{"id":97150,"date":"2026-03-25T05:11:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T08:11:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/evil-dead-star-bruce-campbell-pivots-genres-with-oregon-film\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T05:11:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T08:11:56","slug":"evil-dead-star-bruce-campbell-pivots-genres-with-oregon-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/en\/evil-dead-star-bruce-campbell-pivots-genres-with-oregon-film\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Evil Dead\u2019 star Bruce Campbell pivots genres with Oregon film"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Bruce Campbell wrote, directed and starred in “Ernie & Emma,” a film set in Southern Oregon where Campbell has lived since the ’90s. Campbell says the movie allowed him to break away from being typecast as just the “Evil Dead guy.”<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Bruce Campbell\/Ernie & Emma<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bruce Campbell<\/a> may best be known to cinephiles as Ash, the protagonist of the classic cult-horror franchise \u201cEvil Dead<\/a>\u201d by director Sam Raimi. In the last 40 years since the first \u201cEvil Dead\u201d movie, Campbell has been prolific, acting and producing in television and film every single year since. <\/p>\n

Now, the Oregon-based actor has written, directed and stars in a new movie called \u201cErnie & Emma<\/a>.\u201d It was filmed entirely in Southern Oregon, featuring iconic Pacific Northwest landmarks like Table Rock and the Rogue River.<\/p>\n

\u201cSouthern Oregon just has not been overexposed. It\u2019s a wonderfully diverse, beautiful area,\u201d Campbell said. <\/p>\n

\u201dAnd if you catch it right, it\u2019s magic.\u201d<\/p>\n

At its core, \u201cErnie & Emma\u201d is a story about processing grief: A widower is sent on a road trip \u2014 a scavenger hunt via letters from his late wife, detailing where she wants her ashes spread. <\/p>\n

Campbell said writing a movie that he was also going to star in gave him the flexibility to take risks.<\/p>\n

The movie premiered on Valentine\u2019s Day in Medford, and will screen in Portland on Saturday, April 4 at the Hollywood Theatre<\/a>, before a nationwide release in the fall. <\/p>\n

OPB \u201cAll Things Considered\u201d host Crystal Ligori spoke with Campbell about his new film, and the joys and challenges of breaking away from traditional filmmaking.<\/p>\n

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.<\/i><\/p>\n

Crystal Ligori:<\/b><\/i> Your movie is definitely a departure from something like \u201cEvil Dead,\u201d but it still has a lot of humor and sass, which, as a fan, felt familiar. But I was not expecting to cry while watching it.<\/i> <\/p>\n

Bruce Campbell:<\/b> I\u2019m not a big crier. I\u2019ve done a couple of Hallmark movies, so I get it. I get the procedure, but the emotional side of me is never something that as an actor I\u2019ve really used a lot. But it\u2019s not like I can\u2019t do it. And if you pick a subject matter that\u2019s close to you, you can see yourself going there. <\/p>\n

And on top of it, it\u2019s just, \u201cHow do I write myself a big fat part?\u201d Because I\u2019ve been pigeonholed for a long time. And if this kind of helps break it out of the box, I\u2019m the first in line to say, \u201cYeah, baby!\u201d <\/p>\n

Ligori:<\/b><\/i> Can you talk about how the idea for the script came about?<\/i><\/p>\n

Campbell:<\/b> The very nucleus of it was basically, \u201cCould you actually do a movie with one person?\u201d My wife, Ida Gearon, and I had been talking about if we could make a movie off the grid [since] I self publish now. <\/p>\n

I did three books through a publisher in New York City, [a] New York Times bestseller<\/a>. That was all very delightful, but the numbers were lousy. Meaning that they keep the bulk of the money and I\u2019m doing all the work. I write the book, I travel, I tour. I\u2019m like, \u201cYou guys, all you really did was distribute the book.\u201d<\/p>\n

So I took it upon myself [and] I just put stuff out when I want to and I get used to that freedom. So we realized the only way to ever have creative freedom is that you have to put up the money. So this was a chance to go, \u201cWell, if we did do it off the grid, what would we do?\u201d <\/p>\n

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Bruce Campbell attends the world premiere screening of his new movie, Ernie & Emma at the historic Holly Theatre in Medford, Ore., Feb.14th, 2026. Campbell wrote, directed and starred in the film, and produced it with his wife, Ida Gearon.<\/p>\n

Mike Ditz \/ Courtesy of Bruce Campbell\/Ernie & Emma<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ligori:<\/b><\/i> This movie has such a vivid sense of place. Not only being filmed entirely in Oregon, but it just feels like the Pacific Northwest. Not to spoil anything, but I\u2019m thinking about the Bigfoot scene. <\/i><\/p>\n

Campbell:<\/b> Oh yeah. And here\u2019s what\u2019s fun about that \u2014 one of the places his wife sends him is to go back to return from when they were young. They got wasted and as a joke, [like] a lot of people do, \u201cLet\u2019s go find Bigfoot!\u201d And in the \u201970s, they actually built a Bigfoot trap<\/a> that exists to this day. So, let\u2019s shoot a whole scene at the Bigfoot trap. <\/p>\n

It [has] scenes that people have just never seen in movies before. It\u2019ll be landscapes that they\u2019ve never seen before: Table Rock and the Rogue River, which happens to be an absolutely gorgeous river where they shot \u201cThe River Wild\u201d and stuff like that. It just is so much beauty. <\/p>\n

\"Bruce<\/picture>
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Bruce Campbell kayaks along the Rogue River in his new film, “Ernie & Emma.” Campbell says that Southern Oregon is a beautiful, diverse place that hasn’t been overexposed in movies yet \u2014 and that he wanted to showcase its magic.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Bruce Campbell\/Ernie & Emma<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We also experienced the joy of working with people that were not jaded. That was a much better atmosphere to play in where it really felt like we were just having fun, playing around, shooting a movie.<\/p>\n

Ligori: <\/b><\/i>The main character Ernie is a local celebrity of sorts, a spokesperson for a pear orchard. Throughout the film he is recognized as \u201cThe Pear Guy.\u201d I\u2019m curious if that character element is somehow related to your own experience being known as \u201cAsh\u201d from \u201cEvil Dead\u201d?<\/i><\/p>\n

Campbell: <\/b>Absolutely. People call me Ash. They holler \u201cAsh! Hey, Ash!\u201d Which is fine. It\u2019s wonderfully familiar for them. It put my kids through college. They can call me whatever they want, really, but that represented X amount of my life professionally and the rest of it, overwhelming, was not<\/i> the character Ash. So it amuses me more than anything. I could be doing Shakespeare in the Park and I\u2019m the \u201cEvil Dead\u201d guy. <\/b>So Ernie Tyler is \u201cThe Pear Guy.\u201d <\/p>\n

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In a still from the film “Ernie & Emma”, Bruce Campbell hikes along a scenic trail at Table Rock in Jackson County, Ore. Campbell says the movie gave him an opportunity to show more of his range as an actor, as his character grieves the loss of his wife.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Bruce Campbell\/Ernie & Emma<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ligori:<\/b><\/i> Bruce, what do you want an audience to take away from this movie?<\/i><\/p>\n

Campbell:<\/b> I want them to be happy. I want them to watch the movie and have a happy experience. I\u2019ve seen too many movies that are just drudgery. God bless the new horror filmmaker. Their favorite thing is to add a slightly gray or green tint to the movie where everything looks kind of like you\u2019re in an emergency room. <\/p>\n

And I\u2019m like, no, I would like to see color and faces! I want to see all of their faces, and I want to see their eyes so I can see their expression. <\/p>\n

The \u201cEvil Dead\u201d movies have been very grim over the years. I swore up and down that I would never allow myself to start another shooting day facing a dirt floor covered in blood in some basement somewhere. And it\u2019s happened so much now that I\u2019ll do everything I can to avoid ever letting that happen again.<\/p>\n

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