科林·費(fèi)爾斯：從完美紳士到優(yōu)雅特工

無論是《傲慢與偏見》中的達(dá)西先生，還是《國王的演講》中的約克郡公爵，科林·費(fèi)爾斯常以一副溫文爾雅、沉默寡言的紳士形象出現(xiàn)，于舉手投足間俘獲萬千女性的心。在觀眾心中，他就是英倫紳士的代言人，無人能出其右。因此，當(dāng)他身著筆挺的西裝，梳著一絲不茍的發(fā)型出現(xiàn)在《王牌特工：特工學(xué)院》中時(shí)，又有誰能想到這位54歲的文藝男神竟會(huì)在影片中大展拳腳呢？前一秒，他還是你心中的完美紳士；后一秒，他則化身為雷厲風(fēng)行的優(yōu)雅特工。

Oh， it’s a mean trick， but whenever my job involves eating with famous people， I always order chips to see if it sways1） them from their seafood， because they always order seafood. And so it goes with Colin Firth， who looks at the shellfish that has been placed in front of him in the private members’ club where we meet， near his West London home， and then looks at my potato-based delicacies， and then mutters： “Someone else’s chips are always the most appealing thing，” before extending a surreptitious2） hand to my plate. He only takes one or two， though， which makes me think that perhaps what he actually meant was that I am the most appealing woman he has ever met.

Because the thing about Colin Firth is that everybody loves and admires him so much that they want him to love and admire them back. And that includes me. Even if stiff-upper-lip3） drama doesn’t do it for you. Even if you can’t stand Jane Austen or you think Bridget Jones4） is an idiot， whether you admire his Oscar-winning acting skills， or just think he looks nice emerging dripping from a lake， it seems impossible to dislike the man. I’ve spoken to screen-writers who have worked with him； people who organise the red carpet at awards shows； people who know his wife. Everyone says good things about Colin. Although， all of that was before he was trained to kill.

Yes， the 54-year-old actor， who won an Oscar for his role in The King’s Speech and who is indeed as charming in the flesh5） as you could possibly hope for， has spent months deep in training for his new film， action comedy Kingsman： The Secret Service， in which he plays a gentleman spy who can dispatch6） a room full of thugs7） with his bare hands and a broken pint glass8）. Long-standing fans may be somewhat shocked to see Mr. Darcy9） engaging in such graphic， albeit comic-book style， violence， but then apparently that was the director’s point. Matthew Vaughn10） also directed Kick-Ass and Stardust. “And one of the reasons he wanted to cast me in this was that he wanted the least probable person in the world to fight，” explains Firth. “I can bring all the expected stuff of playing a buttoned-up11） gentleman， but the surprise comes when I do the moves，” he says. “It’s that idea of， ‘Get out of the way， Grandad， or you’re going to get hurt.’”

The man certainly doesn’t look like a grandad when we meet， nor a trained killer—his legs are so long that every time he tries to make a point， he bashes12） his knee against the fashionably low-slung13） table. Ouch. Mr. Firth does not complain or even wince， though—he keeps calm and carries on： his charms as measured14） and diplomatic as you might expect from his acclaimed performances in Pride and Prejudice， A Single Man and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. He also keeps raising a polite arm to wave hello to people he knows， this being his local15）. Having just seen a screening of his new film， I ruin this calm demeanour by asking if it was really him doing all that fighting. “All of it！” he says， slightly aghast. “Do you not believe me？” “I mean， it looks exactly like you，” I add. “It all looks real， it’s just ...” “I didn’t go through all that pain，” he grimaces16）， “to not have it established that it was me.”

And then begins the story of the six months he spent learning to fight， which started in his own garden. “All of these guys came around，” he says， adding that one had trained Jackie Chan， another was a six-time Thai kick-boxing champion， another an Olympic gymnast， and another a gun specialist. “And I was a bit ... scared. The training would be trying to get bits of me moving that hadn’t moved in years. Just to get the hinges going， you know. Because no one was more aware than I am that I am not 20 years old. And I wasn’t even doing this stuff when I was 20—I had no history of it. They were able to do these extraordinary things and I just felt embarrassed that our lives had taken such different paths.” He laughs.

Colin Firth was born in Hampshire， the eldest of three children， to teacher parents whose own parents had travelled， and who， in turn， moved their own young family to Nigeria， the US and back to Hampshire. There， he attended a secondary school that didn’t thrill him much and a sixth-form college17） that did.

Firth himself says he never really fitted in at school—“Partly because we travelled a lot. Changing schools， changing countries”—until he went to study at Drama Centre London， “Where I found myself surrounded by people who had also stood out uncomfortably in their classroom for one reason or another. Drama school felt like a world more tolerant of oddities.”

And he found an inspirational teacher. “My drama teacher would talk in paradoxes. She would talk about the search for truthfulness—and then absolutely remind us that what we were doing was totally 1. Somebody would protest， ‘But you said we had to find the truth！’， but I remember being exhilarated by it. By the complete and utter contradiction of it all.”

However， the big surprise waiting for him was not fame， so much as the nature of his fame： that posh18）， repressed English gentlemen character we have grown to love him for， and whom he plays again and again， while somehow making them all unique. It sometimes feels that Firth’s acting is more about what is held back than what is revealed.

“I had no idea that I was going to end up with this sort of blue-blood19） thing， because it’s not what my family came from. My family’s quite a mix. And suddenly I had this Lord Brideshead20） thing going on，” he explains. “Having been to a secondary modern21）， I didn’t realise that was the archetype that was coming my way22）. And I embraced it because I was just so excited to get employed. Another Country23） was my first role， based on Eton24）， and I was no closer to Eton than I was [to council estate25）]—in fact， in the schools I went to， the kids were mostly from council estates.” He was then nominated for a BAFTA26） for playing a soldier who was disabled in the Falklands War， in Tumbledown. In 1995 came the big breakthrough role of the wet-shirted Mr. Darcy in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice， leading to the fictional character Bridget Jones falling in love with him. He then played her slightly less fictional love interest27） in the films. It was complicated. But every woman in the country seemed to get it.

By this point， though， Firth himself was off the market， having had one son with his actress partner Meg Tilly28）， before later splitting from her and marrying the Italian film producer Livia Giuggioli， with whom he has a further two sons， and for whom he has learned Italian. He talks about the country’s language and the culture， as well as his voracious interest in politics and human rights. We discuss his work with asylum seekers， prison reform， and his frustration with the Liberal Democrats， who he used to support.

We also discuss Tom Ford29）， the fashion designer who surprised many by directing the film A Single Man， in which Firth played the lead role of a gay professor grieving for his dead partner. Some criticised it for being too beautiful， too stylish， as if they couldn’t quite get their heads round30） a gay designer in the director’s chair. This bothers him.

“Obviously， because I love the film， you’re going to get a lot of special pleading from me. But I was there. I have been visually micromanaged31） by a lot of directors in my life. I’ve had directors telling me to turn my chin to the left， to the right， spending hours on whatever effect. But he was not one of those. Tom put a camera on a tripod and let people act. He established his authority very quietly and his interventions were so minimal.”

Listening to him talk about this role is a good reminder that there’s much more to Colin than “posh English bloke32）.” But even if this is a role he’s cornered the market33） in， that is surely just a sign of his success， not a failure of imagination on the part of casting directors. Put Colin Firth in a film—even better， put him in a film sporting a well-cut suit and a clipped34） English accent—and you create a sense that all is right with the world， because somewhere he’s off just being really good at his job. Whether you prefer him asking or spy， playing it for laughs or straight， as a lover or a fighter ... Everybody loves Colin. I mean， you don’t even mind when he steals your chips.

好吧，這招兒有點(diǎn)損，不過每當(dāng)我出于工作需要跟名人一起用餐時(shí)，我總會(huì)點(diǎn)炸薯?xiàng)l，看它會(huì)不會(huì)把名人們的注意力從海鮮上轉(zhuǎn)移開，因?yàn)樗麄兛偸屈c(diǎn)海鮮?？屏帧べM(fèi)爾斯也不例外。我們?cè)谒挥趥惗匚鲄^(qū)的住所附近的一家私人會(huì)所見面。他看了看擺在他面前的貝類，又看了看我那份用馬鈴薯做的美味，然后咕噥道：“別人的薯?xiàng)l總是最誘人的?！苯又?，他就把手偷偷地伸向我的盤子。不過，他只拿了一兩根薯?xiàng)l，這讓我覺得他真正的意思或許是，我是他見過的最具吸引力的女性。

因?yàn)殛P(guān)于科林·費(fèi)爾斯的事實(shí)是，每個(gè)人都非常愛慕他，所以希望他也能反過來愛他們。這么想的也包括我。即使你對(duì)那些感情內(nèi)斂的戲不感興趣，即使你無法忍受簡·奧斯汀或是認(rèn)為布里奇特·瓊斯就是個(gè)白癡，無論你欣賞的是科林那奧斯卡影帝級(jí)的演技，還是僅僅覺得他渾身濕漉漉地從湖水中現(xiàn)身的樣子養(yǎng)眼（編注：這是《傲慢與偏見》中的經(jīng)典一幕），你似乎都不可能討厭這個(gè)人。我曾經(jīng)和與他共過事的編劇、在頒獎(jiǎng)禮上組織走紅毯的工作人員以及認(rèn)識(shí)他妻子的人交談過，人人都說科林的好話。不過，那都是在他接受“殺人訓(xùn)練”之前的事了。

沒錯(cuò)，這名憑借《國王的演講》中的角色收獲一尊奧斯卡的54歲演員，這名本人就像你所希望的那樣富有魅力的演員，已經(jīng)為他的新片—?jiǎng)幼飨矂　锻跖铺毓ぃ禾毓W(xué)院》埋頭苦練了好幾個(gè)月。在這部影片中，他飾演一位僅憑徒手和一個(gè)碎啤酒杯就能擺平一屋子暴徒的紳士特工。看到達(dá)西先生出現(xiàn)在如此鮮明生動(dòng)的暴力場(chǎng)面中（盡管帶有漫畫風(fēng)格），科林的鐵桿粉絲們可能會(huì)有些震驚。但顯然，這正是導(dǎo)演的用意所在。馬修·沃恩曾執(zhí)導(dǎo)過《海扁王》和《星塵》。“他找我演這部影片的原因之一就是想找一個(gè)世上最不可能打架的人來打架?！辟M(fèi)爾斯解釋道?！把菀粋€(gè)沉默寡言的紳士，這樣人們預(yù)料之中的戲份我都會(huì)如數(shù)奉上，但等我動(dòng)起手來，人們就該大吃一驚了，”他說，“就是那種感覺：‘快閃開，老頭兒，不然會(huì)傷著你?！?/p>

當(dāng)然，我們見面時(shí)，他既不像個(gè)老頭兒，也不像個(gè)訓(xùn)練有素的殺手。他的腿很長，每當(dāng)他試圖要強(qiáng)調(diào)什么時(shí)，他的膝蓋就會(huì)猛地撞在那個(gè)樣式時(shí)新的矮桌上。哎唷。不過，費(fèi)爾斯先生沒有抱怨，甚至連眉頭都不皺一下—他鎮(zhèn)定自若地繼續(xù)說下去：他那從容不迫、圓融得體的翩翩風(fēng)度正如你期望他在《傲慢與偏見》《單身男人》《鍋匠，裁縫，士兵，間諜》備受好評(píng)的表演中呈現(xiàn)的一樣。他還時(shí)而禮貌地舉起手來向他認(rèn)識(shí)的人揮手致意，他是這家店的?？汀Ｒ?yàn)閯倓偪催^他的新片，我問他片中的打斗場(chǎng)面是否全部由他親自上陣，這一問打破了他的平靜?！叭际牵　彼燥@吃驚地說，“你不相信我嗎？”“我是說那看起來的確像是你，”我補(bǔ)充道，“一切看上去都很真實(shí)，只是……”“我吃了那么多苦頭，”他苦笑著說，“可不是為了讓別人以為那不是我啊?！?/p>

接下來，他開始講學(xué)習(xí)格斗的那六個(gè)月的故事，故事的開場(chǎng)就在他家的花園里?！斑@些人全來了?！彼f，接著又補(bǔ)充道，其中一位給成龍做過訓(xùn)練，另一位是六屆泰拳冠軍，此外還有一位奧運(yùn)體操選手和一位槍械專家?！拔矣悬c(diǎn)……嚇壞了。訓(xùn)練的目的是盡量讓我身上那些好多年沒活動(dòng)過的地方動(dòng)起來。你知道，就是把關(guān)節(jié)都活動(dòng)開。因?yàn)槲冶日l都清楚自己不是20歲的小伙子了。就算是20歲的時(shí)候，我也沒做過這樣的事—我毫無這方面的經(jīng)歷。他們能做到這些，很了不起。我們的人生道路是如此不同，這讓我覺得很不好意思?！彼χf。

科林·費(fèi)爾斯出生于漢普郡一個(gè)教師家庭，是三個(gè)孩子中的老大。他的父母自幼隨家人四處遷居，而當(dāng)他們建立了自己的家庭后，又開始帶著這個(gè)年輕的家庭先后遷往尼日利亞、美國，最后又回到漢普郡。費(fèi)爾斯在漢普郡入讀了一所中學(xué)，感到興味索然，后來進(jìn)了大學(xué)預(yù)科院，才感到饒有興致。

費(fèi)爾斯自己說他從來沒有真正適應(yīng)過學(xué)校生活—“部分原因是我們經(jīng)常搬家，轉(zhuǎn)學(xué)，去不同的國家”—直到他去倫敦戲劇中心學(xué)習(xí)時(shí)，情況才有所改觀?！霸谀莾?，我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己周圍也都是些由于種種原因在班里格格不入的人。戲劇學(xué)校似乎對(duì)怪人要寬容得多。”

在這所學(xué)校，他遇到了一位令他深受啟迪的老師?！拔业膽騽±蠋煏?huì)說些自相矛盾的話。她會(huì)告訴我們要追求真實(shí)—然后又明確提醒我們，我們?cè)谧龅氖峦耆遣徽鎸?shí)的。有人會(huì)抗議說：‘但是你說過我們必須去發(fā)現(xiàn)真實(shí)??！’可我記得自己聽了她的話之后感到非常興奮，為這種全然矛盾的說法感到興奮?！?/p>

然而，等待著他的巨大驚喜與其說是成名，還不如說是他賴以成名的角色類型：讓我們逐漸愛上他的那類舉止優(yōu)雅、含蓄克制的英國紳士形象。他反復(fù)扮演這類角色，卻不知怎地總能將每個(gè)角色都塑造得獨(dú)一無二。有時(shí)你會(huì)覺得，費(fèi)爾斯的表演更重要的不是他呈現(xiàn)出來的部分，而是他掩藏起來的部分。

“我從沒想過自己最后會(huì)去演這種貴族角色，因?yàn)槲业募彝ゲ粚儆谶@一階層。我的家庭成分相當(dāng)混雜。而突然之間，我就開始演布賴茲赫德勛爵這樣的角色了，”他解釋道，“我過去念的是職業(yè)中學(xué)，所以不會(huì)想到自己將要碰到的是這類角色。對(duì)此我欣然接受，因?yàn)槟苷业焦ぷ魑揖秃芘d奮了。以伊頓公學(xué)為背景的《同窗之愛》里的角色是我演的第一個(gè)角色，我對(duì)伊頓很陌生，就如同我對(duì)統(tǒng)建房陌生一樣。實(shí)際上，在我念過的學(xué)校里，同學(xué)們大都住在統(tǒng)建房里?！敝?，他因?yàn)樵凇稉u搖欲墜》中飾演一名在馬島戰(zhàn)爭中致殘的士兵而獲得英國電影和電視藝術(shù)學(xué)院獎(jiǎng)提名。1995年，在BBC改編的電視劇《傲慢與偏見》中，他以一襲濕衫造型的達(dá)西先生一角迎來了事業(yè)上的巨大突破，并由此成為《BJ單身日記》中的虛構(gòu)人物布里奇特·瓊斯愛戀的對(duì)象。之后，他又在電影中扮演了她那個(gè)稍微不那么虛幻的戀人。這很復(fù)雜，不過，似乎每個(gè)英國女性都能明白。

然而，此時(shí)的費(fèi)爾斯已經(jīng)名“草”有主了，他與同為演員的女友梅格·提利育有一子。后來，在與提利分手后，他與意大利電影制片人利維亞·吉吉麗結(jié)婚，之后又有了兩個(gè)兒子。為了利維亞他還學(xué)會(huì)了意大利語。他談到了意大利的語言和文化，還談到了他對(duì)政治和人權(quán)的濃厚興趣。我們談?wù)摿怂趯で蟊茈y者和監(jiān)獄改革方面所做的工作，談?wù)摿怂麑?duì)曾經(jīng)支持過的自由民主黨的失望。

我們還談到了湯姆·福特。這位時(shí)尚設(shè)計(jì)師出乎很多人意料地執(zhí)導(dǎo)了影片《單身男人》。費(fèi)爾斯飾演片中的主角—一位沉浸在愛人過世的悲痛中的同性戀教授。有人批評(píng)這部影片拍得太美、太時(shí)尚，似乎他們還不大能接受一名同性戀設(shè)計(jì)師坐上導(dǎo)演的位子。這令費(fèi)爾斯感到困擾。

“顯然，因?yàn)槲蚁矚g這部電影，所以你會(huì)從我這兒聽到很多關(guān)于它的好話?？墒俏揖驮谂钠F(xiàn)場(chǎng)啊。在我的職業(yè)生涯中，很多導(dǎo)演都會(huì)為了視覺效果讓我在極細(xì)微的方面做這樣那樣的調(diào)整。有些導(dǎo)演會(huì)讓我把下巴往左偏，往右偏，為了達(dá)到某種效果耗上好幾個(gè)小時(shí)。但是湯姆和他們不一樣。他把攝影機(jī)架在三腳架上，放手讓演員表演。他不動(dòng)聲色地建立起自己的權(quán)威，極少干預(yù)演員的表演?！?/p>

聽他談?wù)撨@個(gè)角色能夠很好地提醒我們，“優(yōu)雅的英國佬”遠(yuǎn)不是科林的全部。但就算這是他獨(dú)步江湖所倚靠的角色，那想必也只是他成功的一個(gè)標(biāo)志，并不能說明選角導(dǎo)演們想象力不足。讓科林·費(fèi)爾斯出現(xiàn)在影片里—如果讓他引人注目地以一身剪裁良好的西裝和一口清脆的英國腔出現(xiàn)在影片里就更好了—就能營造出一種“萬事大吉”的感覺，因?yàn)椴恢挥X間他就能把工作做得非常出色。無論你更喜歡他開口相求還是暗中行事，演喜劇還是演正劇，演情人還是演斗士……人人都愛科林。我是說，就算他偷吃你的薯?xiàng)l，你也不會(huì)介意。

1.sway [swe?] vt. 改變看法（或主意）等；影響，左右

2.surreptitious [?s?r?p?t???s] adj. 偷偷摸摸的

3.stiff-upper-lip：源自短語keep a stiff upper lip，意為“（面對(duì)困難或危險(xiǎn)）堅(jiān)定沉著；感情不外露”。

4.Bridget Jones：布里奇特.瓊斯，電影《BJ單身日記》（Bridget Jones’s Diary）中的女主人公?？屏帧べM(fèi)爾斯飾演此片男主角，并憑借這一角色獲得歐洲電影獎(jiǎng)最佳男演員獎(jiǎng)。

5.in the flesh：本人

6.dispatch [d??sp?t?] vt. 處決；殺死

7.thug [θ?ɡ] n. 暴徒；惡棍

8.pint glass：品脫啤酒杯

9.Mr. Darcy：此處指科林·費(fèi)爾斯在1995年電視劇版《傲慢與偏見》（Pride and Prejudice）中飾演的貴族紳士達(dá)西先生。

10.Matthew Vaughn：馬修·沃恩（1971～），英國導(dǎo)演、制片人，代表作包括《星塵》（Stardust）、《海扁王》（Kick-Ass）、《王牌特工：特工學(xué)院》（Kingsman： The Secret Service）等。

11.buttoned-up：沉默寡言的

12.bash [b??] vt. 猛撞

13.low-slung：低椅座的；低矮的

14.measured [?me??（r）d] adj. 慢而穩(wěn)的；從容不迫的

15.local [?l??k（?）l] n.〈英〉（尤指常去的）鄰近小酒館

16.grimace [?ɡr?m?s] vi. 做鬼臉，扮怪相

17.sixth-form college：大學(xué)預(yù)科院

18.posh [p??] adj. （指人）上流社會(huì)的；高雅的

19.blue-blood：貴族出身

20.Lord Brideshead：布賴茲赫德勛爵，電影《故園風(fēng)雨后》（Brideshead Revisited）中的貴族角色

21.secondary modern：（英國的）職業(yè)中學(xué)，不以升大學(xué)為目標(biāo)，注重基礎(chǔ)知識(shí)和實(shí)用知識(shí)。

22.come sb’s way：（事情）與某人不期而遇，被某人碰到

23.Another Country：英國電影《同窗之愛》，改編自20世紀(jì)80年代在倫敦西區(qū)上演的同名舞臺(tái)劇。

24.Eton：即Eton College，伊頓公學(xué)，英國著名貴族中學(xué)，創(chuàng)辦于1440年，只招收男生。

25.council estate：〈英〉（市鎮(zhèn)）統(tǒng)建住房區(qū)；公有住房區(qū)（主要供低收入人群居住）

26.BAFTA：即BAFTA Awards （英國電影和電視藝術(shù)學(xué)院獎(jiǎng)，British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards），相當(dāng)于英國的奧斯卡。

27.love interest：（電影或小說中的）戀愛角色（常為主角的戀人）

28.Meg Tilly：梅格·提利（1960～），美國演員，曾和科林·費(fèi)爾斯一起出演影片《最毒婦人心》（Valmont）。

29.Tom Ford：湯姆·福特（1961～），美國著名設(shè)計(jì)師，曾執(zhí)導(dǎo)電影《單身男人》（A Single Man）。

30.get one’s heads round：〈口〉理解；接受

31.micromanage [?ma?kr???m?n?d?] vt. 微觀管理，即對(duì)細(xì)節(jié)予以很大的或者過度的控制與關(guān)注

32.bloke [bl??k] n. 家伙

33.corner the market：壟斷市場(chǎng)；控制市場(chǎng)

34.clipped [kl?pt] adj. （通常指說話像上流人士那樣）短促而清晰的