(L-R): Bruce Campbell and Lee Majors in Ash Vs Evil Dead. Photo courtesy/copyright of STARZ.
It is time for another round of Sci-Fi Blast From The Past interviews! For those new to Sci Fi and TV Talk, these are interviews that appeared in print only and not on-line. Today, the iconic Lee Majors talks about his introduction to the world of TV horror with his role of Brock Williams in Ash Vs Evil Dead as well as working on The Six Million Dollar Man and The Fall Guy.
He helped tame America’s Wild West, saved the world a dozen times over, and had one heck of a good time as “the fall guy.” Veteran actor Lee Majors has done all those things and so much more in his over 50 years in the industry, and is not about to stop yet. This month he makes his debut as Brock Williams, the handsome, tough-as-nails, ever resourceful dad of the chainsaw-wielding, demon slayer Ash Williams in season two of the Starz comedy/horror series Ash vs Evil Dead. This was Major’s first time working in this genre, and he absolutely relished the experience.
“All the TV shows I’ve done in my career have been action/adventure and family oriented, so it was kind of unusual that the people doing Ash vs Evil Dead would come to me with this particular role,” says Majors. “Although I had heard of the Evil Dead feature films, I’ve never seen them, but I wasn’t aware of the TV series. So when they asked me about it, I said, ‘Well, let me look at some of the first season.’ So I watched the first episode, then the second, followed by the third, and I ended up watching all 10. The first episode kind of grabbed me, and then it just got more entertaining as it went along. I had never seen anyone slice someone up with a chainsaw while throwing out such funny lines,” he notes with a chuckle. “The comedy took the edge off of the gore, and I just enjoyed it.
“Having zoomed through all of season one, I thought, ‘This looks like fun and I’d like to be a part of it.’ I already knew who Bruce Campbell [Ash Williams] was from Burn Notice as well as Lucy Lawless [Ruby Knowby] and [series co-developer/executive producer] Sam Raimi, who directed the Spider-Man films and lots of other terrific stuff. Coincidentally, like me, Bruce, Sam, Ted Raimi [who has also joined the show playing Ash’s best friend Chet Kaminski] and [executive producer] Rob Tapert, who is married to Lucy, were all born and raised in Michigan. They’re good people who are loyal to one another and have worked together many times before, all of which I admire.
“As for my character of Brock, if you look at Bruce’s work in the first season, Ash is, among other things, a womanizer, kind of rowdy, and a little bit risqué, most of which he gets from his father. From what I understand, Brock had a thriving hardware store in Elk Grove, Michigan, but then when his son left town, everyone labeled Ash a serial killer. No one wanted to do business with the father of Ashy Slashy, as they called him, so Brock had to close his store and has since spent most of his time watching TV and drinking beer. When Ash comes back to town, Brock is none too pleased and lets his son know it. Brock blames Ash for taking his daughter [Cheryl] away from him, so they have their confrontations at the very beginning, and as the season goes on, the two of them get a bit more competitive. I think I bring out a few more emotions in Bruce, and the two of us got on wonderfully. The entire cast works extremely hard and I love them all.”
Looking at Majors’ numerous TV and film credits, the actor is best known for his starring roles of Heath Barkley in The Big Valley and Jess Brandon in Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law, as well as the leading roles of Colonel Steve Austin in The Six Million Dollar Man and Colt Seavers in The Fall Guy. “When I first read The Six Million Dollar Man script, I thought the show was going to be really camp, like the Batman TV series,” recalls the actor. “If that was going to be the case, then I didn’t want to do it, so they made the character more serious. I also asked if we could tone down the actual use of the bionics, because something like that can get old quickly.
“At the time, we were covering new, exciting ground with the use of prosthetics as well as bionics, and we also got to do things like film at NASA with the astronauts. So a lot of it was educational for me, and I really enjoyed myself, which is true of anything I do, or I wouldn’t be doing it. The Fall Guy was more in line with my true self and was even more fun. I got to cast almost every major role in that show, so I brought in stars who I’d grown up with as well as a number of famous people who were also friends of mine.
“Whenever I’d finish a show or whatever, I felt like a guy who lost his dog. You start looking around for it, hollering for it, and staying up late at night looking for it. My ‘dog’ was working in the business, so I couldn’t wait for the next job, and that’s still true today. I love working. It keeps me young, along with my wife Faith, who I’ve been married to going on 21 years. She’s with me 24/7 and loves going to work with me. So I’m very blessed and life couldn’t be better.”
Steve Eramo
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