Bruce Campbell, best known to horror fans as the face of the “Evil Dead” franchise, has opened up about a devastating health update, revealing that doctors have given him an estimated five-year prognosis amid his battle with cancer.
“I’m in a five-year prognosis,” the 68-year-old actor said Wednesday on the “Adam Carolla Show.” He explained, “This is what the type of cancer I have — which I don’t want to get into — is the current thing is a five-year deal.”
Campbell said he is choosing not to let the diagnosis consume him, describing a mindset focused on staying present and refusing to be defined by the illness.
“It’s a fascinating thing that takes place because [cancer] messes with your head, too,” he said. “I’ve decided though, pretty specifically, to live with it, not die from it.”
The actor also said he avoids becoming overwhelmed by online research and support forums. “You can go down a massive rabbit hole. The cancer rabbit hole is enormous. You can go into focus groups of 10,000 guys who have exactly what you have. I won’t touch it with a 10-foot pole.”
The filmmaker also talked about what it was like to take on his new film, “Ernie & Emma” — an independent dramedy he wrote, directed, produced and stars in — while battling cancer.
In the film, Campbell plays a retired, widowed pear salesman who takes a road trip to scatter his late wife’s ashes.
“It’s a very fascinating time of having a movie about a guy who’s spreading his wife’s ashes, who died, made by a guy who’s dying,” he admitted.
Campbell insisted he is not going to let the prognosis slow down his work in film.
“I’m moving on. I got a movie to promote. And when I promote this movie, I have nothing. I’m free and clear when I promote this movie mentally,” Campbell said. “You have to make this decision of, ‘Well, OK, but do I have to stop everything that I’m doing because of this?’ Well, no.”
Campbell added that he feels “perfect” right now as he continues to refuse to let his battle stop him from living life.
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“The cancer, it creeps me out because of the ancillary stuff that it does. You don’t die from cancer. You die from what cancer does to you.”
The “Burn Notice” star announced his cancer diagnosis back in March, confessing at the time that it’s “not curable.”
“Hi folks, these days, when someone is having a health issue, it’s referred to as an ‘opportunity,’ so let’s go with that – I’m having one of those,” he wrote on X. “It’s also called a type of cancer that’s ‘treatable’ not ‘curable.’”
“I apologize if that’s a shock – it was to me too,” he continued.
Campbell said he wasn’t going to go into detail about his cancer, but shared that his future public appearances would now have to take a backseat.
“My plan is to get as well as I possibly can over the summer so that I can tour with my new movie ‘Ernie & Emma’ this fall,” he wrote. “Treatment needs and professional obligations don’t always go hand-in-hand.
“Fear not, I am a tough old son-of-a-bitch and I have great support, so I expect to be around a while. As always, you’re the greatest fans in the world and I hope to see you soon!”
Campbell is best known for playing Ash Williams in Sam Raimi’s “The Evil Dead” horror series.
“The Evil Dead” came out in 1981, and he also starred in 1987’s “Evil Dead II.”
Throughout his decades-long career, he has also starred in several television series and has directed various projects.
He also reprised his beloved character for “Ash vs. Evil Dead” on Starz in 2015.