Bruce Campbell on Bringing Empathy to His Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Revival
“We’re not going to make fun of it or mock it. There’s no ‘us and you’ situation.”
Image via the Travel Channel
Actor Bruce Campbell made his name in deliciously schlocky B-movies like Evil Dead II and Maniac Cop, where special effects were almost as special as the acting, battling the supernatural and strange for the enjoyment of horror fans everywhere. Now, the cult-figure-turned-genre-icon is trying on non-fiction for a change. Hosting (and executive producing) the latest TV revival of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! on the Travel Channel, Campbell will be taking fans of the offbeat to all corners of the globe.
The natural evolution of P.T. Barnum’s sideshow performers continues to fascinate us, with plenty of psychological ties to why we love the oddball, goofy, gross, slapdash worlds of low-budget genre cinema. Now, the series that started a hundred years ago as a newspaper column is back on TV. What’s changed? The series’ premiere episode features YouTube stars and viral sensations-something that definitely wasn’t present in past iteration. What’s stayed the same? Everything is completely out of the ordinary. And of course, what can we expect from Campbell? Well, to answer that, Paste sat down with the actor sat down to discuss Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, empathy, and mountain biking.
Paste: How did you get involved with the show?
Bruce Campbell: Like anything, stuff comes across your desk and you evaluate it. One of the evaluations is “Have I heard of it?” One was Ripley’s and I went “I’ve heard of that,” and one was Travel Channel and I went, “I’ve heard of that.”
My last show [Ash vs Evil Dead], it was like no one knew what Starz was. They go, “Bruce, have you retired?” and I say, “No, I’m on my third season of a new show on Starz.” They go, “What’s Starz?” Oh no. Then it comes to Netflix and people are like, “Wow, a new show! I didn’t know they had a new show.”
But yeah, it was just a brand I was very familiar with. My only conversation with them, when it came to doing it was the tone. We’re not going to point fingers. No “ew” factor. We’re not going to use the f-word. No one’s a “freak.” These are extraordinary people, so we’re going to celebrate it. We’re not going to make fun of it or mock it. There’s no “us and you” situation. And they were all over that. That was already their tone.
Paste: I got to see the first episode and read the descriptions for a few more. I can’t wait to meet some of these folks.
Bruce Campbell: It’s gonna digitally curate the amazing. Ripley’s has a warehouse that’s probably top five in the world … we’re also taking more of a documentary style. We go into their living room and find out why a guy wants to transform into a parrot. Like literally. Physically. Including flying.
Paste: That’s uh-
Bruce Campbell: When you hear that your first instinct is to go “Well, he’s a freak.” But let’s go talk to the guy. Let’s find out what his deal is. I look forward to meeting them. As a host, I only did the wraparounds. But we’re going to San Diego Comic-Con on the 20th of July and we’re doing a panel. Now THAT’s a panel.
Paste: Ooh, your first time meeting your subjects.