One starred in The Evil Dead, the other's brother directed it. Both now star in Xena: Warrior Princess. But who babysat who? Tom Mayo chats to Bruce Campbell & Ted Raimi...............Photography by Gavin Roberts
TWO TALL FIGURES STRIDE DOWN A HALLWAY AT THE Starfury: Chariots of War convention. Clad in long black coats, and with huge manes of shaggy black hair totally obscuring their faces, they provoke more than a few curious looks. They slip into the main hall where Robert Trebor - Salmonious in Hercules and Xena - is giving a talk. They split up, but both sit right at the back. Before long they are on their feet, heckling the booming-voiced, portly actor.
"I hear, from a very reliable source," says one in a terrible Scottish accent, "that ye've got a pimply arse!"
Joxer ponders his chances of taking out the God of War with a quick blow to the nadgers. It takes Trebor a split second to identify his mysterious verbal assailants as the badly-disguised Bruce (Autolycus) Campbell and Ted (Joxer) Raimi, two of his co-stars in the warped Greek mythology series. Dozens of attendees swivel in their seats and camera flashes flicker continuously as they carry on the charade for a good few minutes. It's typical of the kind of fun in which these actors have been indulging over the past couple of days.
Rewind to an hour earlier, and a plain-clothed Ted Raimi sits across from your friendly, neighbourhood SFX hacks, drinking cup after cup of honeyed tea to soothe his deterioating voice. He's been a big hit with the fans over this weekend, knocking 'em dead with his on-stage question and answer sessions and even getting loads of fans on stage to sing that old classic, "Joxer The Mighty". A convention natural, then? "Actually," he admits, "this is my first British convention. In fact, it's my first time in England. "
But it's not surprising he gets along so well with Campbell. After all, the The Evil Dead star babysat him as a kid. Since then, Raimi, his brother Sam (director of the The Evil Dead, movies and producer of Hercules and Xena) Campbell and a select few others have formed almost a repertory company, their professional paths crossing on numerous occasions, on numerous projects.
So, where did this lunacy come from. Is it inherited from the Raimi clan? "Yeah, we're all a little loony," grins Raimi. "My folks are very straight-laced business folks - but they're funny. They're very funny. My mother's hysterical - so is my dad. But, you know, they're business people, they're not really into acting whatsoever, or any sort of entertainment - none of my family is. Everyone's doctors, lawyers and businessmen. My sister's a lawyer; worked on some very high profile cases. Nobody's an entertainer. But Sam and I are. And I think that when you don't come from that background, you really take to it. You know - as far as you can go. Because you're not following in anyone's footsteps, you have everything to prove."
Both brothers found very different motivations for entering showbusiness, reveals Ted. "It was different for both of us... I can't speak for Sam, but I believe that he used to love doing magic. I think films were another way for him to extend that. And for me I was just a very, very lonely kid who didn't have any friends, and I didn't know any girls in High School, and acting alleviated both of those real fast. It was good for me; initially that's what it was but then I grew to really love it. I didn't realise at the time that nine out of ten acting teachers are all phonies. It's the biggest scam going. Bigger than producers Iying to people. I wish I'd have known then what I know now, but one thing I do tell all actors who are getting into the business is 'Don't get a teacher. Don't get a coach.' The best thing to do is go on stage and act your heart out."
Things weren't all roses at High School for young Ted though, even after discovering acting. "I was a very gawky kid. There's two kinds of nerd at High School. The first kind knows he's a nerd, and walks with his books, hunched over, knowing someone's going to smack 'em out of his hands. His head's down, praying to God no-one's going to make fun of him. I was the second kind. I didn't know I was. And I'd lope down the hall-ways like a friggin' elephant, and then I would get beat up all the time. 'Why are you guys beating me up? I'm cool just like you are.' But I wasn't."
He refills his cup again, and peruses the little plate of biscuits. "But you know, I think being picked on in High School really makes you; toughens you up. It made me want to do more, made me want to prove myself. They're called the formative years for a very good reason. Even to this day I feel I'm a very defensive person, and I'm waiting for someone to treat me like shit - it fucks you up. Fucks everyone up who's like that. Nerds will not stay nerds. Something will happen to them. Even if they go nuts."
Ah, the geek will inherit the Earth? "No I don't think they'll inherit the Earth, but they'll certainly kill everyone on it."
A picture of a dolphin from SeaQuest. Aw.
Disclaimer
At the end of many Hercules and Xena episodes, there is a jokey little disclaimer at the end. Well, we naturally thought "if they can do it, so can we!" and so challenged Ted "Joxer" Raimi to finish off our creations below:
SFX: No dolphins were forced to talk like Mickey Mouse during this production . . .
Ted Raimi: But we did make day players and extras scream in agony during the production, because of heat and monetary reasons.
SFX: No actors were punched by over-enthusiastic stunt-men during this production...
Ted Raimi: Except me
SFX: Bruce Campbell was not forced to wear high heels during this production...
Ted Raimi: But likes to, and often does.
SFX: No geek stereotypes were harmed during the making of this production...
Ted Raimi: And for that we are truly sorry.
SFX: No nosey journalists were harmed during this interview...
Ted Raimi: Why didn't anyone care? (Laughs) That's so cruel.Ted Raimi on the very blue set of SeaQuest. You do wonder, though, if that geekiness was what got him the part as the perennially falling over Joxer in Xena, although he's quick to point out that his brother didn't cast the show, and he had to audition like anybody else. So did his natural geekiness just shine through? "You know, I do bump into things a lot," he admits. "I remember one day falling over on set, and knocking some stuff over. Nobody batted an eyelid. It's a sad day when you realise your own geekdom."
Raimi doesn't mind the tag, but sometimes feels he'd like a bit more variety. "Too much of anything's annoying. Too much of any one thing can blow chunks. Sometimes I'm sick of doing comedy. You walk on set and you go, 'I can't fucking think of another way to fall!' You know? 'I can't do it!' You have to try to come up with new stuff every day. Yes, I do think 'Man, I wish I could do some serious stuff.' But usually after about two days of doing serious stuff I'm like, 'Okay! Ready to do comedy again!'
"The worst job is to be the lead, because it's so damn boring. You're the guy that everything happens to - you've just got to react. Even Lucy Lawless and action stars like that, they do a few things, but mostly they just react to things happening. The bad guys and the comedians are the instigators of those things that the lead reacts to. It's much more interesting to be that. Villains are fun, because then there's no limit! 'Mwa ha ha ha ha!' Lots of hand-rubbing and eyebrow stretching and all kinds of stuff, you know?"
Another more practical hardship working on Xena are the constant trips to New Zealand. "It's exhausting," nods Raimi. "It's destroyed, like, four of my relationships, so it's hard. But the Kiwis are really a nice bunch of people. I love the Kiwis, I love the country, everything about it is just a breath of fresh air to me. The only thing I don't like is the food in New Zealand - it's inedible. It's like glue pies. Their pies are made of glue and water, and, you know, something that was in a sheep. I don't know what. Wasn't my idea of good food."
Ted Raimi is a very busy man, what with 12-hour flights to and fro Kiwi-land, plus the hundred other projects he seems to have on the go at once. "I'm trying to write a Xena episode right now. One of the head writers really liked the stuff I did on my SeaQuest episode a couple years ago, and so they're excited about having me possibly write a treatment - so that's coming up. In addition I'm writing my own movie, which I'm hoping to do as soon as this season ends, tentatively entitled Fat Assassin. "
That'll be a comedy, then. "No - well, a black comedy. I usually tend to write creepy little horror stories, which I like the best. I'm also in the process of writing my own board-game. It started off a joke. I love to write, and I became an actor, then in my off-time in my mid-20s I created this board-game called 'Quit Being A Waiter And Get A Job'. You're an actor and you're trying to get to be a movie star. All my actor friends loved playing it. You would work in this restaurant, wait tables in the better parts of town, meet a producer, go to a party, pick up these cards. And you'd pick a male or female actor, and if you were female you gotta screw this producer, and you'd lose personality points."
As for the future, Raimi reveals that with Lucy Lawless pregnant, he will be getting more scenes in the new season of Xena, many of them with Gabrielle. "But I don't think his love would be requited," he answers when challenged about whether the producers will ever commit themselves on Xena and Gabrielle's sexuality. "It would be a mistake for them to commit Gabrielle one way or the other."
On the film front: "I'm also in another picture that I'm getting ready to shoot with Jeffrey Combs from Re-animator, and Seth Green from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Austin Powers. So us three are in it, and it's really fun, it should be a good horror movie. It's called The Attic Expeditions."
But, you have to wonder, has he been offered a role on either of his brother's two new TV projects which will fill the gap left by Hercules - Cleopatra 2525 and Jack Of All Trades? "You'll have to ask him about that... I have seen some of the sets for Cleopatra, and they're cool."
And then, saving Ted's voice from being destroyed altogether, Bruce Campbell enters... "Time to heckle Bob."
IT'S ABOUT HALF AN HOUR LATER. BRUCE CAMPBELL freshly changed from his heckling disguise into a Las Vegas-style gold and black shirt, sits down, relaxes and asks for more tea. So, Bruce, you actually baby-sat Ted Raimi?
He grins. "It's because of Sam. I met Sam Raimi in High School. In Drama Class. I'd hang out at the Raimi's house all the time, I'd eat dinner over there, and because his parents worked a lot, for some reason - I was a year older than Sam - I could drive eariier, so I took him to Cello lessons - he was just this idiot younger brother."
From driving the "idiot younger brother" around to making films and TV with the same guy two decades on is quite an achievement. But Campbell still works a lot for the same people he met in college all those years ago. He is a founder member of the Raimi repertory company, and it's a situation with which he's completely happy. "Oh, absolutely. You don't have to beat something to death when you're working with people you know. You show up on set and go..." he snaps his fingers, "'Routine 28'. Or, 'Shemp it!' You know what I mean?"
Ah yes, the whole mysterious Shemp thing. The name Shemp or occasionally "Fake Shemp" turns up in the credits to a lot of Sam Raimi projects and Campbell has played his fair share of Shemps. So where does the name come from? Campbell explains that it's inspired by a horribly unconvincing replacement for the character "Shemp" in The Three Stooges, a favourite from his and Sam Raimi's youth. "It became a term: 'What's the guy like?' 'He's kinda Shempish.' 'What are you doing tomorrow night?' 'Ah, I'm just Shempin". So that's the sort of slang we can use if you know the people you work with. That no-one else would understand at all. They'd go..." he lowers his voice to a conspiratorial whisper... "'What the fuck are these guys talking about?' But I enjoy it very much. And then you can get the petty Iittle arguments too. Of like, you know, (adopts a whiny, petty little voice) 'Look, you've never done this gag right! Not since High School!' and you go, 'Shut up! I've always done it right!' 'No you haven't! 'And I can see the crew members going (fakes a worried face) 'Woah... This is bad...' "
Bruce didn't originally go to New Zealand and the Xena set as an actor; he went as a director, thinking it could be fun. So how did he get the part of Autolycus, Prince of Thieves? "Rob Tapert called and said 'I got a part that's perfect for you. 'And I said 'Yeah yeah, I've heard that before.' But I read it and went, 'Yeah, he's right. He's right. It's perfect.' Back then he was just a handy character to have around, and he wound up being one of the two characters that went between the two shows, which is good. Because you have different dynamics - Hercules is the guy show, so you have the whole male bonding thing, and then on Xena it's a different dynamic, cause she's always guilting me, and threatening to kick my ass."
It must be interesting to see the similarities and differences between the two shows. "Xena used to be the little show. The cute little show. Because it was a spin-off and they used to film it on 16mm. Hercules was (suddeniy he adopts a deep booming voice) 35 millimetre! And there was (little cutesy voice) little Xena over here, and then Xena went (he makes an explosive sound) and then they went 'boom' to 35 millimetre, and then they became the big show. So whenever I'd go to each set I'd go (a fake friendly tone), "Well I'm back with my favourite crew - the big show!", and then when I'd go to the other set I'd go, "You should hear what they said about you over there..." (pointing back to the imaginary set) - just tormenting them you know." He grins devilishly. There's a gleam in his eye you'd recognise if you've ever seen the Evil Dead films, an energy and charisma that bursts onto the screen, even though he modestly attributes the films' success to "That Sam Raimi maniac."
Autolycus just can't eat another bite - he's already gulped 11 jewels pried from the foreheads of ancient gods. The Evil Dead trilogy pretty much made him what he is - so how does he feel about them now? "That film is a strange combination - I call it 'splat-stick'. A combination of horror and comedy. It's weird - I've seen some of the best audience reactions with that film. I saw it at a preview in New Orleans, when I was promoting the film, and there was a family that had come to see the movie. But really horrible things would happen and he would rush his family to the back and keep the kids outside, and he would peek back in. Then he'd bring them back and sit them down then something else would happen that was horrible. The whole time he kept going back and forth and back and forth with his family, and his kids weren't sure whether to scream or whatever... And there was one guy sitting by himself, pounding on the seat because he didn't know whether to laugh or scream. 'Ha ha ha! Aaargghhh!' And then he'd get mad, because he was being manipulated so horribly. And we'd never intended to do that. Very few filmmakers are that masterful. I catch Spielberg doing it all the time. (Suddenly he points right at me, pretending to be a director.) 'And cry... now! Keep crying, keep crying, a little more... A little more...'And I sit back, when I'm watching his movies, I just fold my arms and go, 'You suckers.'l look at everyone around me. Because I feel that it's so orchestrated. And l'm not saying that we're any different. We're kinda just saying 'You bet we're manipulating you! Suck on this! Oh, you like that? How about this?!' "
The Evil Dead films are extremely gory and very, very funny. Bruce, as Ash, learned some very valuable lessons in horror acting during filming, stuff that stood him in good stead in his later, minor role in Congo. "They wound up using my scream in all the coming attractions. Because I could scream. I really know how to scream. I was saying to Frank Marshall, the director -'You want a double scream, or a single scream? You want a short scream, medium scream, long scream? Agonised scream? Frightened scream? Startled scream?'They're all different. There are so many shades of screaming. I said, 'Pick your colour.' " So which one did he plump for in the end? "He went for the long, sustained scream. Sort of a full-on, 'I'm dead' scream."
When Hercules was in the last day of shooting, Bruce was there. Bruce was directing it. He was in it. In fact, he was even in the last shot. The atmosphere on set must have been something a little bit special, perhaps even a tad emotional? "Sorbo cried like a baby." Aw. How sweet. Was there a present for him? "Uh-huh. They gave him a giant sword. Really, like a six-foot long sword. Beautiful thing. And he tried to give a speech, and he couldn't." All choked up? "Oh yeah. Couldn't do it. It was great. It was really fun to watch. And Xena will have it's day. They'll be going for another season-ish. I think it will be because Lucy will go 'Okay. I get it. See ya.' " Ah yes, the old "quit while you're ahead" philosophy. "Don't go limping along. Shoot yourself before that. Gotta put that horse down." SFX
"Eggs, flour, bacon..." "bread, cheese, goats milk, oh, and some - eh?"
"Any of those wimps from the Trek spin-offs. Or Adrian Paul. Definately Adrian Paul" - Bruce Campbell
