A Little Q & A With Bruce Campbell

The versatile Bruce Campbell has done it all, from acclaimed actor to bestselling author. Now he’s a sort of retired superspy on the hit USA show Burn Notice, which returns Jan. 22 at 10 p.m E.T.

If you haven’t seen the show yet, you should check it out. Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer is on Burn Notice as well, and we’ll be talking to her about that soon.

SFUniverse got access to a press event in which Campbell talks about the show, the cast and acting in general. Take in the wisdom of the Campbell, or we may have to use our boomstick.

Campbell said he was drawn to Burn Notice because it wasn’t quite like anything currently on the air. It’s not just about spies being brilliant and invincible, but about them being surprisingly normal.

Pictured: Bruce Campbell as Sam Axe — USA Network Photo: Glenn Watson

“My basis for accepting this script when it came across my desk was I loved the fact of what it wasn’t,” Campbell explained. “It wasn’t a cop show, it wasn’t a doctor’s show, it wasn’t a lawyer show.  There’s plenty of stuff that goes on, but this is basically the human side of spies and I went, right, I can get into that. 

And I really enjoyed the fact that it’s a good blend of a show that does have strong main characters, and not a lot of them.  It’s got four main characters.  And that’s what the emphasis is.  And oh yes, stuff blows up and every week there is a caper where you defeat the jerk of the week. 

But I think it’s mostly you watch these characters from week to week, and that’s what I enjoy.  And that’s what appealed to me and that’s what keeps me interested in the show is it’s not really about the explosions, it’s about the people who are doing the explosions.”

Campbell thinks it’s the human element of these spies that has helped Burn Notice catch on.

“If we were doing nothing but spy-speak all the time, I think you’d get some guys to watch and go, “Yeah, okay, cool.  They’re talking that cool spy stuff,” Campbell said. “But I think at the end of the day I want the soccer mom to be able to watch this show and go, “Oh, cool, they’re trying to patch up their relationship with something.  Or Michael’s working on some old problem in the past that is now coming back to haunt him.” 

I think that’s what’s getting a wider range of viewers.  It really isn’t just squinty-eyed spies shooting the gun sideways looking cool.  That they are flawed, all of these characters are flawed, and they’re all kind of doing the best they can.  They’re tap dancing as fast as they can.”

Burn Notice has a lot of exciting guest stars lined up and Campbell is jazzed about getting to work with them. Everyone from Cylons to football Hall of Famers will join Sam and Michael in the sun and fun of suddenly spy laden Miami. 

“You’ve got Tricia Helfer back as Carla.  So she’s going to be causing lots and lots of trouble,” Campbell said. “Michael Shanks is back as another one of these fellow cohort guys who you’re not sure if you can trust or not.  The great John Mahoney, who I worked with in the Hudsucker Proxy, John Mahoney from Cheers, he’s back as someone I can’t tell you about because I’d have to kill you. 

Former Dallas Cowboys Michael Irvin is joining us.  He’s Mr. Football, so it was kind of fun to do a football theme episode.  Dina Meyer shows up as, well, let’s just say someone who perhaps was close to Michael Westen.  And of course with Fiona that’s going to cause some sparks.  And there will be some sparks flying in these next seven episodes, I can guarantee you.”

Pictured: (l-r) Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westen, Tricia Helfer as Carla — USA Network Photo: Glenn Watson

One of the things Campbell enjoys most about the show is the “Robin Hood” element of the characters. They still have all the spy skills they learned while on Uncle Sam’s payroll (or some other organizations in Fiona’s case) but now they work for people who would be helpless otherwise.

“I think the show is potentially appealing to people because it does give you a sense of justice,” Campbell said. ” For the most part, we are going to catch these guys and we’re going to punish them, and we might torment them at the same time…  My favorite thing is, you know, there’s an episode coming up where some kid gets in trouble with a gang banger who is a car thief.  So instead of just telling the guy to knock it off, the Burn Notice guys what they’ll do is they’ll pretend that they’re a bigger band of car thieves in town to just run the guy out of town.  They think bigger than just knee capping a guy in the parking lot.  So it’s kind of fun. ”

It’s good to fight for the little guy. And the gang on Burn Notice are heroes you’ll want to cheer for. So please, set aside an hour of your non sci-fi viewing time to check out the show. With Bruce Campbell, how can you go wrong?