夢想豈可放棄:摩根.弗里曼

Acting means living， it's all I do and all I'm good at. If I weren't getting paid well， I would still be acting in a small troupe somewhere.

——Morgan Freeman

表演即是生活。我所做的一切我所擅長的一切只有表演。若是酬勞不好，我還是會留在某地的一個小劇團里繼續表演。

——摩根·弗里曼

Time was when the silver screen was awash with dignity. Film-makers needing a hero of high moral standing could choose from a wide array of stars. Henry Fonda， Gary Cooper， Gregory Peck， John Wayne--all brought gravitas and stern-but-tolerant manhood to many a role. In these times， though， such trustworthy figures are few and far between1. Indeed， perhaps there's only one. He was the strong， forgiving chauffeur breaking down the race-divide in Driving Miss Daisy( 1989 ); he was the studious， determined detective， loathing but understanding killer Kevin Spacey in Seven(1995); he was Tim Robbins' faithful， sympathetic mentor2， finding hope in hell in The Shawshank Redemption(1994). He is， of course， Morgan Freeman， cinema's one tree Face Of Human Decency. But there's so much more to him than a caring glance and benevolent3 smile. He's lived a hard and full life and did， after all， gain his first Oscar nomination as a suave and vicious pimp.

For Morgan Freeman， life couldn't find a harsher version for his early years， with the Wall Street Crash leading through to the Dust Bowl， and then the war in Europe. When Morgan was very young， like so many other workers in the South， his mum and dad migrated to Chicago seeking work in the factories， trying to maintain a family that eventually included six children--five boys and one girl. History has it that life was a nightmare for blacks in the South in the Forties. But Morgan does not recall feeling any real pain. At school， he says they had \"second-hand equipment but first class teachers. Things didn't seem all that bad\". When he discovered his great love--the cinema but had no money for admissions4， he'd scour the streets each day looking for empties5 to cash in6 for their deposits.

For some reason， Morgan loved war films with aeroplanes; they filled him with a special excitement. It was an attraction that continued through his teens and led to him joining the Air Force at the age of 18. He had thought this was a life he had dreamed about， but when first sitting in a jet fighter， he was suddenly seized by the reality of dealing death from the skies， and had the \"distinct feeling I was sitting in the nose of a bomb\". He realized he'd been in love with the MOVIE version of this life， not the real thing. Acting was his real dream， so after 3 years， 8 months and 10 days， he bailed out7 and started the journey to stardom.

Sometimes one has to swallow his pride before he gets to swallow anything else. In New York， he auditioned for everything， trying to earn a living. Jobs were hard to come by and he continually went hungry， often starving for days before he'd ask his friends for help. Occasionally， he got trivial roles to play but still couldn't make enough to rid of hunger. Asked why he hadn't given up acting， he smiled，\" when the time is right， Hollywood will come for me.\"

And he couldn't be righter， With Street Smart( 1987 )， he first gained widespread exposure and landed the Oscar-nominated role of the volatile pimp Fast Black. Two years later， he was nominated again for his portrayal of Hoke Coleburn in Driving Miss Daisy( 1989 )， and for a third time in The Shawshank Redemption( 1994 ) for his portrayal of Red， a man serving a life sentence in prison who can access everything on the inside except hope.

From nobody to somebody， three decades had passed. Acting was such an important thing that however hard to chase， he wouldn't give up. Now constantly in demand， few things could make his life better. \"I remembered the feeling of rightness and power that had washed over me on the stage. It came as a revelation to me. And I said to myself ' THIS is what you do， THIS is where you really shine' \". Morgan Freeman， careerdevoted，he is still on the up8.

那是個銀幕上處處彰顯尊貴的年代。哪怕制片商們對男主角的要求是人品高尚，他們依舊有眾多的明星可以選擇，比如亨利·方達，賈利·庫珀，格里高利·派克和約翰·韋恩。這些人塑造了一個又一個莊重且富有男子氣概，嚴肅卻不失溫柔的銀幕形象。而在當代，像他們這樣值得信賴的演員卻不多見了。確切地說，這樣的演員可能只有一個。在《為黛茜小姐開車》(1989)中，他是那位化解了種族隔閡，強健、寬容的司機;《七宗罪》(1995)中，他是勤勞堅定，憤恨卻理解殺手凱文·史貝西的偵探;《肖申克的救贖》(1994)中，他是蒂姆·羅賓斯忠誠且惺惺相惜，在地獄中找到了希望的精神導師。摩根·弗里曼——電影屏幕上真正代表人類莊嚴的一面旗幟。他所象征的內容絕對超出了他關切的眼神和仁慈的笑容。他的生命至此，雖然苦難但卻完整，因飾演外表溫和但內心兇殘的皮條客，他收獲了人生中第一個奧斯卡提名。

摩根早年的生活，無比的艱辛。先是華爾街大崩盤，再是歐洲爆發的二戰。摩根尚且年幼的時候，便隨父母遷居芝加哥。像南方的大多數工人一樣，摩根的父母在工廠做工謀生，操持著5個兒子和1個女兒的八口之家。正如歷史記述的那樣，20世紀40年代的南方，對黑人來說無疑一場噩夢，但摩根對這段時期的記憶卻未染絲毫感傷。在學校里，他說他們雖有“二流的設備卻有一流的老師。情況并不算太糟。”當他發現自己的最愛是電影卻苦于無錢購票時，他便每天去街上溜達，尋找空瓶子兌換成現金，積攢下來，漸漸就存夠了買票的錢。

由于某種原因，摩根對出現飛機的戰爭影片情有獨鐘。它們總讓他異常的興奮，而此種吸引延續了摩根的整個少年時期，在他18歲時，更促使他加入了空軍。摩根曾以為這就是他一直向往的生活，但當他第一次坐在噴氣戰斗機里，他突然意識到自己正面臨著來自天空的死亡威脅，他“強烈地感覺自己所處的是一個炸彈的彈頭。”摩根這才意識到，他所鐘情的是此種生活的電影版本，而非真實的版本。表演，才是令他真正心動的。3年8個月零10天后，他以從飛機上跳傘的方式告別了藍天，踏上了自己的演員之路。

有時候，驕傲需要先被吞進肚子里，不然肚子就會一直饑腸轆轆。在紐約的時候，摩根參加所有表演的試鏡，試圖找尋一條營生之路。然而表演的機會太少，他的收入一直無法填飽肚皮。常常一連餓了幾天，實在不行才向朋友們請求援助。偶爾，他能得到一些不重要的角色，但這還是不足以讓他遠離饑餓。后來，當被詢問他那時為什么不放棄表演，他笑道:“時機對的時候，好萊塢會垂青于我。”

摩根是完全正確的。1987年的《花街傳奇》讓他首次獲得了萬眾的矚目，憑借法斯特·布萊克，一位活躍的皮條客一角，他得到了人生中首次奧斯卡提名。兩年后，他又因飾演《為黛茜小姐開車》中霍克·科本獲得了第二次提名。1994年，《肖申克的救贖》見證了他的第三次提名，這次他塑造的是瑞德，一位被判終生監禁的犯人，內心洞徹，卻匱乏希望。

從無名之輩到世人皆知，30年過去了。表演是如此重要的一件事情，不論多難，摩根都決定堅持下去。如今的摩根炙手可熱，生活已變得極為美好。“我記得當我在臺上表演時，總有一種公正與力量之感向我襲來。這種感覺給了我一個啟示，于是我對自己說:‘這就是你該做的事情，這就是你人生的舞臺。’”摩根·弗里曼，醉心于事業，他將做得更好。

注釋:

①far and few between 不多;少而分散的;

稀少的

②mentor n.指導者;良師益友

③benevolent adj.仁慈的;樂善好施的

④admission n. 許可;承認;入會費

⑤empties n.作名詞用，表示空瓶子

⑥cash in 兌現

⑦bail out 保釋出(某人);跳傘

⑧on the up 在上升;在變好的過程中