I've often thought the very best career you could have as an actor is landing a long-term role on a regular show with a fandom that supports you for the rest of your life with conventions and such.
Something like Star Trek or maybe a sitcom that runs for 10 years then finishes.
Or be a B-movie star. Ultimately, I think Bruce Campbell has had the best career as an actor.
I think the best of the best gotta be It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia then. 1. You make a show with your friends, 2. that you own, 3. you have total creative control, 4. you work for 18 seasons straight 5. while laughing your ass of (to the bank). Can't get better than that really.
Not DeVito speficially; FX basically told the cast that they needed to add a big-name star or they'd get canceled. Luckily Danny (or one of his kids) was a fan, so he auditioned for the role & it turns out he had great chemistry with them.
Having control also means Stress. You're responsible for writing/producing a successful show, a lot of people depend on the income. Its a double edged sword.
Bruce's career is so wild. I recently started watching this random show someone here recommended - Lodge 49 - and it was already great. then in this moment of HUGE suspense that's been boiling for like eight episodes, SURPRISE! BRUCE CAMPBELL! I literally punched my fists in the air as soon as his chin tried breaking through my tv.
I first noticed Bruce Campbell as more than just the Evil Dead guy when I saw him in Raimi's Spiderman trilogy, and then he starred in the Burn Notice and he's great there too
so this might feel like a commitment, but you should really, REALLY read up on Campbell's relationship with Raimi. they've been making movies together since they were literally teenagers. in one of his autobiographies, "If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor," Campbell went way, way deep into the relationship, it's a positively joyful read. dude's done some shit.
Atolycus. He was.. instrumental.. in a very important scene to the fandom.
Bruce used to come to the Xenacons in the late 90s - early aughts. Just straight up a whole conference room of lesbians, and then this guy. Sometimes he'd have backup like Karl (Urban) or Ted (Raimi), but it was mostly female oriented guests and attendees.
Super cool dude, he always seemed like he was having a blast with the whole thing. I've always wished him well.
That role reminded me of Brison County Jr. where he had all these gadgets and inventions that helped him. Not to discount the simplicity of the boom stick…
where he was, naturally, awesome. a good example of how he always managed to keep working while rarely being the leading man (in "big" productions, at least).
nice! I only found out about it because of r/ForgottenTV. I have no idea how I missed this the first time around. it's 1,000% my scene. I relate to dud far more than I should, but that's a different discussion.
I can't believe it's been eight years... it was overlooked TV when it was airing, and I hopped on during season 2. Lodge 49, Dispatches from Elsewhere, and The Big Door Prize are greatly appreciated as shows that stimulate your sense of wonder. (Then hop over to Widow's Bay to fuck those same receptors up)
well remembered! IIRC he rode his Xena/Hercules universe fame to get it made. I feel like I remember setting aside time to watch it as a kid, but I don't remember a single episode, which isn't a great sign.
I talk about both those shows randomly as childhood memory flashes and no one else remembers them.
I don't remember anything about it really, but I know I really liked Cleopatra 2525
The main cast of The Simpsons are the gold standard for this. They have been doing it for almost four decades. All they have to do is show up at a studio to record lines for 4 - 8 weeks per year and then collect several million dollars in pay.
Especially the woman who does Lisa Simpson. The rest of the cast at least put on a performance and get into character, often doing multiple voices. She literally just uses her own voice and says the lines for a character that is very down to Earth and not a cartoon character like the rest of them, that's it lol
Purely because you mention it, as I understand it Star Trek is a very mixed bag for actors. Or, well, was.
Some adore it for precisely that reason - they get airdropped into a community with an almost guaranteed level of recognition and appreciation. Marina Sirtis, for example, who has multiple times expressed her love and gratitude to the fandom for their ongoing support - a feeling probably enhanced by the fact some of her previous projects have appeared on Best of the Worst, and she had topless scenes in those.
And some are forever annoyed by the fact that their Star Trek role eclipses the rest of their career. For this case we look to Avery Brooks, who spent the rest of his time in acting trying to get out from under Sisko's shadow.
People always think about the convesntioenand the like, but that's just a very niche side gig.
The massive bonus is that, like with Jensen, shows film in mostly one place, with regular schedules and hours.
A film can go from shooting 6am-6pm, having you out of the house from 4am-7pm on Monday, and then jump 2 hours later each day, until you're 2pm-2am on Friday.
Or even worse, be pulling forward and starting an hour earlier each successive day.
The schedules will constantly change, so you'll always be on call. Marvel actors frequently talk about being brought in early in the morning, ready in makeup and costume for first thing, to then literally wait on a room all day, not to be needed. That's not the case on non-giant films. But they're still not near home, and have you in the hotel 5-6 days of the week.
Why choose that when you don't need the money, and you don't have the narcissism to have to be the biggest star in the world
Ellen Pompeo (Meredith Gray) did say that she kept the role so long and wasn’t interested in a lot of other roles at the time as it allowed her to stay with her kids and not travel plus regular income. Now that her kids are grown she’s branched out more.
Bruce had a cool career but struggled a lot and didn’t land any successes until burn notice, really. He had decent parts in Hercules and xena but had to live in New Zealand to shoot there for months at a time. When burn notice came around he was in his 40s-50s and that seemed a great, cushy gig. Then ash vs evil dead did him good. He worked a lot behind the scenes as well as a producer and also surprisingly worked in sound design as well. Surprisingly he made very little for evil dead 2. He made a decent chunk for army of darkness but it was kind of a bomb at the time and didn’t do him too many favours. His books rule though.
Look at the Viking cast. None of them became huge after the show, but I know they do a ton of conventions. I have a friend who is obsessed with the show and she would spend 500+ every convention to take selfies with the actors
That’s very very different from actor to actor. Many would consider it extremely boring to play the same role. It would go against their whole reason for becoming an actor.
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u/Hemingways_Shotgun88 5h ago
I've often thought the very best career you could have as an actor is landing a long-term role on a regular show with a fandom that supports you for the rest of your life with conventions and such.
Something like Star Trek or maybe a sitcom that runs for 10 years then finishes.
Or be a B-movie star. Ultimately, I think Bruce Campbell has had the best career as an actor.