One of the more talked about trailers coming out of the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con was undoubtedly Ash vs Evil Dead, which premiered during a packed panel on Friday night. Daily Dead had the opportunity to catch up with the crew from Sam Raimi’s brand new Starz series the following day to talk all things Evil Dead and get some more details on the highly anticipated series that premieres this Halloween.
Check out the highlights from our roundtable interviews with both Sam and Ivan Raimi, as well as the always lovely Lucy Lawless, and franchise star and genre icon Bruce Campbell.
Bruce, because you've had such a great career in horror and on television as well, does all of this feel like a homecoming to you, being able to bring Evil Dead to TV?
Bruce Campbell: Oh yeah, because I like the TV format. I like how fast it is. By lunchtime, you've killed somebody, somebody's died in your arms, you've paid your sweetheart’s taxes- it’s amazing. In a feature film, you'd still be setting up for the first shot by lunch. With making movies, you want to hang yourself because it goes so slow so I like being able to do this. We have a lot of creative freedom on this show too. We want to say something in a scene, we'll just say it. We'll do variations. We've been having a lot of fun with it.
In the past, people have asked you how much of you personally is in your character Ash. So how much of you is in your character Ash now on the TV show version since he’s a bit older now too?
Bruce Campbell: Nothing has changed. Actors are always going to have a little bit of themselves in everything. Ash is probably me on my worst day or best day. You can always find parallels with the characters you do. I'm pretty sarcastic guy. That tends to fit with the Ash character. Beyond that, who knows. Hopefully I'm not as dumb as Ash. My decision making process is a little bit more developed than Ash. I don't really want to be like Ash. I hope I'm not like Ash, frankly. We've all had our weasel days.
We've all told little, white lies. We've all made bad decisions, but they haven't always been resulting in the deaths of innocent people. Ash is good at that too.
What it was like coming back to that and what physical torture did Sam come up for you this time around?
Bruce Campbell: He did the same. It's just the same torture. I get attacked by inanimate objects and things like that. He makes sure it is punishing and hurtful. He's convinced that the audience needs to see that, that the audience needs to see Ash suffer. It's a hero’s journey, I guess, only Sam's an even better filmmaker now. He can torment me in more sophisticated ways. But I'm a clever, little actor now so I can duck around that sometimes too.
Did you ever think this series or returning as Ash would really ever happen?
Bruce Campbell: No. Nope. I'm shocked that we are sitting here right now. You had to get through the business side of this. The three movies are owned by three different companies. There was actually had a bunch of legal horse shit that we had to get through to get through. If there's any elements that you see or don't see in the series it will only be because of some legal thing. Not all of these companies like each other. Some are like, "Don't use this, don't use that." We don't have control over the whole thing. It will be all of the elements, most, 90% of the elements that people are used to will come back.
Is that a tough line to walk going into a series like Ash vs Evil Dead, because obviously you're catering to decades of fans who have loved this series for a long time, but also you want to make something that's still accessible for those folks who maybe haven't seen the series?
Bruce Campbell: Well, yeah. Well, look. Anyone who likes horror, hopefully they'll tune in. There's some of that. Anybody who likes comedy, hopefully they'll tune in. There's some of that. Anyone who likes them both, then you've just gone to heaven. But getting someone to jump or laugh is much more challenging and if you can pull it off, it's a way better effect than putting a guy’s dick in a vice for a half an hour- pardon my French.
What's been the most surreal part of this entire Evil Dead journey for you?
Bruce Campbell: Everything is surreal about this particular phase of the journey, playing him 30 years later. The first Evil Dead, let's do that math, it was 36 years ago. We shot it in 1979. Everyone has 1982, but that's when it came out, not when it was shot. I base everything on when it was shot. We shot one move in the '70s, one in the '80s, and one in the '90s. We jumped a decade. Now we're in the teens and we're back again.
I mean, I played Ash when I was 21 and now I'm 57 and I'm still playing this god damn character. It's a whole new dynamic. I think for comedic purposes and for dramatic purposes, take a guy who is never qualified in the first place. Even Ash, in his prime, Army of Darkness, still not a qualified hero. Very flawed with limited skills hero. Now put 30 years on the guy and now, I'm interested. What is this old, crabby guy who couldn't pull it off in the first place going to do now? Now what's he really going to do when he just wants to lie down and take a nap? To me, that's entertainment (laughs).
So Lucy, how cool does it feel to be working with Sam and getting to play around in this crazy Evil Dead universe?
Lucy Lawless: Oh, yes- working with Bruce and Sam again is so great, it's definitely a homecoming for all of us. This feels like us reteaming to make like the kookiest episodes of Xena or something (laughs). The mood on stage was so jovial and this is a bloody delightful set to work on because everybody's covered in blood. Everybody's got brain matter in their hair, and somehow that makes it a very happy workplace.
Can you tell us a little bit about your character's relationship with Ash, since this is kind of new ground for you and for fans of the series?
Lucy Lawless: My character's name is Knowby, K-N-O-W-B-Y. Professor Knowby was the original owner of the Necronomicon and she’s related to him. So, she's definitely carrying a big ass chip on her shoulder as to what Ash did to her family and the fact that he has begun a new Deadite plague now too.
She's absolutely gunning for him in a very obsessive way. Everything is all his fault, and she’s right to blame him.
Had you been a fan of the Evil Dead series at all before joining the TV show?
Lucy Lawless: When I was 17, I saw the first Evil Dead with my boyfriend, and I stormed out after five minutes saying, "The people who made this are sick, misogynistic assholes, and they should be in prison." And then 12 years later, I was married to one of them (laughs). It's the ultimate never say never. I had seen it, but when I met Rob 20 years ago I watched it again and it's been part of my life ever since. So this feels kind of like a family business and I was delighted there was a part for me in it.
Do you feel because it is a family business that brings a certain special kind of energy to the project?
Lucy Lawless: I think so, yeah. I think there's a commitment that you have when you have established that kind of trust, when you're all on the same page. Everyone’s involved and we haven't got anybody directing us from afar. And all we need now is Ted Raimi to come back in- we need Ted for the family to be complete.
Have you guys talked to Ted at all about coming on?
Lucy Lawless: Yes. I'm not the powers that be, so it’s not my decision but Ted wrote to us yesterday wishing us well on the panel. Bruce and I talk about it all the time, that we need to have us some Ted cause he shared all his blood, sweat, and tears in the Evil Dead so he should be here.
You mentioned how you’re an antagonist to Ash- any chance we’ll see you transform into a Deadite this season?
Lucy Lawless: I sure hope not. No, not this season. I don't know what the future holds. I hope not. That crap is no fun. Being covered in blood and pus and special effect makeup is no fun. Bruce and I want nothing to do with that stuff because we're old. We've been around now and doing that kind of makeup work is for the young and hungry actors out there (laughs).
Sam, can discuss the idea of picking up 30 years later with Ash for this series. What do you think it is about where this character is all these years later that will make him so compelling to follow for a television series?
Sam Raimi: Very little has changed for the character, actually, since we last saw him. We made three Evil Dead adventures and after the last one I think what we're saying is for the last 30 years he's been laying low. He's had enough and he's kind of hiding out.
So it's not that there's been a change with the character that is the reason for telling the story. It's more like he's unwittingly unleashed these spirits again and now he's been called back to service to do battle onto them.
But as far as why for TV? Evil Dead was really a drive-in picture. You know, it was all about creating these crazy, nutty camera moves and a lot of blood and gore and trying to scare the audience. There was nothing subtle about it. Nowadays, the drive-ins are gone, so as for making an Evil Dead movie, we didn't really have a great format for it anymore.
In regards to the longevity of the franchise, people have really responded the character of Ash over the years and it seems that he’s almost more popular than ever. Why do you think that is?
Sam Raimi: I think they like the fact that he's this rare breed of monster fighter. There aren't a lot of them out there, for some reason. I know there's Van Helsing and there are a lot of superheroes, but there aren't a lot of regular monster fighter heroes and I guess maybe I’m still trying to figure out why they love him so much.
Ivan Raimi: There are a lot of demons and supernatural forces happening in entertainment right now, but there aren’t a lot of regular guys who have a lot of faults who are going out and slugging it out with the demons and the monsters. You know, giving them a real slug-fest and that's what Ash does well.
Last night, you said you were interested in one day perhaps doing a crossover between your Evil Dead films and the Mia character from the new Evil Dead. Is there a chance we could see something like that happening in the TV series down the line if it's picked up for a second season?
Sam Raimi: You know I haven't even talked to Fede (Alvarez) about it so it’s probably a pretty weird thing for me to say right now just because that's really his baby. But if it does happen, I think it would be way down the line. There's a lot of story to explore just with Ash alone right now.
Was there a reason in particular that made you guys decide to go with the half-hour format?
Ivan Raimi: Yeah, there was a lot of discussion about going 30 minutes, what we were going to do. Comedies are often half-hour programs and then drama and action series are often an hour long so I think it just felt right. We wanted to keep it punchy and keep it sharp and not have too much back story that took away from the basic storyline of Ash and his work defeating demons.
Sam Raimi: Sometimes in those hour shows they have padding around minute 42, 43, 44, where they develop some other character to fill it out. That was never part of the Evil Dead, we always want to cut those parts out. So we thought this half-hour format may really be original for a dramatic horror series and may make us stay on ball and keep it very sharp and laser focused.