Bruce Campbell has a new update on his cancer battle — and he’s made it clear that he’s not planning to let his diagnosis take over his life.
The 68-year-old actor, who is best known for playing Ash Williams throughout the Evil Dead franchise, discussed his health during a September 3 appearance on The Adam Carolla Show. Campbell didn’t reveal what type of cancer he has, but said his latest prognosis gives him a life expectancy of about five more years, “give or take.”
“I’ve decided though, pretty specifically, to live with it, not die from it,” he told host Adam Carolla. “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.”
For Campbell, that means not spending his days obsessing over his diagnosis or searching for every possible piece of information about it. He’s got other things he’d rather be doing, including promoting Ernie & Emma, the independent dramedy he wrote, directed and produced, while also taking on the lead role.
“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, okay, but do I have to stop everything that I’m doing because of this?’ Well, no.”
Campbell said he feels “perfect” right now and doesn’t intend to put his life on hold because of his illness. He also acknowledged that the disease itself isn’t necessarily the only thing that concerns him.
“The cancer, it creep me out because of the ancillary stuff that it does. It’s not just, you don’t die for cancer. You die from what cancer does to you,” he continued.
You can listen to the full episode below via Spotify:
Campbell first revealed that he was dealing with cancer in March, when he said his condition was “treatable, not curable.” He didn’t offer specifics about his diagnosis then, either, but explained that treatment would force him to step back from some of his usual professional obligations.
“I apologize if that’s a shock – it was to me. I’m not gonna go into more detail,” he wrote. “I’m posting this because professionally, a few things will have to change – appearances and cons and work in general need to take back seat to treatment.”
Even with treatment taking priority, Campbell said at the time that he was hoping to be feeling well enough by the summer to get out and promote Ernie & Emma. The movie has remained a major focus for him throughout the health battle.
“It doesn’t change anything for me,” he told the Salem Statesman Journal in March. “It makes you prioritize 100 percent, and for me, the priority is this movie.”
And Ernie & Emma is certainly personal to Campbell, who wears several hats on the project. The movie follows a small-town pear salesman who sets off on a strange and ultimately reflective journey after his wife’s death, following a detailed list of instructions for what to do with her ashes.
According to the film’s synopsis, the man’s journey takes him through a series of “challenging and reflective escapades.” For Campbell, meanwhile, the movie seems to represent exactly the kind of thing he’s choosing to put his energy into now: making something, getting it out into the world and continuing to move forward.
