11 Meta Films Starring Actors Playing Extreme Versions Of Themselves

2. My Name Is Bruce

My Name Is Bruce is effectively a self-conscious send-up off Bruce Campbell's star turns in his beloved Evil Dead films. In those B-movies, Campbell plays an arrogant, hammy hero that kills deadites and throws out brilliant one-liner after brilliant one-liner. In MNIB, the actor plays himself as a Z-movie actor featuring the same self-admiring qualities of his most famous character but lacking the same bravery in the face of evil. When two fans of his work ask him to help them kill the Chinese god of the dead, Campbell assumes it's a move pitch. It isn't, and his audience is treated to a humorous caper in which Campbell must draw on the spirit of Ash and become as brave as his alter-ego. Excellent references to his other work ("Everybody loved Bubba Ho-Tep!") and cameos from frequent collaborator Ted Raimi are everywhere in this film. For fans of Campbell, it provides gift after gift. It's simultaneously a narrativisation of Campbell's almost-but-never-quite-a-star career, a mockery of his fans' perception of him, and a love letter to those same fans that have stuck by him for years.