Few actors have consistently portrayed a character as long as Bruce Campbell has played Ash Williams from the "Evil Dead" franchise. While Campbell has certainly branched out into other roles over the past 40 years, including Elvis Presley and Ronald Reagan, he has always come back to Ash in films, the "Ash vs. Evil Dead" TV series, and even video games. Now, though, Campbell seems to finally be finished with the character that kick started his career. What prompted him to leave Ash behind? Will he really never return to the character? And can the "Evil Dead" franchise go on without him? Here's why Bruce Campbell was never the same after "Evil Dead."
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Bruce Campbell's portrayal of Ash in the Evil Dead franchise is straight-up iconic.
00:05But what made him miserable while making those first movies?
00:08Why did he come back?
00:10And could he really be done with the role forever?
00:13Keep watching to find out.
00:15Few actors have committed harder to their roles than Bruce Campbell.
00:18The Chin spent close to 40 years playing Ash Williams in the Evil Dead franchise, going
00:23back to the very first movie in 1981.
00:26In the years that came after, he reprised the role in a pair of film sequels, voiced
00:30him in a trio of video games, starred in three seasons of the TV show Ash vs. Evil Dead,
00:36and even popped in for a post-credits cameo in 2013's Evil Dead reboot.
00:41Like all good things, however, Campbell can't wield his boomstick forever, and he has now
00:45made it clear that he's done bringing the character to life.
00:48Campbell didn't wait to break the news, either, taking to social media to state he had
00:52Retired as Ash shortly before the Ash vs. Evil Dead series finale aired in 2018.
00:58He has elaborated on his reasons for doing so since then, telling Collider in 2021,
01:03"...whatever the clichéd phrase is, I left it all on the table.
01:06I've got nothing left to give."
01:09It all began with Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead, a no-budget horror movie that Raimi, Campbell,
01:14and their longtime producer Rob Tapert bent over backwards to finance.
01:18Things didn't get any easier after that, either, with filming taking place in a run-down cabin
01:23miles from civilization in the Tennessee woods.
01:26Describing the experience, Campbell said,
01:28"...from the beginning to the end, they were all low points.
01:31You were in a cabin that had not been occupied in decades and had no power or running water,
01:36no sewage, no nothing.
01:38It was kind of like camping out for 12 weeks, but meanwhile you're trying to do a movie.
01:43We were miserable all day long."
01:45Thanks to the film's success, Raimi, Campbell, and Tapert were able to secure proper funding
01:50and resources when they reunited for the sequel, Evil Dead 2, in 1987.
01:55But even more so than in the first movie, Raimi delighted in tormenting Campbell by
01:59subjecting Ash to all sorts of Deadite-related mishaps.
02:03Campbell took it all like the champ he is, too, no matter how tiring or gooey the stunt
02:08was.
02:09That remained the case in, by far, the most comedic of the Evil Dead films, 1992's Army
02:14of Darkness.
02:15"...Hail to the king, baby."
02:17Raimi's movie basically turns Ash into a Looney Tunes character, although the barometer would
02:21later shift closer to horror in Ash vs. Evil Dead, a series set years after Army of Darkness.
02:27This series also features some of the grossest human-versus-Deadite battles in the entire
02:32franchise.
02:33Campbell's enduring appeal as Ash lies with his ability to retain his swagger and shake
02:37off whatever nastiness the Necronomicon throws his way, no matter how painful or disgusting.
02:43At the same time, this makes the role incredibly physically demanding to play.
02:47Campbell admitted this really caught up to him during filming on Ash vs. Evil Dead, referring
02:51to his three seasons on the show as the longest seasons of his life.
02:56Yet for all the wear and tear they took on his body, he never let it show in his performance,
03:00always being quick to recover, flash a cocky grin, and dive back into the fray of things.
03:05For similar reasons, a lot of people had a hard time picturing the Evil Dead films carrying
03:10on without Campbell during the 20-year break between Army of Darkness and Fede Alvarez's
03:15Evil Dead reboot in 2013.
03:17The latter was not as beloved as Raimi's original movie, but still managed to convince
03:21a lot of people the horror property could thrive without its groovy hero.
03:26This will once again be put to the test with Lee Cronin's Evil Dead Rise, the latest film
03:30set in the Evil Dead universe.
03:32Campbell, for his part, isn't worried, saying there are more Evil Dead stories to tell that
03:37don't involve Ash.
03:39After four decades of duking it out with the gnarliest demonic creatures around, he's certainly
03:43earned a rest.