This post is a special shout out to my husband. So far, I’ve written about actors and actresses that I admire who display incredible talent and have left traces of their humanity to be discovered in the wake of their celebrity reputation.

Now it’s time to talk about Bruce.

And really, truly, if we’re going to look for the “regular guy” in Hollywood, or the guy who has managed to keep his $10,000 shoes firmly on the ground amidst a cult following, it doesn’t get much better than Bruce.

I didn’t know much about Bruce until oh, say, five minutes ago. My husband has tortured me (and my 6-year-old daughter) through a viewing or two of Army of Darkness and, after that, even convinced me to sit through Evil Dead. Just so you know, my apparent reluctance to watch these movies is not so much related to the quality of the movies. It’s more about my weak stomach and impatience for slapstick humor. I just don’t always “get it” when it comes to B-movie humor. I try, I really do. And sometimes there are parts that really hit home and I actually find myself laughing. But it just doesn’t come naturally to me like it does to my husband and thousands of other psychos out there.

That said, there are few movie scenes in this world as hilariously awesome and aurally satisfying as the moment when Bruce Campbell’s severed arm connects with the base of the chainsaw with an ever-so-satisfying “click”.

It’s genius, folks. Pure genius.

So I have to admit to myself that I am somewhat of a Bruce Campbell fan. As a loyal fan of Burn Notice for many years, I found his character, Sam, to be endearing and quite pinical to the overall storyline – despite the iffy acting.

Don’t pretend it isn’t true, guys. You can think Bruce Campbell is next to God himself and you still have to admit that his acting is… Meh. But that’s part of what makes him so awesome; it’s part of his persona, for God’s sake. He’s a B actor – if he took his parts seriously and did breathing exercises before each take, we’d all think he was lamer than friggin Lance what’s-his-bucket from N Sync.

So let’s get to the nitty-gritty here. Bruce as a human is not unlike many other humans I know. He’s got that no-bullshit, tell-it-like-it-is, nobody is special so quit holding hands and singing kumbaya, gritty outlook on life. Which I can’t help but admire. Because I essentially live most of my days in the clouds, dreaming up futures of fame, fortune, and ethical idealism while believing everyone can “be whatever they want to be”.

A dose of Bruce every now and then is exactly what I need.

Here’s a quote I found on good ‘ol reliable IMDB that sums up Bruce’s outlook – on Hollywood in particular – pretty succinctly:

If you go to Hollywood, you’ve already sold out. By the sheer act of going there, you’re saying, ‘I need to go there because this is the only way I can get my movie made.’ Baloney! Indiana’s the place to make your movie. Pontiac, Michigan. Whatever. Then you’re just making it on the merits of the movie. You don’t have to have any discussions about what’s hip now. Who can we get to do the soundtrack? You can actually put a score to your movie instead of a soundtrack. I get this thing all the time. Filmmakers go, ‘Can I send you a script? You’ll read it and attach yourself and we’ll package it.’ Why can’t you get the money based on nothing, just the script? This whole packaging thing is out of control. Then you get absurd casting because it’s all packaged by the same talent agency. The sensibility is so bizarre.

Let me first say that I hate this concept of “selling out”. I don’t believe in it – of its a good film, do it. On the other hand, I totally get what he’s saying here. The whole “I’m gonna go to Hollywood and be an actor!!” attitude is completely misguided. Most who tote that line are after fame and fortune more than anything. And making good movies should be about one thing: making good movies. Hell, half the Hollywood studios travel to tiny towns across the world to make their movies, but guess what: you’re already there!!

This quote of his is actually well-times, because I recently took my first shot at acting. I just did a shoot with some local Denver folks who make purposely-cheesy steampunk ghost films. And you know what? It’s fun! And none of them have aspirations to land a huge studio deal. They’re happy to do what they like to do and wish for nothing more than hopeful exposure at an independent film festival and maybe a viral YouTube video.

That’s what filmmaking is supposed to be about. Fuck Hollywood. More than ever, you’ve got everything you need right on your laptop computer.

It’s inspiring, Bruce, very inspiring. Which is probably not at all what you were going for. Sorry.

Here’s another quote of his that I really enjoy simply because it displays his value of interpersonal relationships along with a propensity to dispel any temptation to take interpersonal conflict to heart:

“[on why he turned down the chance to reprise his role in a sequel to “Bubba Ho-Tep”]: Don Coscarelli is a very passionate filmmaker. We got to a few points that we couldn’t reconcile. I want to keep our friendship, so we parted ways. So I’m not part of that project.

Bruce, do you know how badly the rest of us want to be able to approach our friendships with this level of practicality? It’s almost unfair how easy this is for you! No hard feelings at all – he acknowledges and appreciates that his friend is passionate and that he was getting in the way of that. So they parted ways and preserved the friendship. It’s that simple.

Oh, to be so human.

I’d like conclude this not-so-unusual tribute to Bruce Campbell (a man so human, he once worked as a security guard at a brewery; um, it really doesn’t get more “normal” than that) with one more quote. This one is is my favorite because it sheds all desire for that red carpet experience so many seem to grapple for; it is raw and honest and embraces exactly what life has offered Bruce with a smile and the clunk of a beer glass:

It seemed that my lot in life was to either have big parts in small films or small parts in big films.

It appears my lot in life is to write sub-par articles about celebrities while killing time on business tripsto exciting destinations like Indianapolis.

I’ll drink to that, Bruce.