How did you start out acting?
Well I had known Sam Raimie and Rob for a long time, and we got together pooled resources and shot a fiklm on super 8 in 1978. It’s all in my bio, and there’s lots of info on my web site.
Do you prefer TV or film?
Well I’ve been jumping back and forth, and I like both. In TV the shoots are shorter, but in film when you’re done that’s it.
You’ve done both big and small budget films. What are some of the advantages of doing low budget films?
It’s easier to cook up a film when there are less chefs. You give up a certain amount of control when you make more expensive films. I don’t w ant someone comi ng in making me that my film is too extreme or that I have to shoot multiple endings because the first one is too dark and they think it wll make the film hard to market.
What did your co-producer job consist of?
I had my my hand in virtually every aspect of the film from casting to editing.
You’re located in Ohio, and you once said in an interview that you would go crazy livng in LA. Why is that?
Well over there you’re expected to go to all the fancy parties and stroke everyone’s egos. Film people are expected to do all kinds of things that have no relation to movies. I’m really only interested in the movie making part of the business. I’m not concerned with the fluffy side.
Many of the people in your new film “My Name is Bruce” were from your hometown. What qualities did Grace Thorsen bring to the audition that made yiu think she was right for the role?
Well first of all she’s sexy as hell, and most of the other people that auditioned were girls plus she was local which was a plus. What did you think of her in the part?
I thought she was very natural and effective in her role.
Do you ever meet any psycho fans like the one in “My Name is Bruce?”
Well none of them has kidnapped me yet (laughing), but there some who have made me uneasy. There was one man who had a whle Army of Darkness scene tattooed to his back.l
Yo’ve done a lot of campy kinds of roles. What is it about you that leads you to be cast in those roles?
Well I’m attracted to that kind of material, and that is what I’m best at.
Were you influenced more by horror or comic actors?
Well I took a lot from Danny Kaye, Bob Hope, and of course the Three Stooges. There are allusions to all of the stooges in “They call Me Bruce.” For instance theres a scene in which we refer to Shemp beer.
The first Evil Dead film took off in Europe before it was released in the USA. Why do you think that is?
The film was more in touch with a European sensibility, and that’s why audiences were initially more receptive in Europe. They’re an older civilization but they are more used to crazier and more off the wall stuff. Also although the USA is a new coutry, we have a curious attitude towards sex. You can show a severed head and it won’t bother anyone but you can’t
Bubba Ho Tep is one of my favorite projects that you did. How did you prepare for playing Elivis.
Well an Elvis impersonator coached me for a while, but then he gave up. I mostly saw old concert footage of him on tape and emulated that.
You got to work Ozzie Davis on Bubba Ho Tep. What was he like?
Just how you would expect. He was a professional and a complete gentleman. He was around 83, and he had been in the business forever. He was a very classy guy.
How much of you was in the main chracater in “My Name is Bruce?”
(Laughing) I’m the only one who will ever know that.
Can you tell me how you got involved with Dark Horse comics?
Well it all started when they put out the Evil Dead comics adaptation. Mark Verheiden wrote the adaptation, and he scripted “My Name is Bruce.” I’ve also known the publicher Mike Richardson had been involved in film production, and he was my co-producer on the film.
What projects will you be working on in the future?
Well I’m going to begin working on season 3 of Burn Notice. That will keep me busy for awhile. I am also doing a number of cross country live appearances. I will be doing a Q and A session at the landmark Century theater on Friday, November 28.
