Evil Dead star Bruce Campbell says he has 5 years left to live after cancer diagnosis
The “Burn Notice” alum said he refuses to fall down a “cancer rabbit hole” and would just “live with it.”
By Daysia Tolentino September 5, 2026 11:05 a.m. ET
PIC CAPTION: Bruce Campbell attends the Hysteria! press room during New York Comic Con 2024.
Credit: Eugene Gologursky/Getty
Evil Dead star Bruce Campbell shared an update on his cancer journey.
Months after disclosing his diagnosis, Campbell shared that he may only have a few years left to live.
“I’m in a five-year prognosis,” he told The Adam Carolla Show in an episode released on Wednesday. “With the type of cancer that I have, which I don’t want to get into, the current thing is a five-year deal.”
When host Adam Carolla asked Campbell if that meant “the prognosis is you have five years to live,” the horror icon confirmed the news, replying, “Give or take.”
Despite the daunting outlook, the 68-year-old is choosing to stay optimistic, noting that treatments could advance in the next five years. He also refused to go down a “cancer rabbit hole,” explaining that he stays away from “focus groups” of people enduring the same health issues.
“I’ve decided though pretty specifically though to live with it, not die from it,” Campbell said.
The Burn Notice alum shared his cancer diagnosis in March, although he has not specified the type of disease he has. He did note that it was “‘treatable’ not ‘curable,’” but declined to tell fans further details of his medical journey.
“I’m posting this, because professionally, a few things will have to change — appearances and cons and work in general need to take a back seat to treatment,” he wrote on X at the time. “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.”
And he did indeed save his energy for Ernie & Emma, which he came onto The Adam Carolla Show to discuss. The film centers on widower Ernie (Campbell) who sets out to scatter his late wife Emma’s (Robin McAlpine) as she requested. Campbell admitted that it was a strange coincidence that he made a movie about grief in the midst of his own battle with mortality.
“It’s a very fascinating timing of having a movie about a guy who’s spreading his wife’s ashes who died made by a guy who’s dying,” Campbell said.
Watch the full episode of The Adam Carolla Show with Bruce Campbell below.
Link:
https://ew.com/evil-dead-star-bruce-campbell-says-he-has-5-years-left-to-live-12109013