Since its inception Bruce Campbell has continued to be one of the most requested names at the Calgary Comic Expo. The actor, who gained cult fame playing Ash in the Evil Dead franchise, has never graced the Calgary conference due to filming commitments for the hit TV show Burn Notice. With the show having wrapped its final season last year, Campbell’s schedule is clear to have a groovy time Saturday and Sunday at the Expo.

Thirty-two years after Evil Dead was released the film, along with its sequels (1987’s Evil Dead 2 and 1992’s Army of Darkness), still resonate with fans. With the additional hype generated by the musical version fans still recite lines like Gimmie back my hand and This is my boomstick with enthusiasm. It is remarkable that the films have stood the test of time.

"We shot Evil Dead 35 years ago in 1979, but it didn’t come out until ’82," Campbell tells GayCalgary Magazine. "I feel fortunate because a lot of movies come and go. It makes a lot of the heartache of making those movies both physically and mentally go away, to the point where I mostly have good feelings about the Evil Dead movies. When we were making them they were very hellish and nightmarish but now I can look back at them with sort of a rosy glow."

The films were the starting grounds for the working relationship between Campbell and director Sam Raimi. The two met in high school and Campbell frequently makes cameos in Raimi’s films.

"We met in high school 100 years ago in 1975. We struck it up pretty quick, he was a fun crazy and inventive guy and I think he was amused by me. We had just started doing amateur movies in our different neighborhoods and in high school all of us junior highs collided and met and started sharing equipment. Every weekend we started making these low budget little Super 8 movies and began the makings of our craft. We were very industrious; we made around 50 of these things. Some were really long – Sam made a movie that was an hour long. He had to buy special equipment to project it. We projected them in actual theatres and charged money at various times. It encouraged Sam and I to both drop out of college; neither of us graduated, we dropped out to raise money to make Evil Dead. Then we battled to make the movie for four years between ’79 and ’83 when it came out," Campbell recalls.

"[Filming] forged a pretty tight bond since high school. It has really been enjoyable as hell to watch him make the biggest movies in Hollywood. Nothing gives me greater pleasure than to see his movies at #1 when they open. I can still show up on his set and give him lip. It was hilarious on Oz The Great and Powerful – I only had one day on set. We have a very casual relationship: he yells at me, I do what he says, and we try a bunch of different stuff that is very creative. But he gives me lip and I give him lip back. The eyes and faces of the crew members when I gave Sam lip on the Oz set, they were mortified. They were like who is this guy giving Sam Raimi lip? They didn’t know our history. It is fun to go back and keep working with him."

Campbell’s career has spanned over three decades and roles in films like Bubba Ho-Tep and TV shows like Hercules: The Legendary Journals and Xena: Warrior Princess have presented him to a variety of fan bases that will be eager to meet him in Calgary.

"Conventions are a completely different thing. Now you get to interact one on one. When I am signing I try to keep the line away from the table so that when someone comes up to it we can at least have 13 seconds of whatever they want to ask. I like finding out who is out there and who are these people and what are they buying? I see the photos and memorabilia they bring up and it is fun to see the spectrum of it. It is a little bit of everything; people like what they like. You are going to have mostly Evil Dead fans which is to be understood. The Burn Notice fans have been creeping in and you will always have your Xena and Hercules fans and things like that. It is people who like weirdo over the top movies and sci-fi horror and fantasy. I happen to have done a few of those so I think they are just someone I can relate to."

"We have a pretty raucous Q&A as well where we have 45 minutes of challenging the audience and tormenting them and they torment me.  Expect the unexpected. The audience will be very involved in the proceedings. It is very important to get them involved. Otherwise they are really shy; they sit on their hands and don’t say anything. If you confront them and make them part of the show it opens up and it is a lot of fun. We have had some good panels lately and this will be a surprise. It is a lot of fun – like live theatre."

Campbell has also done a lot of voice work for video games and animated features including The Ant Bully, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs and Cars 2. He enjoys working in both voice and on screen, and the opportunity to appeal to kids as well as their parents.

"I like the whole ball of wax. Voice work is fun because it is very controlled. You show up and have a donut and some tea, then sit in a nice comfortable studio and talk for a couple of hours, then leave and they pay you. It is pretty easy money. It makes up for all the other stuff of working late on film sets and strange locations and burning my ass off in Miami. I like to mix it up that way.  The parents watch the horror stuff and the kids can watch the cartoons. I have done a lot of Disney and a lot of unrated and not much in between. So there is stuff for everybody."

Most recently Campbell spent seven seasons on Burn Notice as Sam Axe, the best friend of ex-spy Michael Westen. The show wrapped up its final season in 2013.

"It has been a long run. What it does for your career is your residuals go up because your show is playing on the air more. Beyond that it lets people in the industry know you are a guy who can be hired. That is the bottom line. Any actor just wants to be able to be hired. If you can work on a show for 111 episodes it means you are a guy who will show up. For an actor that is half the battle. It gives you street cred within the industry, and you get more looks at 7-11 and you look like that guy from the show."

With many classic lines and moments in his career, I asked Bruce if he had a favourite or definitive line.

"I am not dead yet so I have more lines to come. That sort of thing will be when I am gone they can do a raffle to figure out which line they liked the most. There are always at least half a dozen of them like gimme some sugar baby. A lot of lines from Army of Darkness have stood the test of time."