another. I don't worry about it, but it can hurt sometimes if you really wanted something, if you really went after something.
Funny stories on set - there are thousands of them, but they are only funny to the people who were on the movies. You start to have inside jokes and gallows humor. You have all kinds of things you laugh at, but as soon as you tell somebody, the joke falls flat because they don't know the context of it.
You might meet a guy who turns out to be the best guy you've worked with. They don't have to be some name brand person. I've met a lot of lower level actors and directors who were terrific; that are as good as any other A level director or actor, they just don't get the recognition. So I'm happy working with anybody who wants to show up to play the game and has a clue.
Such is an actor's life. We must ride the waves of every film, barfing occasionally, yet maintain our dignity, even as the bulk of our Herculean efforts are keel-hauled before our very eyes.
It's very gratifying that someone likes what you're selling.
You have to have horror that is entertaining, where you can laugh. Most people don't want you to laugh at horror. They just want you to just be disgusted and terrified.
Every single bit of entertainment is escapism. It's because you are saying, "Let's see what this other person's life is like." And also it's beyond escapism, its entertainment and art as such can elevate the species. The entertainer supposedly is the muse. They're the ones who tell you what is wrong with society in a humorous way. They're the ones who do an expose about this or a documentary about that about the injustice of this. So it can be a very powerful medium.
I've managed to make a living in a very ridiculous business, and that's fine with me. The trick now is, after you've been in it for a while, you still have to remember to have fun.
You're not looking for the Rolls Royce and the big fancy trailer. Those are supposed to be the byproducts of having fun and then getting good at what you do.
There shouldn't be any censorship. This is America. There shouldn't be any of this freedom of the press, freedom of expression, but having said that, I think what's important is that people who make movies don't try to falsely lure people in to see the movie that don't want to be there. A kid should not see Evil Dead and we knew that.
Everybody's got brain matter in their hair, and somehow that makes it a very happy workplace.
You can't get a movie made without a script; it's the blueprint to your building.
If you go to Hollywood, you've already sold out.
We've all made bad decisions, but they haven't always been resulting in the deaths of innocent people.
Cult films last forever. I have been in plenty of films that no one will remember, so it is nice to be in some movies that some people do, and that they pass it along to the next generation I'm meeting kids named Ash now.
It'll die down like every other genre, but horror has always been one of the four or five main genres that will never go away.
Evil Dead 1' was never supposed to have a sequel.
You'll lose about two million brain cells every minute that goes by.
My father was in the ad business, and he wanted to be a painter.
You have to take the horror seriously but there's gags aplenty. Most people, when they do horror it's just grim.
I've always enjoyed playing a little left of center characters. Otherwise I'd be on a soap opera.
If you don't have any money and you want to make a horror movie, take a six-inch wide brush for house painting and dip that in a bucket of blood, and then just flick your wrist. You'll get this great speckled splash of blood, and it will cost you nothing.
If there's any elements that you see or don't see in the series it will only be because of some legal thing. Not all of the companies like each other. Some are like, "Don't use this, don't use that." We don't have control over the whole thing.
Producers might cast an actor because he is too tall next to the leading lady, who is too short, or they might not cast your guy because he's blond, and they wanted a brunette. There's all kinds of reasons why they want one person over another. I don't worry about it, but it can hurt sometimes if you really wanted something, if you really went after something.
You could have a bunch of good actors but they can't keep a relationship to save their lives. Everyone thinks it's so glamorous that Ben Affleck is sleeping with all these different chicks. It's only because he can't keep a single relationship because he's working all the time.
All entertainment is an element of fantasy because you are seeing something that is not quite real. There is no such thing as reality TV. Reality TV would be to leave a camera on in front of someone's house. Just leave it on. Then whenever the person comes or goes walking the dog or getting groceries, that's what it would be like. Any time you make an edit, you've lost reality TV. You're either compressing time or extending. That's a term that's been overused and overexposed. I think it's fantasy movies that take the fantasy of movies even further.
Too many actors are trying to be cool: they're trying to do it with their hair, trying to do it with the color, trying to do it with clothes, or some bullshit attitude you're either cool or you're not, that is my theory. If you have to try, it is too late.
I prefer a much looser style. Any time a writer thinks he has all the answers to how someone should talk or react or end a scene, it's a spontaneity - killer. I don't get making sure you get every word right in some stupid speech just because a writer sat there and did it.
You can't show up on set and expect it all to come together. You have to have a plan, much like how the director can't just show up and go, well, where should I put the camera? That is gonna determine how it is lit, you should have already been in the room looking at it earlier, pre-lit the room, you know there is a lot of prep that goes into it, so it is the same thing with acting. You can't just show up.
Digital blood is not effective.
Westerns pop up every so often, everybody does a western and then they all die.
I don't care about the genre so much. I'm good with horror, but I like other genres, too.
Any time a writer thinks he has all the answers to how someone should talk or react or end a scene, it's a spontaneity-killer.
The happy medium is television. And if you find a good suitor, you can do it for years. With movies, you roll the dice. If people don't show that weekend, you're doomed. TV allows you to percolate a little bit, and it gives you a chance for people to find it.
The prospects were depressing: Adulthood meant that I'd have to stop having fun and do something I didn't really want to do for the rest of my life – which was apparently a considerable chunk of time.
Horror I appreciate is one of the few genres that can wind the audience up and make them pay attention. I kind of like that. It's one of the few genres that can be very manipulative.
It's smart to have a set of younger actors. People don't always want to look at me. They want to look at other people.
The words are the words. Seriously. Meaning you don't have boo-boo words. You can do boo-boo things. You can have sex, carnage, mayhem, whatever you're looking for. "The Evil Dead" movies, in my opinion, function better in an unrestricted world.
I'm not interested in making a $60-million studio film with a bunch of 24-year-olds telling me what to do.
― Bruce Campbell Quotes
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Tal Gur is an author, founder, and impact-driven entrepreneur at heart. After trading his daily grind for a life of his own daring design, he spent a decade pursuing 100 major life goals around the globe. His journey and most recent book, The Art of Fully Living, has led him to found Elevate Society.
