Ray Santiago
Ash vs Evil Dead
Ash vs. Evil Dead is one crazy, fun ride, and it’s about to enter its second season of bloody good fun on STARZ. It turns out that Ray Santiago, who plays one of Ash’s dedicated (and slightly insane) sidekicks is kind of crazy-fun himself, and we had a chance to talk with him recently about working on with legends on this strange and sensational series.
AvED is a direct continuation (thirty years later) of the horror cult classics Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 (and to a lesser degree Army of Darkness, boomstick notwithstanding), and Ray’s character, Pablo Simon Bolivar, has been on board since Season 1, Episode 1, right alongside Ash himself (Bruce Campbell) and the equally amazing Dana DeLorenzo, not to mention the truly legendary action-actress Lucy Lawless. Yeah, Xena herself who joins the show full-time for Season 2.
Ray Santiago
You can tell in the first two minutes of talking with Ray that he is one smart dude who ‘gets’ the attraction to this more-than-a-little-insane series. He’s also a damn hard worker who clearly loves his partnership with a couple of living legends on one of the most physically demanding action shows being produced today, After all, AvED is almost entirely created with practical effects–masks and models and make-up appliances–not with CGI and green screens. This is hard work, people. It’s also one of the bloodiest and most violent shows you’ll see this season (but in a good way), so all that effort is well worth it.
We had a chance to talk about the filming of the second season in far-off New Zealand, his experiences with the dedicated and surprisingly sweet cast, and got a few hints about all the incredibly cool stuff that’s going to be happening in Season Two. We also got a chance to watch the first couple of episodes of the new season, and seriously: long-time fans and curious newcomers will not be disappointed. This show is hot–if anything, even hotter this season than last.
Ray Santiago
Here’s the conversation we had, between our horror-loving friend Brad Munson and Ray himself. Don’t miss the second season premiere Oct. 2. And you can watch all of the first season for free and without verification on starz.com right now, and even see the Season 2 opener for a limited time.
You can also watch the Season 2 trailer here:
