Bruce Campbell Reveals He Has 5 Years to Live amid Cancer Treatments, Says He’s Chosen to ‘Live with It, Not Die from It’

Bruce Campbell is opening up about the “cancer rabbit hole” he’s discovered since receiving his diagnosis.
During a Sept. 2 appearance on The Adam Carolla Show, the Evil Dead actor, 68, shared that he was given five years to live, “give or take,” after being diagnosed with cancer.
“With the type of cancer that I have, which I don’t want to get into, the current thing is a five-year deal,” Campbell said on the podcast. “I’ve decided pretty specifically though to live with it, not die from it.”
“You can go down a massive rabbit hole. The cancer rabbit hole is enormous,” he continued. “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.”

Bruce Campbell at New York Comic Con in 2024.Eugene Gologursky/Getty
Our new app is here! Free, fun and full of exclusives. Scan to download now!
Campbell went on to share that much of his focus has been on promoting his latest film, Ernie & Emma.
“When I promote this movie, I have nothing. I’m free and clear when I promote this movie,” he said. “You have to make this decision of, ‘Oh okay, but do I have to stop everything I’m doing because of this?’ Well no. So, it’s a sort of whack-a-mole life, literally.”
“Cancer compromises s— inside your body,” he added. “You don’t die from cancer, you die from what cancer does to you. It does weird s— and then you address it and move on.”
Related Stories
Lucy Lawless Reveals How Co-Star Bruce Campbell Really Feels About His Great Hair
Alix and Ashtin Earle Learn Shocking Results of BRCA Gene Mutation Test Following Mom’s Cancer Diagnosis
The Army of Darkness actor announced that he was diagnosed with a “treatable” but not “curable” form of cancer in March.
“Hi folks, these days, when someone is having a health issue, it’s referred to as an ‘opportunity,’ so let’s go with that,” he wrote on Instagram at the time. “I’m having one of those. It’s also called a type of cancer that’s ‘treatable’ not ‘curable.’ I apologize if that’s a shock – it was to me too.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
While he chose not to share further details at the time, Campbell did say that “a few things will have to change” and that his work would take “a back seat to treatment.”
“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,” he wrote. “There are several cons this year summer that I have to cancel. Big regrets on my part. Treatment needs and professional obligations don’t always go hand-in-hand.”
Bruce Campbell in 2018.Vivien Killilea/Getty
Four months later, Campbell said that he had been “doing as well as you can do for having cancer” while appearing on the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast.
“It’s treatable, not curable,” he explained of his cancer at the time. “So, it’ll be something that will be with me until I croak, which with treatment is, you know, earlier than you want to croak. But without treatment, I guess it would be earlier.”
“So, you know, I’m gonna do treatment that I can deal with and that works,” he added, saying elsewhere in the podcast, “I have tons of hope.”