IS THAT A LOCKPICK IN YOUR POCKET ... ?
The man who made no-good thieves loveable actually has a pocketful
of dreams and principles that would make Autolycus pale.
SHERYL-LEE KERR talks to Bruce Campbell for AXIP.
H
E’S the Errol Flynn of the Xenaverse, the moustache twirling, derring-do thief guaranteed to lighten your load -- of valuables, that is.Autolycus also remains the only bloke to give Xena an unasked for kiss and get away with it without three cracked ribs and a permanent chakram smile under his chin.
He’s the guy who got his clammy hands on Gabrielle’s butt in The Quest and... well, ditto on the above.
And he’s certainly the only fellow who can proudly say he’s been possessed by a Warrior Princess while nature was calling.
It’s all grist for the mill for Bruce Campbell, the wisecracking occasional writer, director, producer and full-time actor who plays Xena’s and Hercules’s King of Thieves, Autolycus. It’s a character he gets a "hoot" out of doing, as Auto’s not your conventional hero, or villain, for that matter.
Bruce Campbell gave AXIP the challenge to toss him 10 questions he’s never been asked before.
Now that’s a tall order for a man in hot demand in the Xenaverse, and who gives regular online interviews to Xenites who have picked his brain on everything from pizza preferences to Autolycus’s love interests. He even has his own website - www.bruce-campbell.com - and a massive manifesto online of frequently asked questions.
Soooo.... 10 questions to find out all there is to know about the guy who became a cult star in The Evil Dead, who babysat Ted Raimi (Joxer) and went to the same high school drama class as Xena chief Sam Raimi? (Call me Einstein, but methinks the latter two events could well be related...)
This 10-question challenge could mean only one thing: we simply had to cheat... And do a lot of praying that Bruce failed maths at school. So, here goes:
10(ish) ORIGINAL QUESTIONS FOR THE
MAN WHO’S BEEN ASKED EVERYTHING:
1. How would you like to be remembered in your eulogy?
That I was an OK guy and that I played some small part in maintaining
the independent world of cinema.
2. Your house is on fire, the family and pets are safe ... but what do you run back inside to get?
Mr. Computer. Too many damn things on it...
3. Who/what (if anything) would it take for Autolycus to go on the
straight and narrow?
A healthy income, eternally pouring in from nowhere.
4. When you were a child what did you get spanked for? (If yours was a non-spanking family, then what did you get in trouble for?)
I was only spanked a couple times. One time, it was for punching my dad in the penis. I didn't plan on doing that, mind you, it just sort of happened.
5. Are there any roles you would refuse to take on moral grounds?
Yes. Almost any role in those big summer blockbusters. The level of unintelligence exhibited by them is morally offensive.
Waitaminute, in your web page’s manifesto you answer "What type of character have you not played but would like to?" with: "An upside-down action hero, someone who was never intended to be an action hero, i.e. Die Hard, with an accountant in the lead role." Isn't this at odds with your answer to the question about roles you won't take on moral grounds, Die Hard being a mega blockbuster and all...?
Well, I'd be happy to do a dumb summer blockbuster if it would at least turn ONE cliche on its head - i.e. an accountant who'd never fired a gun instead of ex-CIA, FBI, Navy Seal, etc.
6. If you had to write the last season finale of Xena, how would you end it?
Without fanfare. Life isn't always "stunning" or "thrilling." I directed the last Herc ep and was glad that we'll see our heroes walking off together and all is right in the world. Xena needs to take mellow pills sometimes.
Could you elaborate?
I mean that it needs a dose of humor regularly...
7. US Physicist Richard P. Feynman once asked an intriguing question:
If there was a cataclysm and all the world's science and knowledge were destroyed, what *one* sentence would you give the survivors to help them rebuild mankind?
What would your sentence be?
(For your information, Feynman's answer, being a physicist, was that "all things come from even smaller things".)
You see what you believe, as much as you believe what you see.
8. What's the thing/s you can't say no to?
Pie - Pecan in particular.
9. Dying your arm hairs red to be a believable Rob Tapert in Herc's For Those Of You Just Joining Us indicates a certain degree of perfectionism. Are you a perfectionist; if so, to what extent?
I'm a perfectionist on a TV schedule. That means, I try and do as much as I can in that short period of time. I also feel that too much time can be a bad thing.
10. What's the best thing about being a man?
Hassle-free outdoor urine release.
10a. Since you were there, you can give us the lowdown: whose hand was that really on Gabrielle's butt in The Quest? Yours or Xena's?!
Mine, baby -- all mine...can you say, "Buns of steel?"
10b. Where will you be professionally 10 years from now and, if there's a difference, where would you like to be?
I will be in my own little independent film wonderland, making several flicks a year and hiding from the system.
So is this where you really do see yourself or is it more a dream of where you would like to be?
I am actively pursuing that lifestyle - who knows? Time will tell...
(C) 1999 Sheryl-Lee Kerr/The Australian Xena Infromation Page
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