Ash Wednesday: Bruce Campbell – I am not Daniel Day Lewis
It’s Ash Wednesday everyone. At 1428 Elm, this is the day where we celebrate all things Bruce Campbell. This week we look at a highly amusing episode of Last Call with Carson Daly where we find out why Daniel Day Lewis shouldn’t fear the grooviest actor ever.
“If a review says this movie is a triumph, run! Run from the movie. It’s the worse movie EVER!” – Bruce Campbell
Daniel Day Lewis Will Never Fear Him
Two years ago, Bruce Campbell appeared on Last Call with Carson Daly. The interview took place at Beso in Los Angeles. Looking dapper in a red silk shirt and black suit, Campbell held court discussing different subjects such as Daniel Day Lewis’ approach to acting and how HD television makes him look like Charles Bronson.
Of course, Bruce has quite a few observations on his chosen career. However, this particular comment had me laughing hysterically. Here is Campbell’s take on movies that are called triumphs by reviewers.
“If a review says this movie is a triumph, run! Run from the movie. It’s the worse movie Ever! It will be slow, boring, Daniel Day Lewis will be in it doing some other accent. We’ll have to call him by his character’s name.”
“He’ll be a shoe cobbler in between the movies. Make no mistake, I will never be compared with Daniel Day Lewis. So, he needn’t fear me.”
Horror Is Right on the Edge of Being Banned
In discussing his Evil Dead experience, Bruce recounts how in his day, horror was right on the edge of being banned. Which is a totally truthful statement, because back in the late 70s when I was a teenager, you could only see a scary flick if you were accompanied by a parent or you were clever enough to theater hop or get into a midnight showing.
According to Campbell, “It was cheeseball to be in horror movies.” He also gives us the hierarchy of non-mainstream genres. “There’s porn. Then there’s horror. Then Daniel Day Lewis movies.” It really sounds as if it is Daniel Day Lewis’ world and we all just live in it.
The 90s Were Tragic
Ah, the 90s. While everyone was rocking out to Grunge music and going in droves to see blockbusters like Jurassic Park, Bruce was making television movies.
“They were tragic bores. We’ve got three days until that tornado gets here. What’s going to happen to that town? Who wants to do that?”
I don’t know, Bruce. I may have to disagree with you. Love Bug was pretty decent and so was Goldrush: A Real Life Alaskan Adventure. Let’s not forget In the Line of Duty: Blaze of Glory! For every Tornado, you had a terrific turn on a television series like Homicide, Brisco County, Jr and the X-Files so the 90s weren’t that catastrophic.
Embarrassing Situations
Moving on to discuss the non-stop fan chatter about the Evil Dead trilogy, Campbell made some wry observations. “Sam Raimi makes Spider-Man movies that generate a billion dollars.”
Yet fans dismiss this achievement by saying, “Hey, that’s great. When’s the next Evil Dead movie?” Seriously? Can we maybe talk about Raimi’s other wonderful films like A Simple Plan?
Bruce went on to say, “I’m tired of these embarrassing situations.” Imitating the fans, “You gonna make another Evil Dead movie? Uh, sure. Yay! No. Boo. It’s ridiculous! So, we thought how about a tv show?”
I guess this could fall under the heading of “embarrassing situations” but to those people who follow Campbell it is no secret that he loves Lawrence Welk. I can’t say that I struggle with accepting the fact that the show was a huge part of my childhood.
It was a Saturday night event that gives me some pleasant memories of my grandparents. In his words, “I have thirty Lawrence Welk episodes on tape. They are spectacular in so many different ways. People don’t get it.” Go ahead, Bruce. Some of us can dig this quirky obsession of yours without being traumatized.
You Look Like Charles Bronson!
Campbell was asked in what ways will you see the wear and tear on Ash? Bruce replied, “Oh, you’ll see it. It’s called HD.”
Evidently a friend of his saw him in a movie and said to him that he was Charles Bronson now. To which Campbell replied, “I was like shut up. I’ll kick your ass you son of a bitch!”
Although being craggy might give him certain advantages as an actor. “Now, I can look for other stuff. Crooked politicians, coaches, neighbors, bartenders.” Campbell launches into his best bartender impression. “You might learn a few things, Daniel!”
At this juncture, you hear an off-camera voice say, “Daniel Day Lewis never played a bartender.” Without missing a beat, Campbell replies, “Yeah he did. He played the bar.”
More Daniel Day Lewis Talk
“I’m impressed with Daniel Day Lewis. He’s so infinitely weird.” On DDL making everyone on set address him by his character’s name, Bruce launched into his take on the Director of Photography saying things like, “Abe, cheat to me a little more!”
Then he goes on to ponder if the crew members just laugh about that nonsense for a day. Campbell said that he “knows that he’s not Ash.” However, he wondered if DDL thought he was actually Abe Lincoln. “That would make him crazy!”
Next: Ash Wednesday: Bruce Campbell and Ted Raimi do an ad B movie style!
Do you agree with Bruce that Daniel Day Lewis is crazy? Have you ever seen any of Bruce’s television movies? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below. We want to hear from you.