This has always been a great show, and one of the best
things about it is the cast. I have gotten to speak to them a number of
times now, and it is always fun (especially Bruce Campbell, who is one
of my favorite actors). What you can't tell on this transcript is that
not only was he very funny, but Gabrielle Anwar was laughing the whole
time. The call was a lot of fun. You should definitely check out the
show Thursdays at 10/9 central on USA Network!
Official site
USA NETWORK'S BURN NOTICE CONFERENCE CALL
November 9, 2010
Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by and welcome to
the USA Network's Burn Notice conference call. During the presentation,
all participants will be in a listen-only mode.
Afterwards, we will conduct a question & answer session. At that time,
if you do have questions, you may press the 1 followed by the 4. If you
require operator assistance at any time during your conference, please
press star 0. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded, Tuesday,
November 9, 2010. It is now my pleasure to introduce Mr. Bruce (sic)
Bernstein. You may proceed, sir.
Brad Bernstein: Hi everyone, thank you for joining the call today. And
thank you to Bruce Campbell and Gabrielle Anwar as well for taking time
to do the call today. The fourth season of Burn Notice will continue its
episodes with new episodes on Thursday, November 11th at 10:00 p.m.
Eastern time.
I'm about to turn the call over to Bruce and Gabrielle. Gabrielle has to
make an appointment at 2:30, so if a question comes in after that time,
she might not be on the line, but she is available to answer anyone's
questions until then, so I'm going to turn it over to Bruce and
Gabrielle.
Operator: Thank you ladies and gentlemen. If you would like to register
for your question, you may press the 1 followed by the 4 on your
telephone now.
Our first question from the line of Stevie Wilson, lastory.com. You may
proceed with your question.
Stevie Wilson: Thank you. Good morning Bruce and good morning,
Gabrielle. How are you all doing?
Bruce Campbell: Good morning, good morning.
Gabrielle Anwar: Morning.
Stevie Wilson: So we're going into Season 4, what's new? What's - where
are we picking up from in terms of this whole, you've got a new
character in there and I'm dying to see it, quite frankly, I
(unintelligible)...
Bruce Campbell: Come on, Gabrielle; give them the whole lowdown of the
entire season.
Gabrielle Anwar: Oh, no. You know how much better you are at that than I
am.
Bruce Campbell: Oh, no, oh, no, well, let me just say, I think it's safe
to say that we're going to get more bad guys and we're going to get
worse bad guys because this is getting worse. Michael Westen's situation
is compounding and he's in a world of hurt and that drags us into it
also.
So everybody's in trouble. His mother's in trouble, we're all, you know,
it just - every episode it seems to escalate. I mean wouldn't you say
that's the general feeling, Gabrielle?
Gabrielle Anwar: Yes, I think you're right, it builds to quite a
crescendo in the last episode, but you're right, it's a continual
snowballing effect. We can't seem to get out of trouble.
Bruce Campbell: No, and we have other side jobs and, you know, we all -
the cases come in every week from different ways, but there's still the
through line of Michael Westen's situation is getting more and more
perilous and dangerous and he's getting more powerful people pissed off
at him and he's, you know.
And I think by the end, I have to say, when I read the end scene of the
end of this season, it actually was a jaw dropper for me. So most TV
shows don't give you that. The nice thing about this season, the last
half of this season is there's going to be a big boom at the end of
this. There's going to be a big, "What the f?" moment.
Stevie Wilson: Wow.
Bruce Campbell: Yes.
Stevie Wilson: Gee, well how do you follow that up? Okay, so in terms of
your characters, you guys are getting more ramped up, more involved and
seeing more danger for your characters as people as well as with
Michael?
Gabrielle Anwar: Yes.
Bruce Campbell: Yes, Gabrielle, wouldn't you say we get dragged into it
because of him? We're part of this team now.
Gabrielle Anwar: Yes, I think that loyalty surpasses the peril that
we're all in and he's getting himself deeper and deeper into trouble and
we're sort of caught in the crossfire.
Bruce Campbell: And also, you know, we can't - we can't say no to him.
It's not possible. We give him a lot of crap, particularly, you know,
Fiona's, you know, that character, and rightfully so, because he's doing
things that are risky.
But he's one of these classic, it's all for the greater good kind of
guys, so we each have our own codes and ethics, the stuff that really
gets the Fiona character pissed off, the stuff that really get's Sam's
goat, and the stuff that fuels Michael Westen.
So we're actually all fighting for the right thing, but we just have way
different approaches in how to do it and so, you know, my theory about
this show is that we break laws every episode, but we don't do anything
wrong. You know what I mean?
Stevie Wilson: I love it.
Bruce Campbell: We're just trying to deal with it ourselves.
Stevie Wilson: That's amazing. I'd like to...
Bruce Campbell: But I like the vigilante nature of it...
Stevie Wilson: ...(talk to) Fiona differently.
Bruce Campbell: ...we're actually, technically, vigilantes, which I kind
of like.
Stevie Wilson: Wow. Vigilantes?
Bruce Campbell: Yes.
Stevie Wilson: How?
Bruce Campbell: I mean I think if the world has - I think the world
needs a few vigilantes, someone out there who's willing to step up and
go, "You know what? This ain't happening. I got to take care of business
here."
Stevie Wilson: Gabrielle, how you feel about that? Fiona's obviously -
that's the perfect thing for her to do. But...
Bruce Campbell: Absolutely. She's a vigilante.
Gabrielle Anwar: I feel very happy about that definition, in fact.
Bruce, you just made my day.
Bruce Campbell: She's a freaking vigilante.
Stevie Wilson: I think you can totally pull it off. You do.
Bruce Campbell: She does pull it off, she's a bad ass. It's a great
character for her. You know, when people meet her, they'll go, "Oh, my
God, she's like a nice, really sweet person." You know very...
Gabrielle Anwar: They do?
Bruce Campbell: Oh, I think so, when you're not working, you know. I'm
kidding, of course, but, you know, the Fiona character's a great - I
think for you, Gabrielle, I don't know how you feel, but I think it's a
great character because you're so tough. Sam won't even mess with you.
No one messes with you.
Gabrielle Anwar: Yes, I, you know, I'm truly blessed to be able to step
into her shoes every day.
Bruce Campbell: Yes.
Gabrielle Anwar: And I love the fact that she really is not apologetic
for her...
Bruce Campbell: No.
Gabrielle Anwar: ...inner vigilante. I think it's an ingeniously written
role. I'm very proud to be playing her.
Bruce Campbell: And it's good for the, you know, it's good for womanhood
in that it's just another ass kicking woman who just steps up and she's
just like the guys, I mean, no difference. There's no difference in
abilities, no nothing, you know? She can take you out as many ways as
Michael Westen or Sam Axe, probably more.
Gabrielle Anwar: In heels.
Stevie Wilson: And in stilettos.
Bruce Campbell: Yes, in - and backwards, exactly.
Gabrielle Anwar: That's my hero, that's my role model right there.
Stevie Wilson: Thank you.
Operator: Our next question is from the line of (Tati Grippol) from (tsas.com).
Tati Grippol: Hi guys, thanks for talking with us today.
Gabrielle Anwar: Pleasure.
Bruce Campbell: It's our pleasure, of course.
Tati Grippol: So you've been doing this, well, we're in the fourth
season; you've been doing it awhile. What about your characters
continues to challenge you?
Gabrielle Anwar: The high heels.
Bruce Campbell: The high heels and memorizing dialogue.
Gabrielle Anwar: Oh, yes, you and me both, my God.
Bruce Campbell: Yes, I mean, we, this is what people don't - it's not a
complaint from us as actors, that's what we have to do, we have to
memorize lines.
The only thing about television, it's like a series of waves crashing
over your head before you get a full breath in that while you're sort of
figuring out the current script, the next one comes in, it's like, "Hey,
hey, look at that speech on page four," you know? And you haven't even
gotten there yet, and so you relish it as an actor because if they
didn't give you a lot of dialogue, right Gabrielle? You'd complain. If
you -
Gabrielle Anwar: Well, in my heels...
Bruce Campbell: Or crappy dialogue or, you know what I mean? But if they
gave you a lot, it's challenging and if they don't give you anything,
it's challenging in a way. So it's sort of the basics of our job that a
lot of our challenge from day to day is really just pulling this show
off in seven days, which is kind of absurd.
And Gabrielle would agree that the filming methods we have to do to get
this show done are absurd.
Gabrielle Anwar: Yes, it's a tremendous amount of work from every
department on the crew and...
Bruce Campbell: Every department, everybody's maxed out for seven
months, basically.
Gabrielle Anwar: Right and it's hard, but in television, which I wasn't
privy to, because I hadn't much television experience, but you have the
luxury on a feature film of, you have the script months, oftentimes
before you begin, so you have the entire thing mapped out in your mind,
you have a beginning, a middle and an end.
On, with a television show, you're doing a mini feature film every week,
so it's very, very hard to catch up with yourself, it's just, you're
so...
Bruce Campbell: And, you're meeting - sometimes meeting a new director
for the first time.
Gabrielle Anwar: Right, yes.
Bruce Campbell: On the first day of shooting, "Oh, hi, what's your name?
(Joe)? Oh, yes, okay. What do you got in mind here?" You know?
Gabrielle Anwar: Right. Yes, you really do have to stay on your toes,
it's - and it's a lot of staying on your toes.
Bruce Campbell: Yes, and it's a marathon, you know, because the weather
starts to heat up and everybody slows down and, you know, it can get
brutal, but I think at the end of the day, it still is - we all feel, as
actors, that the show is still worth it because it - when it all gets
put together, I have to say, I watch it sometimes and I go, "Wow, that
was kind of a slick ass show."
And you don't think of it - I don't think of it when we shoot it, we
shoot it, we're cracking jokes, there's things happening behind the
scenes. To me, it's all disjointed, but it's kind of nice to see them
all put together and it's - we feel very much supported by the people on
the back end, too, the people who do all the editing.
They're busy people, the editors, you know? And they keep us in line,
they hopefully use all of our best stuff, because, you know, you can get
raggedy over seven months, sometimes you don't nail that take every
single time and you have to rely on somebody to nurture you.
So we feel supported by the writers, we feel supported by, you know, the
post production and Gabrielle loves to boss the directors around, so
that works out fine.
Tati Grippol: Well, by the time we see it, it looks great. So we don't
know all that part of it.
Bruce Campbell: Right.
Tati Grippol: As a follow up, let me ask you this. How much time do
you guys have to spend like, training, preparing for the physical side
of your characters?
Gabrielle Anwar: That's a funny question.
Bruce Campbell: Well, Gabrielle, go ahead about, you know, just
surviving the seven months in general.
Gabrielle Anwar: You know, there really isn't time to do any kind of
formal training. There truly isn't time. I mean there's barely time to
wolf down breakfast in the morning, let alone, you know, burn those
calories off.
It's - I mean I haven't done any training. I actually during the first
season went to shoot at a military place where they have a lot of guns.
I don’t even know the name of it, but...
Bruce Campbell: So like a gun range?
Gabrielle Anwar: Gun range, there you go.
Bruce Campbell: We went to a range, yes.
Gabrielle Anwar: Yes. But that was it and really I only did that because
I have a sort of innate aversion to militia and I wanted to not play
Fiona with that fear. Of course, once the weapon was in my hand, I felt
like, you know, King Kong.
Bruce Campbell: Yes, yes.
Gabrielle Anwar: But - so there, I haven't had any training. Jeffrey, I
think is the only one amongst our cast that actually has had any martial
arts training. Am I right, Bruce?
Bruce Campbell: Yes, correct, because, you know, I've done some action
stuff, but it's always been, you figure out the choreography as you
shoot it on that given day. You don't - and in, especially in
Gabrielle's case, every week, they're shoving a new weapon into her
hand, something that's even bigger and bigger.
She carries the most ridiculously heavy weapons I've ever felt, I've
ever (saw). And, you know, you got to hold it up there and look like the
tough guy and that thing's as heavy as you are sometimes.
Gabrielle Anwar: I know.
Bruce Campbell: You know? So...
Gabrielle Anwar: I know, yes, I'm - by the end of the season, I start
whining. In the beginning, I'm like, "I can handle this." And, "Look at
me." And, "Hear me roar." And then by the end of the season I'm like a
little kitten like, whining and meowing.
Bruce Campbell: Well, we have real guns and fake guns and the fake guns
are sometimes rubber, so in many cases, I'll tell the prop guy, I'm just
running around with it, "Just give me the rubber, just give me the fake
one." You know, so we don't even have to carry the real guns around. But
I just gave away a trade secret, so I'm sorry Matt Nix, sorry.
Tati Grippol: No, we all knew, we all knew, it wasn't a secret. Don't
worry.
Bruce Campbell: Yes.
Tati Grippol: Anyway, thank you guys both for your time.
Bruce Campbell: All righty.
Gabrielle Anwar: Thank you.
Operator: Our next question from the line of Jenny Rarden from
tvismypacifier.com.
Jenny Rarden: Hi, thank you guys for taking our calls.
Bruce Campbell: Indeed.
Jenny Rarden: I have to say first that my husband is a huge Bruce
Campbell fan.
Bruce Campbell: Oh, woo.
Jenny Rarden: A season or two - a season or two into Burn Notice, we
were flipping through channels on the TV and came across Army of
Darkness. He had - he about had a conniption fit and wouldn't let me
change the channel.
Bruce Campbell: He was wondering who that old guy was. He was like, "Oh,
that's the guy, that guy."
Jenny Rarden: No, he absolutely loved it.
Bruce Campbell: Good.
Jenny Rarden: Anyway, he's...
Bruce Campbell: He's a fine man.
Jenny Rarden: ...a big fan of that and then we watched Man with the
Screaming Brain at some point and I don't know.
Bruce Campbell: I'm glad to see that you've watched the classics.
Jenny Rarden: Yes, exactly. Well, on my site, we have a Burn Notice
giveaway going on right now and we're asking viewers to tell us which
shows they would like to see crossed over with Burn Notice. We didn’t
limit it to USA shows, but we got some great answers. On USA of course,
there's you know, White Collar and Covert Affairs and In Plain Sight.
Bruce Campbell: Sure.
Jenny Rarden: And then on Fox, people - a lot of people said Human
Target, they said Sam and Winston could team up and then Fi and Guerrero
could - wouldn't actually, you know, get along, but being in the same
room would make the Battle of the Bulge look like a tea party.
And then of course you have the good guys, because both are created by
Matt Nix. Dan and Fi would get along because both are slightly insane.
No offense, and Sam...
Gabrielle Anwar: None taken.
Jenny Rarden: And Sam wouldn't be able to resist flirting with Liz, you
know, you've got all that type of stuff. But my favorite, I think, was
Leverage on TNT. Sam and Elliot were both in the service, and so maybe
Sam helped train or mentor him. He - Elliot hates guns, so maybe he and
Fiona have duked it out in the past. Anyway, just a lot of things like
that. It was pretty neat.
Bruce Campbell: Well, most of all, Gabrielle and I would say that we're
glad that you've given it this much thought.
Gabrielle Anwar: I know, yes.
Jenny Rarden: It's hard to imagine. Well, playing off of that, not
taking into account networks or anything like that, what shows would you
like to see a crossover done with?
Bruce Campbell: The evening news, which is the only TV that I watch.
Gabrielle Anwar: Do they have to be current shows?
Jenny Rarden: No, not at all.
Gabrielle Anwar: I would say The Avengers.
Bruce Campbell: Oh, there you go, that's a good one. That's a very good
one. Let's see, wow, that's bizarre. Let's see, a spy - well, I would
mix this one with I Spy, the one that had Bill Cosby.
Gabrielle Anwar: Right.
Bruce Campbell: And Robert Culp.
Jenny Rarden: Oh, yes.
Bruce Campbell: Because now you'd have like, old school spies, new
school spies.
Jenny Rarden: Right.
Gabrielle Anwar: What about In Like Flint?
Bruce Campbell: Oh, that's a good one, too. That's a good one, too.
Gabrielle Anwar: Yes, I was going to say the (unintelligible) with James
Coburn.
Jenny Rarden: It's fun to imagine.
Bruce Campbell: Yes.
Gabrielle Anwar: Yes, you're right, this is a good game.
Bruce Campbell: Yes.
Jenny Rarden: Well, I have one other question. Now that Jesse knows
about - knows that Michael is the one that burned him, how do things
progress from there with his character?
Bruce Campbell: We're not allowed to tell you that.
Jenny Rarden: Nothing at all?
Bruce Campbell: We can only tell you so much about that stuff because
it's all relevant to what's happening. The point is this...
Gabrielle Anwar: Right.
Bruce Campbell: If you have to work together for the greater good, you
will. And so, but it's going to be a long road.
Jenny Rarden: Right, well, that makes sense. All right, well thank you
guys...
Bruce Campbell: Yes, nobody likes to be burned.
Jenny Rarden: ...and I'm - well, that's true. Michael certainly didn't.
So...
Bruce Campbell: No, and so now there's a just...
Jenny Rarden: Well, we are certainly looking forward to finishing the
season. So...
Bruce Campbell: Oh, absolutely, and, you know, we, you'll see how that
character fits in as it progresses. You know, it's a tough ting to weave
in a new character. It's something you have to really pay attention to.
And, you know, we've been very happy to have Coby Bell come along and
play.
Gabrielle Anwar: Right.
Bruce Campbell: You know, let him jump over that wall, I'm sit - I'll
sit over here.
Jenny Rarden: All right, well thank you guys.
Bruce Campbell: All right.
Gabrielle Anwar: Thank you.
Operator: Our next question, from the line of Troy Rogers,
thedeadbolt.com.
Troy Rogers: Hi Bruce, hi Gabrielle.
Bruce Campbell: What's going on?
Gabrielle Anwar: Hello.
Troy Rogers: Well, can you guys talk about Simon's bible and what fans
can expect from eyes open?
Gabrielle Anwar: Can we?
Bruce Campbell: I'm sure you can give them juicy tidbits, Gabrielle.
Gabrielle Anwar: You think? What can we expect from the bible?
Bruce Campbell: Well, it's a puzzle, isn't it? And...
Gabrielle Anwar: It is a puzzle.
Bruce Campbell: ...with a jigsaw puzzle, you have to put the pieces of
the puzzle together.
Troy Rogers: Okay.
Bruce Campbell: And when you put the puzzle together, you step back and
you see an amazing picture. So what Simon's bible does is present the
opportunity to see and know everything.
Gabrielle Anwar: Amen.
Bruce Campbell: So, you know what I mean? And that's vague, but it's
pretty accurate, I think. And look, these scripts are very - they're
very dense. Sometimes Gabrielle and I will look at each other in a scene
and go, "Is that guy - how bad do we - do we really hate that guy?" You
know what I mean? Because we're trying to figure out...
Gabrielle Anwar: Why did we just kill him?
Bruce Campbell: Totally. Did we have to kill that guy? Okay. All right.
What's the next scene? You know? But we try and stay up with it,
frankly.
Troy Rogers: Okay.
Bruce Campbell: That's all you're going to get.
Troy Rogers: Fair enough. But the next episode isn't really Sam-heavy, I
was wondering, is there any Sam-specific episodes coming up or
interesting (unintelligible)?
Bruce Campbell: I'm being written out of the show.
Troy Rogers: What?
Gabrielle Anwar: No.
Bruce Campbell: I'm being written out of the show.
Troy Rogers: No way.
Bruce Campbell: Yes, Gabrielle wouldn't like that because then she'd
have to work more days.
Gabrielle Anwar: No.
Bruce Campbell: No, well here's the scoop, this is kind of how it goes.
Obviously it's the main story of Michael Westen, but what will happen is
that during the course of this season I think you're going to see -
coming up, I think you're going to see episodes that are Sam-tastic and,
you know, Fiona-riffic.
And that's what they do, they emphasize certain characters to help kind
of grow the show, so there would be some Sam-centric episodes coming up
and some Fiona-centric episode because they want to do that.
They want people to know that we're kind of in it to win it, that we're
part of the show and I think that's cool. And therefore, there's going
to be some episodes that you're not in as much as a character, so it
fluctuates.
Troy Rogers: All right. Any interesting guest stars coming up?
Bruce Campbell: What have we got? We got Robert Patrick, he - has he
already been in? Robert Patrick? I think he was...
Gabrielle Anwar: I think he was - he's been popped off already.
Bruce Campbell: Oh, he just bit it, didn't he?
Gabrielle Anwar: Yes.
Bruce Campbell: Yes. Jeez, we're trying to figure out which amount of
episodes are left, you know? I would say that they are all good, to be
effusive and dodging the question.
Only because it's hard for us to tick them off, seriously. We've had
some cool guest stars and I hope that if the show stays popular, we can
keep getting good guest stars. That's the beauty of having a popular
show, that actors will actually show up on your show.
Troy Rogers: True. Okay, thanks, guys.
Bruce Campbell: Okay.
Gabrielle Anwar: Thanks.
Operator: Our next question from the line of Jamie Steinberg with Starry
Constellation magazine. You may proceed.
Jamie Steinberg: Hello, everyone.
Bruce Campbell: What the hell is Starry Constellation magazine?
Jamie Steinberg: It's obviously a magazine that we post - feature
celebrities and musician people...
Bruce Campbell: Oh, so that's where the...
Jamie Steinberg: ...who are stars.
Bruce Campbell: It's that type of starry constellation?
Jamie Steinberg: Yes.
Bruce Campbell: I see, so Gabrielle is a star in that constellation as
well?
Jamie Steinberg: Absolutely.
Bruce Campbell: Okay. Got it.
Jamie Steinberg: With Michael's secret out about him burning Jesse, how
is that going to affect Fiona and Jesse's chemistry romantically?
Gabrielle Anwar: Ooh, well, it definitely does affect it. I think that
the lack of trust is a huge component into whether the two of them
evolve or devolve; I suppose one should say, but yes, it gets a little
hairy there for a moment.
Jamie Steinberg: And we've seen Sam with some lovely ladies on his arm
in the past couple of seasons. Is there any chance for you to get a love
interest again, Bruce?
Bruce Campbell: Yes, where have all the ladies gone? I mean, it's like,
I'm fighting Michael Westen's stupid missions the whole time, Sam
doesn't even, you know, he's like this old geezer that they yank back
into service and he's like, "Wait, I was having a good time." So I don't
know, I think he's just kind of back in the fold now. And Burn Notice is
actually...
Jamie Steinberg: I guess that means no more borrowing cars from his
lovely ladies, no more...
Bruce Campbell: No, but you've noticed that Sam has a different car
about every second episode and now they're all junkers, they're all
pieces of crap because they're all going to get wrecked.
Jamie Steinberg: Exactly, no more ladies to help finance them.
Bruce Campbell: I used to have these really nice cars because I used to
have a life outside of this, but now that Burn Notice is actually
getting more intense, it actually, I don't see - they can't find the
time to have Sam like, go bowling and drink mojitos with some hot lady
because basically we're all getting co-opted. We'd be on a stakeout
instead. So it's bad for the personal lives of these characters. It
sucks.
Jamie Steinberg: But it's increased your beer drinking because you've
had more time to sit and actually have a sip or two.
Bruce Campbell: No, because we're planning missions half the time. I'm
not drinking as much and I'm not whoring around as much.
Gabrielle Anwar: I think you need to talk to Matt Nix about this.
Bruce Campbell: Matt, let's get - I have to straighten this out right
now, let's get the ladies back on.
Jamie Steinberg: Well, it's a good thing we got a chance to talk,
because I helped promote this conversation with Matt.
Bruce Campbell: Exactly. Well, you know, I don't know, and as actors, we
don't try and steer the show. We try and leave it in the capable hands
of Matt Nix and see where he wants, you know, and I'm sure the studio
responds, too, because I'm sure they've seen some episodes where they
go, "Wow, let's never do that with those characters again."
Or they see stuff that they like and they go, "Wow, let's do a lot more
of, you know, Fiona kissing Michael and slipping him a device to get him
out of prison."
Jamie Steinberg: Well, thank you both so much for your time.
Bruce Campbell: All righty.
Operator: Our next question from the line of (Travis Tidmore) with
Cinemania. You may proceed.
Travis Tidmore: Hey, guys, thanks for joining us today.
Bruce Campbell: Thanks for being here.
Gabrielle Anwar: Hello.
Travis Tidmore: I was wondering what we should expect from the Sam Axe
movie that you guys are getting ready to make?
Bruce Campbell: You should expect two hours of bad ass-ness, that's what
you should expect.
Travis Tidmore: Are we going to get to see you whoring around and
drinking so more during it?
Bruce Campbell: No, because Sam's - this is Sam's last military mission,
so I have to lose weight and dye my hair darker. Because it's a prequel,
so I'm training in the mountains of Oregon right now. And I'm not even
kidding.
Travis Tidmore: Well, I'm looking forward to it, as I'm sure all the
fans are. So...
Bruce Campbell: Yes, what it, I mean, but here's the cool thing about
it, here's what's key. It does not have the fabulous, you know,
Gabrielle Anwar, but we may, you know, approach her with lots of money
for like, a telephone cameo or something. But it's mostly...
Gabrielle Anwar: Did we know each other back then?
Bruce Campbell: Probably of. Knew of each other, because if Mike was
still active and I was active, I would have known that you and him were
doing the...
Gabrielle Anwar: Right, right, right.
Bruce Campbell: ...the nasty. So...
Gabrielle Anwar: I'll have my people call your people.
Bruce Campbell: Thank you, that's a good idea. But Matt Nix has put a
component of this next season, Season 5, he put a component, he plants a
seed in the TV movie that will come to fruition in Season 5, which I
think is pretty fun.
Gabrielle Anwar: Oh, yeah.
Bruce Campbell: So if you really want to be the Burn Notice junkie,
you've got to watch that TV movie. And it's not for my sake, it's for
the, you know, for the viewer's sake.
Travis Tidmore: All right, and then, that sounds awesome and I'm
looking forward to it. My other question is, this last season Maddie has
sort of become more integral to the group. Can we expect to continue to
see her becoming more part of the missions?
Bruce Campbell: Gabrielle, what do you think?
Gabrielle Anwar: Yes, I think you're right. You know, I think she's
always been the backbone of the team. I think she's become a little bit
more visually involved. I always felt her presence in every episode
previously, but yes, she definitely becomes a more integral part on
camera, for sure. Thank goodness. How much do we love Sharon?
Bruce Campbell: Oh, yes, we love her a lot, so we want to get her back
and you know, it's a logical progression. You can only go so many
seasons with her going, "Michael, what were those dudes doing here? What
were those guys with guns doing here?"
I mean, it wears out after awhile, so the nice thing is, she's accepted
it, but she's also - Michael Westen is Michael Westen because of his
mom, because she's a tough broad. So she's actually a great person to
have in the field.
We've already used her playing Bingo, you know, and she's a great ringer
and she goes in and looks for county records and all sweet and innocent
and then she lies to their face, you know?
So it's a fun character for her and, you know, she happened - Sharon
lives in Miami, so it's perfect for her, too. And her husband laughs
because he says now she gets paid to smoke, since she loves smoking.
Travis Tidmore: Well, thank you guys very much and I look forward to
seeing the rest of the season.
Bruce Campbell: All righty, thank you.
Gabrielle Anwar: I'm going to bow out, gentlemen.
Bruce Campbell: What's that? Okay, you're out of here?
Gabrielle Anwar: Yes. Enjoy the rest, Bruce.
Bruce Campbell: All right, darling. All right, indeed. Say hi to the
children.
Gabrielle Anwar: Bye, Bruce, bye Brad.
Bruce Campbell: See you later.
Gabrielle Anwar: I will. Bye-bye.
Bruce Campbell: Ta-ta. All right, it's just us chickens left.
Operator: Our next question is from the line of Stefan Blitz with
forcesofgeek.com.
Bruce Campbell: All righty.
Stefan Blitz: Hey, Bruce, how are you today?
Bruce Campbell: I'm doing good, thank you.
Stefan Blitz: I guess first question is, you know, obviously you've
played Ash again and again, but this is the longest you've continuously
played a single character. What have been surprises playing a character
so long?
Bruce Campbell: Actually, Autolycus from Hercules has been longer.
Stefan Blitz: Oh, was it? Okay.
Bruce Campbell: Yes, I played that '95 to 2000. So starting Season 5,
Burn Notice will tie the record. We've been committed for Season 6. So I
think once Season 6 rolls around, that'll be a record.
Stefan Blitz: Okay. Fair enough, but have there been any surprises
playing a character for so long?
Bruce Campbell: No, the surprises are that there are no surprises. And
that's the good news, that you get to know a character, therefore it
allows you to then play with it. It's like once you learn the
instrument, then you can play with it. So, because you know, you make a
movie sometimes and the first two weeks, I want to throw that footage
out, because you don't know what you're doing with that character.
It's only three, four weeks into it. So I'm actually glad with a TV
show, you get to kind of finesse it over time and so do the writers.
They get to watch how they - it's up to them, ultimately.
Stefan Blitz: How have the writers made Sam more like you over the
years?
Bruce Campbell: Well, they sometimes will slip in vernacular that I say
or ways that I say something, or if I have trouble saying what they've
written sometimes, we'll work with each other to figure out how I can
say it. And then once they see how I talk, sometimes they'll adapt to
that, you know? So it's just practical stuff.
Stefan Blitz: Well, thank you very much for your time. Good luck with
the new season.
Bruce Campbell: Thank you.
Operator: Our next question from the line of Lance Carter with Daily
Actor. You may proceed.
Lance Carter: It figures. The last guy just stole one of my questions.
Bruce Campbell: With Daily Actor?
Lance Carter: Yes. Yes, the - one of my questions was, have you ever
gotten one of your scripts and just been completely blown away by
something that your character's going to do?
Bruce Campbell: Oh, I've been certainly really happy and delighted and
surprised, you know? But they're like little Easter eggs that you find.
So you always look for those and, you know, the Burn Notice writers are
pretty good at serving up good stuff, so I try not to get in their face
because they kind of do their thing, they do it pretty well.
Lance Carter: Yes. You guys film on location. Is there a huge difference
between shooting there or say, L.A.? Do you prefer shooting on location?
Bruce Campbell: I'm contractually obligated to say that I like shooting
on location, so that's what I'll say. Well, here's what it is, Miami, on
film, terrific, looks great. We are kind of mandated to shoot outside
60% of the time so that you actually see Miami as a character.
And it's great. Florida should send us a check for tourism every week
because that city looks awesome in our hands and, you know, it's a cool,
dynamic city. But it can be problematic with the heat and the rain
because you're basically in the jungle.
Stefan Blitz: Yes, well it does look beautiful.
Bruce Campbell: Yes, it does, the clouds are unbelievable there.
Stefan Blitz: And just one more question. What's your - you've been at
this for such a long time. What's your advice to actors?
Bruce Campbell: Become a producer. Because, you know, I did that to get
my first job. Evil Dead was 31 years ago now, my - the first Evil Dead
movie. And, you know, I was one of the producers who made the movie and
so there was no issue of who - how I was going to get that part.
I was just going to have that part. So, you know, there are ways to do
the end run, but they're never the easy way. You know, an actor should
never sit back and assume that there's only one way to get a job. Take
control. We live in America, be here now.
Stefan Blitz: Yes, perfect. Hey, thanks, man.
Bruce Campbell: All right, you bet.
Operator: Our next question, from the line of Suzanne Lanoue with The TV
MegaSite. You may proceed.
Suzanne Lanoue: Hi. Sorry, Bruce.
Bruce Campbell: Hi, how you doing?
Suzanne Lanoue: Hi, nice to speak with you again. You were talking about
the character, Maddie and I was wondering, it always seems like Sam and
Maddie have a great chemistry going on there. I know he likes the young,
beautiful ladies, but do you think there'd ever be anything more between
them?
Bruce Campbell: No. No.
Suzanne Lanoue: No?
Bruce Campbell: No, because it'd be too creepy. Because I don't think
Sam would do it because of Mike, because of his character, Michael
Westen.
Suzanne Lanoue: Oh, okay.
Bruce Campbell: Because if you're a loyal friend, you don't sleep with
their mother.
Suzanne Lanoue: All right.
Bruce Campbell: It's just not...
Suzanne Lanoue: Right, right. And let's see, most of my questions were
taken already, too, but let's see, what...
Bruce Campbell: You have to think of some new, fresh ones, I guess.
Suzanne Lanoue: I know, I know, my brain is working.
Bruce Campbell: Yes, instead of, "Tell me what happens this season."
Suzanne Lanoue: I know, I know. Well, I did just read some spoilers, but
none of them have to do with Sam, but I did read that Michael moves home
with Maddie. Any comment on that? I gather it's because the loft is
blown up, again?
Bruce Campbell: Well, let's just say it becomes inhospitable.
Suzanne Lanoue: Ah, okay. And let's see, the other question I had was,
what about Jesse? Do you think he'll ever be a - he's not really a
spoiler thing, but just sort of your opinion, if you can. Does Jesse
ever become more of a member of the team without hating Michael?
Bruce Campbell: Well, you'll have to see, you know, Michael Westen did
what he did without a bad intent, and so what Jesse's going to have to
eventually realize is that what the greater good is and whether he's
part of that greater good. Michael Westen's a greater good kind of guy.
Suzanne Lanoue: Right, right.
Bruce Campbell: So Jesse hopefully will theoretically see the bigger
picture. But as I think I quoted earlier, it's going to be a long, bumpy
road.
Suzanne Lanoue: Okay. And you were asked about the best - who were the
best guest stars or whatever. What about just some - any big names you
can (unintelligible)? Like, you had Burt Reynolds before. Anybody like
that?
Bruce Campbell: No, we got nobody like Burt. We want to get Burt back,
as a matter of fact.
Suzanne Lanoue: Wow.
Bruce Campbell: You know? If he'll let us.
Suzanne Lanoue: He was great.
Bruce Campbell: If he'll let us drag him out of retirement.
Suzanne Lanoue: Yes, he was great, not...
Bruce Campbell: Other than that, I don’t have a list of, you know, star
names. I think that...
Suzanne Lanoue: Okay.
Bruce Campbell: ...probably USA would be happy to deliver a list of
who's who.
Suzanne Lanoue: Well, do you think we'll ever be seeing any of Sam's
family, if he has family? Any...
Bruce Campbell: I don't think he has much family.
Suzanne Lanoue: ...relatives popping up?
Bruce Campbell: I doubt it.
Suzanne Lanoue: No distant cousins?
Bruce Campbell: No. No, no long lost - there may be a couple of
ex-wives, maybe some kids. You know, he's probably got...
Suzanne Lanoue: It's going to be hard to find.
Bruce Campbell: Probably got a 20 year old kid somewhere.
Suzanne Lanoue: Well, that would be good, yes. It's going to be hard to
find anybody with also that jaw line, though, that's the problem.
Bruce Campbell: That's okay; he'll take after his mother.
Suzanne Lanoue: Oh, okay. All right, well, thanks very much.
Bruce Campbell: All righty.
Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, to register for your
questions, you may press the 1, followed by the 4. Our next question
from the line of Keshaunta Moton from poptimal.com.
Keshaunta Moton: Hi.
Bruce Campbell: Hi there.
Keshaunta Moton: What are some of your favorite scenes to film?
Bruce Campbell: My favorite scenes to film?
Keshaunta Moton: Um-hum.
Bruce Campbell: Ones where Sam is shooting a lot of BS into the air,
where he's trying to con his way into something or, you know, he's
trying to fast talk somebody. Those are always fun to do.
Keshaunta Moton: Okay. And also, you said what guest stars you are going
to have on the upcoming season. Do you have a wish list of guest stars?
Bruce Campbell: Just more. I want more of the same. I want more people
like Burt Reynolds. I want some...
Keshaunta Moton: Okay.
Bruce Campbell: ...you know, let's get some big names in there. You
know, I'm sure they're trying and because it is a hit show, we do have
the ability to get, you know, some decent folks, so hopefully Season 5
will be the same.
Keshaunta Moton: Okay, and sorry, last question. What's the favorite
quality of your character, Sam?
Bruce Campbell: That he says it like it is.
Keshaunta Moton: Um-hum.
Bruce Campbell: That he doesn't mince words, he's a straight shooter and
he has a pretty good sense of right and wrong.
Keshaunta Moton: Okay, all right, thank you.
Bruce Campbell: All righty.
Operator: Our next question, from the line of Christina Kovar from
Maverick Media. You may proceed.
Christina Kovar: Hey, Bruce thanks for taking our calls.
Bruce Campbell: Indubitably.
Christina Kovar: I'm wondering, Chuck Finley, one name, many men. Which
one is your favorite?
Bruce Campbell: Which Chuck Finley usage, you mean?
Christina Kovar: Yes.
Bruce Campbell: The one recently where I wore a white suit and I had to
infiltrate the world of a - like a guy who hustles women. And so he had
to, you know, be a player and, you know, look like a swinger and act
like a swinger and that was a lot of fun.
Christina Kovar: Excellent. And can you tell me, which moment do you
think, where after you saw the - after the footage was shot and I don't
know if you see dailies or anything and you saw it and you said, "You
know what? I've got the character now, I understand it." And that's the
defining moment. Do you have a moment like that?
Bruce Campbell: No, there's never a defining moment.
Christina Kovar: No?
Bruce Campbell: No, because it's always, it's, you know, like life,
we're a moving target. So the character's always a moving target. You'll
find out his flaws and his strengths, you know, I'd like to find out
that Sam's a really good bowler.
But it'll take awhile to get that out, you know? But hopefully, that's
the things you can do if you stay on the air long enough, you can fool
around with different parts of their character.
Christina Kovar: Get him in a bowling league? Sounds good.
Bruce Campbell: And I want him to, you know, kick Michael Westen's butt.
Christina Kovar: I would love to see that.
Bruce Campbell: And Fiona could do all the trick shots, she could get
all the splits and stuff. Sam's just, blast it down. You know, he just
wants to just, blow all the pins to smithereens.
Christina Kovar: That would be awesome. Thank you very much.
Bruce Campbell: Michael Westen has to use the kiddy bumpers.
Christina Kovar: The guards, the bumper guards.
Bruce Campbell: The guards, yes.
Operator: We have no further questions at this time. You may resume with
your closing remarks.
Bruce Campbell: My closing remarks are...
Brad Bernstein: We'd like to thank everyone for joining the call and for
Bruce and Gabrielle for joining. If there are any follow-up questions,
please give me a call at 212-664-4401 or feel free to e-mail me at
brad.berstein@nbcuni.com.
Thank you, Bruce.
Bruce Campbell: All right.
Brad Bernstein: And have a good day, everybody.
Bruce Campbell: Thanks, guys, bye.
Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude the conference call
for today. We thank you for your participation and kindly ask that you
please disconnect your lines. Have a great day, everyone.
Bruce Campbell: Thank you.
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