The CBR Speakeasy in North Hollywood, CA welcomed horror icon Bruce Campbell ("Evil Dead," "Army of Darkness") to talk about his upcoming television return to Ash Williams, the character he portrayed in Sam Raimi's original "Evil Dead" Trilogy. Campbell tells CBR's Jonah Weiland the reasons why Starz's "Ash Vs. Evil Dead" miniseries happened, even after the franchise was rebooted (without Ash) in 2013, and explains that he never closed the door on returning to the franchise that began back in 1981.
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Many have wondered why "Ash Vs. Evil Dead" ended up on TV at Starz rather than seeing Campbell and Raimi return to the big screen for another evil-fueled outing, and Campbell says the TV landscape and what's acceptable to audiences has definitely changed since "Army of Darkness." "Shows like 'Walking Dead' have done extremely well -- like shockingly well -- to the point where they've also contributed to the mainstreaming of horror," said Campbell. "Horror used to be the stuff that gets banned. You'd only see that on Friday, Saturday night at midnight," adding that, as "the old guys," there's still plenty left in the tank.
Despite originating the character nearly 35 years ago and returning for two sequels (and several video games), the actor said he never ruled out returning to Ash. "I haven't done that 'I'm Not Spock' sort of thing, 'I'm Not Ash.' I know that I'm not, so it's cool," Campbell explained. "If people really dig it, that's great, and the fact that they've stayed after us to do it has been a big reason why pushed to make it into a television show.
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"Why not make it into a television show where you can take this character, take him on a hero's journey," Campbell said of the impetus behind the show. "He's Job. Evil is rising once again to test the mettle of the average man, and that happens to be Ash. And in this case a middle-aged, crabby Ash who's dragged basically kicking and screaming back into this."
The STARZ Original series “Ash vs Evil Dead” released a first look motion graphic and teaser art for the 10-episode first season of the half-hour series today. The teaser will premiere on-air during the “Outlander” premiere on Saturday, April 4 at 9 PM ET/PT. “Ash vs Evil Dead,” which will film in New Zealand, is the long-awaited follow-up to the classic horror film franchise The Evil Dead and is set to premiere on STARZ in late 2015.
Campbell will be reprising his role as Ash, the stock boy, aging lothario and chainsaw-handed monster hunter who has spent the last 30 years avoiding responsibility, maturity and the terrors of the Evil Dead. When a Deadite plague threatens to destroy all of mankind, Ash is finally forced to face his demons –personal and literal. Destiny, it turns out, has no plans to release the unlikely hero from its “Evil” grip.
The cast is led by Campbell (Evil Dead, “Burn Notice”) in the role of Ash Williams, Lucy Lawless (“Salem,” “Spartacus”) as Ruby a mysterious figure who believes Ash is the cause of the Evil outbreaks, Jill Marie Jones (“Sleepy Hollow”) as Amanda Fisher, a disgraced Michigan State Trooper set to find our anti-hero Ash and prove his responsibility in the grisly murder of her partner, Ray Santiago (“Touch,” Meet the Fockers) as Pablo Simon Bolivar, an idealistic immigrant who becomes Ash’s loyal sidekick and Dana DeLorenzo (A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas) as Kelly Maxwell, a moody wild child trying to outrun her past.
Raimi is directing the first episode of “Ash vs Evil Dead” that he wrote with Ivan Raimi (Darkman, Army of Darkness, Drag Me to Hell), Craig DiGregorio (“Workaholics,” “Chuck”) and Tom Spezialy (“Chuck,” “Reaper,” “Desperate Housewives”). Raimi will also serve as executive producer, along with Rob Tapert (Evil Dead, “Spartacus,” Xena: Warrior Princess”) and Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead, “Burn Notice”) along with Craig DiGregorio (“Workaholics,” “Chuck”) who will serve as executive producer/showrunner. Ivan Raimi will co-executive produce and Aaron Lam (“Spartacus”) will serve as producer.
Re: Ash VS Evil Dead (2015-Series)
[Re: DonMega1888]
#843995 05/30/1511:41 AM05/30/1511:41 AM
