埃迪·雷德梅恩：我就是霍金

瘦削蒼白的面孔、棕紅色的卷發(fā)、偏厚的嘴唇、滿臉的雀斑……按照中國的傳統(tǒng)審美標準，埃迪.雷德梅恩算不上帥哥。但就是這樣一位相貌并不出眾的演員憑借電影《萬物理論》中的“霍金”一角成為奧斯卡史上首位“80后”影帝。飾演傳記片中的真實人物本就容易引發(fā)爭議，而如果那個人還在世，就更是難上加難。但這一次，雷德梅恩憑借自身的出色演技和不懈努力實現(xiàn)了自我突破，成功晉級實力派，一舉奪得奧斯卡金像獎最佳男主角和金球獎最佳男主角這兩項大獎。他不僅獲得了觀眾和評委的贊許，更贏得了霍金本人的肯定。

Eddie Redmayne always knew that the toughest critic of The Theory of Everything would be the man he portrays onscreen—Stephen Hawking. The 72-year-old physicist recently made the trek from his home in Cambridge， England， to Working Title1）’s production offices in London to watch the biopic2） based on his life. Hawking’s longtime battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis3） （ALS） has left him a quadriplegic4）， and he speaks through a computer-generated voice amplifier. Before the screening， he met Redmayne. “He took a while to type something， then said， ‘I’ll let you know what I think—good or otherwise，’ ” Redmayne recalls.

After the lights came up， a nurse wiped a tear from Hawking’s eye. He called the film “broadly true，” and even celebrated with the film’s director James Marsh and screenwriter Anthony McCarten at a bar where he sipped champagne from a teaspoon. “He emailed us，” Marsh says， “and said there were certain points when he thought he was watching himself.”

Redmayne pulls off5） one of the most challenging—and bravest—transformations of the year in The Theory of Everything， which Focus Features6） releases on Nov. 7， 2014. It’s the first leading role for the 32-year-old actor， who won the Tony7） for the 2010 play Red8）， and appeared in 2011’s My Week With Marilyn as fly-on-the-wall9） Colin Clark， and 2012’s Les Miserables as the heartthrob Marius. In the Wachowski sibling10）’s space-opera Jupiter Ascending， Redmayne plays an intergalactic tycoon， and he’ll take on Lili Elbe， a transgender woman born as the painter Einar Wegener11）， in Tom Hooper’s drama The Danish Girl， which starts shooting in January 2015. But first， he’ll need to jump through the three-ring circus12） of awards season.

After The Theory of Everything premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2014， Redmayne earned raves13） and Oscar buzz. “What’s really interesting about Eddie is that what turns him on are really tough， tricky roles，” says Working Title co-chair Eric Fellner. “But he’s an incredibly good-looking man. So he can be a movie star too.” Redmayne won’t classify himself that way. “A movie star is someone who has to open a film to gazillions14） of dollars，” says the actor， who lives in London with his fiancee Hannah Bagshawe. “I’m just trying to pay my mortgage.”

Redmayne grew up in England， where one of his first roles was in a West End15） production of Oliver！16） at age 11. He had only one line， as “Workhouse Boy No. 40，” but he still remembers it： “Books you ordered from the bookseller， sir？” He enrolled in prestigious boarding school Eton College， studied art history at Cambridge and appeared in an all-male stage production of Twelfth Night as Viola that landed him a U.K. agent. One of his early screen roles was as Julianne Moore17）’s son in the 2007 indie18） Savage Grace. “Eddie came in for the audition with Julianne， and the two of us looked at each other and said， ‘Why should we bother reading anyone else？’ ” notes the film’s director， Tom Kalin. Redmayne says that after Moore commented on how much they looked alike， he was never more grateful for his freckles19） and reddish hair.

During the shooting of Jupiter Ascending， Redmayne had got into great shape. “The Wachowskis had encouraged me to develop a six-pack20），” Redmayne says. “So I’d spent months basically doing sit-ups and eating chicken， and then the day that it finished， I started prepping for The Theory of Everything. I was like， ‘Please， it’s the only time in my life that I’ve ever got close to abs！ Can’t I just walk down a beach？’ ” He promptly started the process of losing 15 pounds to play Hawking. “I just didn’t eat dinner， basically，” he says. But his appearance was the least of his worries—entering Hawking’s world would present far more formidable challenges.

The movie’s creative team had drawn up a list of high-profile British actors who could play Hawking but Redmayne wasn’t on it. With the help of his agent， CAA21）’s Josh Lieberman， he was able to book a meeting with Marsh in a London pub. “It was 3 in the afternoon，” says Redmayne. The actor asked for a beer， and instantly regretted his decision when Marsh ordered a coffee for himself instead of alcohol. “In the end，” Redmayne says， “he ended up drinking a ton of coffee and I ended up drinking a ton of beer， so I was pissed22） and he was high on caffeine.” But at least they could see they were creatively compatible. “We had a like-minded attitude of ‘We have no idea how we’re going to do this， but we trust in each other to be brave enough to make mistakes，’ ” Redmayne says.

He got the offer to play Hawking without an audition， which was a double-edged sword. “At least when you’ve auditioned， they’ve seen some sense of what you can do，” says Redmayne. “I was thrilled and instantaneously nervous.” He was then asked to read with British actress Felicity Jones23）， who was being considered to play Jane Hawking. “James kept calling me saying， ‘Eddie， by the way， this isn’t an audition for you.’ I was like， ‘Bullshit！’ Don’t pretend for a moment that Donna Langley isn’t seeing this，” he says of Universal24）’s chairman， who shepherded the project. Jones and Redmayne aced their scenes together， and she was offered the job on the spot.

Redmayne spent four months studying Hawking’s life， a process that required so much research， it was like writing a doctoral dissertation. He watched every documentary and YouTube video he could find on the man. “I tried to read literally everything I could get my hands on，” says the actor， who pored over all of Hawking’s books. “It became hilarious， because I would get 40 pages in， and I was like—‘Eddie， none of these words make any sense to you.’ ” He contacted a physics teacher at Imperial College London who proved to be a good translator. He also worked with a choreographer25）， Alexandra Reynolds （she made the zombies twitch in World War Z）. “We put what we knew into picking up a pen， drinking， walking，” says Reynolds， who labored with Redmayne for four hours a day， and filmed his movements on an iPad for them to study. She’d pose questions to him like， “What’s happening in your pelvis26）？ Are you holding your head right？”

Hawking was diagnosed with motor neuron disease when he was 21， and wasn’t expected to live past 25. Doctors now know there are many forms of ALS， an illness that has sprung to the public’s attention with the Ice Bucket Challenge. Every two weeks， Redmayne would visit a neurology clinic in London， where he’d interview patients. He met with more than 30， and even went to some of their homes. Since the film wouldn’t be shot chronologically， he had to understand how the disease affected Hawking at different stages of his life， and had a doctor consult with him on vintage photographs to see how Hawking’s body deteriorated.

Redmayne compiled his findings on a sheet of paper he carried with him everywhere. “It was like the Magna Carta27），” says Marsh， who made him scan it in case it got lost. “It became the most important document beyond the script.” Redmayne knew that after the cameras started rolling， he’d have no room for error. “The thing about motor neuron disease， once a muscle stops working， it doesn’t start again，” he says. “So often in the edit， directors and editors will shift things around. James and I were absolutely adamant that Anthony’s script would have to be pretty solid from the get-go.”

Just days before shooting began， Redmayne finally got word that Hawking had agreed to see him in Cambridge. He was so nervous； he spent the first part of the conversation telling Hawking about the physicist’s own life. He called him “professor，” but Hawking wanted to be referred to by his first name. “It was complicated when I met him， because by that point， I’d spent so much time researching him，” Redmayne says. “It was the trepidation28） of not only meeting someone with an extraordinary brain and iconic status， but also—what if I got it wrong？”

Not only were Redmayne’s instincts correct about Hawking， but the meeting proved invaluable in sketching out some final details. Hawking asked Redmayne if he would be playing him before he was forced to rely on his voice machine， and he told the actor， “My voice was very slurred.” Says Redmayne： “He has one of the most expressive faces. You’re never playing relaxed. The irony I found was that everything you’ve been taught about film acting is to reduce. The weird thing here is you are doing the absolute opposite. Your face is in these huge extreme positions and expressions.”

Redmayne was so on edge29） the night before the shoot， he couldn’t sleep. “It’s the only all-nighter30） I’ve done in my life，” he says. “One of the first scenes was an intense， emotional one. I think it helped.” When he played Hawking in the later years of his life， Redmayne would sit in a wheelchair with his legs crossed and his head tipped over， in a position that affected his breathing. It was at times physically painful to contort his body for that long. “He was really suffering， but he never complained，” Marsh says.

Judgment day came， with the nerve-wracking screening. But Redmayne had nothing to worry about. Hawking was so pleased with the movie， he even responded with a generous gift—that the filmmakers swap the synthetic voice they had to create and replace it with his own， trademarked computerized version. “We spent a lot of time and money trying to reproduce the voice， but we never got it，” McCarten says.

Redmayne was moved when he heard of Hawking’s offer. He was never quite sure he was landing the performance， which he watched every night on the dailies31）—the first time he’s ever done that. “You’re just hoping to get there，” Redmayne says. “Yet there’s this constant frustration—it’s always underwhelming32）， because you never quite make it. But with his specific voice， it’s an actor’s dream. You’re one step closer to the truth.”

埃迪·雷德梅恩始終明白，對影片《萬物理論》最嚴格的評判者正是他在銀幕上扮演的那個人—斯蒂芬·霍金。最近，這位72歲的物理學家長途跋涉，從位于英格蘭劍橋市的住所來到Working Title電影公司在倫敦的工作室，觀看根據(jù)他的人生經(jīng)歷拍攝的傳記片。在與肌萎縮性側(cè)索硬化癥（ALS）長期搏斗之后，霍金四肢癱瘓，并且需要借助電腦語音合成器說話。放映開始前，他與雷德梅恩見了一面。“他花了點時間打字，然后說：‘我會讓你知道我的看法—好或者不好。’”雷德梅恩回憶說。

燈光重新亮起后，護士為霍金拭去了眼角的淚痕。他說影片“大體真實”，甚至還和影片的導演詹姆斯·馬什及編劇安東尼·麥卡頓一起去酒吧慶祝，用茶匙小口喝起了香檳。“他給我們發(fā)來電子郵件，”馬什說，“說片中有的地方讓他覺得看到了自己。”

在焦點影業(yè)于2014年11月7日發(fā)行的《萬物理論》中，雷德梅恩成功完成了本年度最具挑戰(zhàn)性，也最需要勇氣的轉(zhuǎn)變之一。這是這位32歲的演員第一次擔任主角。他曾因出演2010年的戲劇《紅》而贏得托尼獎，曾在2011年的影片《我與夢露的一周》中扮演旁觀者科林·克拉克，并在2012年的影片《悲慘世界》中飾演令人心動的馬呂斯一角。在由沃卓斯基姐弟執(zhí)導的太空科幻片《木星上行》中，雷德梅恩扮演了一位星際大亨。接下來，在2015年1月開拍的湯姆·胡珀的影片《丹麥女孩》中，他將飾演由畫家埃納·魏格納變性而成的女子莉莉·埃爾伯。不過首先，他要把這熱鬧非凡的頒獎季忙過去。

2014年9月，《萬物理論》在多倫多電影節(jié)上首映之后，雷德梅恩收獲了好評，還成了奧斯卡獎的熱門人物。“埃迪真正有趣的一點是，能激發(fā)他熱情的都是些非常棘手、難以駕馭的角色，”Working Title公司的聯(lián)合主席埃里克·費爾納說，“但是他長得十分英俊，因此他也能成為電影明星。”雷德梅恩不會把自己歸入此類。“電影明星是那種必須能讓影片賺大錢的人，”這位演員表示，他與未婚妻漢娜·巴格肖生活在倫敦，“我只是在努力還房貸而已。”

雷德梅恩在英格蘭長大，他最早飾演的角色之一出現(xiàn)在倫敦西區(qū)出品的《霧都孤兒》里，那時他才11歲。他扮演的是“濟貧院第40號男孩”，只有一句臺詞，但他至今依然記得：“您從書商那兒定的書嗎，先生？”雷德梅恩就讀于頗負盛名的寄宿制學校伊頓公學，后來進入劍橋大學修讀藝術(shù)史。他在全男版舞臺劇《第十二夜》中扮演薇奧拉，正是這個角色讓他收獲了一位英國本土的經(jīng)紀人。他早期的銀幕角色之一是在2007年的獨立電影《欲孽迷宮》中飾演朱麗安·摩爾的兒子。“埃迪前來跟朱麗安試鏡，然后我們倆對視了一眼，說：‘何必再費事去面試別人呢？’”該片導演湯姆·凱林說。雷德梅恩說，在聽到摩爾評論說他們長得有多像之后，他對自己的雀斑和紅發(fā)從來沒有如此地心存感激。

拍攝《木星上行》期間，雷德梅恩練出了一副好身材。“沃卓斯基姐弟鼓勵我練出發(fā)達的腹肌，”雷德梅恩說，“于是，我用了好幾個月時間猛練仰臥起坐，基本上只吃雞肉。然后，那部電影剛一殺青，我就開始為《萬物理論》做準備。我當時想：‘拜托，我這輩子就這么一次有了點腹肌，就不能讓我去沙灘上秀一下嗎？’”為了扮演霍金，他立刻開始了減重15磅的過程。“我基本上就不吃晚飯。”他說。不過，外形是他最不用擔心的事—進入霍金的世界才會帶來更加艱巨的挑戰(zhàn)。

《萬物理論》的創(chuàng)作團隊擬定了一份可以飾演霍金的、知名度高的英國男演員的名單，但雷德梅恩的名字并不在上面。在其經(jīng)紀人、CAA經(jīng)紀公司的喬希·利伯曼的協(xié)助下，雷德梅恩得以在倫敦的一家酒吧與馬什約定會面。“當時是下午三點。”雷德梅恩回憶說。這位演員點了一杯啤酒，但當他看到馬什沒有點酒而是點了咖啡后，立刻就后悔了。雷德梅恩說：“最后，他喝了好多咖啡，我喝了好多啤酒，結(jié)果我喝醉了，而他則因為咖啡因變得興奮異常。”不過，這次會面至少讓他們認識到彼此在創(chuàng)作觀念上很合拍。“我們的想法很接近：‘我們不知道應該怎么做，但是我們相信彼此，因此有足夠的勇氣，不怕犯錯。’”雷德梅恩說。

雷德梅恩未經(jīng)試鏡就獲得了飾演霍金的機會。這是一把雙刃劍。“至少，如果試過鏡，他們對你的能力多少有些了解，”雷德梅恩說，“我很興奮，但立刻又感到緊張。”接下來，片方要求他與飾演簡·霍金的人選、英國女演員菲麗希緹·瓊斯一起念一段劇本。“詹姆斯不停地給我打電話說：‘順便說一句，埃迪，這不是在讓你試鏡。’我的反應是：‘胡扯！’別裝得好像唐娜·蘭利沒在看這段試演似的。”他說的是督導該影片拍攝項目的環(huán)球影業(yè)公司主席。瓊斯和雷德梅恩的試演都非常出色，瓊斯當場就得到了那個角色。

雷德梅恩花了四個月的時間研究霍金的生活，這一過程需要做的功課是如此之多，簡直就像寫博士論文。他觀看了所有能找到的關于霍金的紀錄片和YouTube網(wǎng)站上的視頻。“我真的是盡量讀了每一份能弄到手的資料。”這位演員說。他用心閱讀了霍金的每一本書。“結(jié)果很好笑，因為我會在讀了40頁之后發(fā)現(xiàn)：‘埃迪，這上邊寫的你一個字也看不懂。’”他聯(lián)系了倫敦帝國理工學院的一位物理老師，事實證明這位“翻譯”很稱職。他還與一位編舞老師亞歷山德拉·雷諾茲合作（影片《末日之戰(zhàn)》中僵尸們的抽搐動作就是她設計的）。“我們把所知的一切都融入到拿起鋼筆、喝水、走路這樣的每一個動作中。”雷諾茲說。她每天跟雷德梅恩一起工作四個小時，用iPad錄下他的動作，然后再一起研究。她會向他提出一些問題，比如，“你的骨盆怎么了？你頭部的姿勢正確嗎？”

霍金21歲時被確診患有運動神經(jīng)元疾病，并被認為不會活過25歲。現(xiàn)在醫(yī)生們知道ALS有許多種形態(tài)，而這種疾病也隨著冰桶挑戰(zhàn)活動迅速獲得了世人的關注。雷德梅恩每兩周到倫敦的一家神經(jīng)內(nèi)科診所造訪一次，與那里的患者談話。他見過30多位患者，甚至還去過一些患者的家里。因為影片不會按照時間順序拍攝，所以他必須知道，在霍金人生的不同時期，這種疾病是如何影響霍金的。他還會就一些老照片向醫(yī)生咨詢，從中了解霍金的身體是如何每況愈下的。

雷德梅恩把他的研究結(jié)果整理在一張紙上，無論去哪里都隨身攜帶。“那就像是《大憲章》一樣。”馬什說，他讓雷德梅恩掃描了一份，以免丟失。“它成了劇本之外最重要的文件。”雷德梅恩明白，攝影機啟動之后，他就沒有犯錯的余地了。“運動神經(jīng)元疾病是這樣的，一旦某塊肌肉停止工作，它就不會再重新工作了，”他說，“所以在剪輯過程中，導演和剪輯師經(jīng)常會調(diào)整鏡頭的順序。詹姆斯和我都十分堅定地認為，安東尼的劇本必須從一開始就經(jīng)得起推敲。”

就在影片開拍前幾天，雷德梅恩終于得到消息，霍金同意在劍橋與他會面。他太緊張了，在談話一開始，他一直在向霍金講述這位物理學家本人的人生經(jīng)歷。他稱霍金“教授”，但霍金讓他叫自己“斯蒂芬”。“見到他時，我的感受很復雜，因為那時我已經(jīng)花了很長時間研究他，”雷德梅恩說，“我感到惶恐不安，不僅是因為要見到這位智力超群且擁有偶像地位的人，而且還擔心—如果我弄錯了怎么辦？”

這次會面不僅證實了雷德梅恩對霍金的直覺是正確的，而且對于勾勒一些最終的細節(jié)也是大有助益。霍金問雷德梅恩是否會扮演被迫依靠語音合成器說話之前的自己，然后對這位演員說：“我的聲音非常含混不清。”雷德梅恩說：“他有一張最富表現(xiàn)力的面孔。你在表演時一刻也不能松懈。我覺得具有諷刺意味的一點是，關于電影表演，你所學到的所有東西都教你要做減法。而這一次則異乎尋常，你得完全反著來。你的臉上要做出這些極為夸張的神態(tài)和表情。”

開拍前一晚，雷德梅恩緊張得睡不著覺。“這是我這輩子唯一一次熬通宵，”他說，“最初拍的幾場戲中，有一場情感充沛、情緒激動的戲。我覺得那對我很有幫助。”在扮演晚年的霍金時，雷德梅恩雙腿交叉著坐在輪椅上，頭歪向一邊，這個姿勢影響了他的呼吸。有時，如此長時間地扭曲身體會造成身體上的疼痛。“他真的很受罪，但他從來沒抱怨過。”馬什說。

隨著令人緊張不安的影片放映日到來，接受檢驗的時刻到了。但是雷德梅恩沒什么可擔心的。霍金對影片非常滿意，作為回應，他甚至送出一份慷慨的禮物—制片人可以換掉之前制作的合成語音，改用霍金自己那標志性的電腦合成聲音。“我們花了大量時間和金錢試圖重現(xiàn)那個聲音，但一直沒成功。”麥卡頓說。

聽說霍金送的禮物后，雷德梅恩大為感動。他對自己的表演是否成功一直不太有把握，每晚都會從樣片上看自己的表演—這對他而言是破天荒頭一次。“你希望自己的表演到位，”雷德梅恩說，“但卻不斷地感到失望—總是不夠打動人，因為你的表演總是不那么傳神。不過，有了霍金特有的聲音，那簡直是演員的夢想。你離真實又近了一步。”

1.Working Title：即Working Title Films電影制作公司，總部位于英國倫敦。

2.biopic [?ba????p?k] n. 傳記片

3.amyotrophic lateral sclerosis：肌萎縮性側(cè)索硬化癥，俗稱漸凍癥（簡稱ALS），患者因運動神經(jīng)元退化導致肌肉萎縮、癱瘓，最后大腦完全喪失控制隨意運動的能力。

4.quadriplegic [?kw?dr??pli?d??k] n. 四肢癱患者

5.pull off：成功完成，做成（困難的事情）

6.Focus Features：焦點影業(yè)，環(huán)球影業(yè)下屬的子公司

7.Tony：托尼獎，由美國戲劇協(xié)會設立，被視為美國話劇和音樂劇的最高獎。

8.Red：雙人劇《紅》，由美國劇作家約翰·洛根（John Logan， 1961～）創(chuàng)作。

9.fly-on-the-wall：暗中觀察的

10.Wachowski sibling：沃卓斯基姐弟，美國著名姐弟導演，其作品常由兩人合作完成，代表作為《黑客帝國》（The Matrix）三部曲。

11.Einar Wegener：丹麥藝術(shù)家埃納·魏格納（1882～1931），人類史上首個通過手術(shù)改變性別的人

12.three-ring circus：大型熱鬧的演出

13.rave [re?v] n. 褒揚；好評

14.gazillion [ɡ??z?li?n] n. 許許多多，無數(shù)

15.West End：倫敦西區(qū)，是與紐約百老匯齊名的世界兩大戲劇中心之一，也是英國戲劇界的代名詞。

16.Oliver！：音樂劇《霧都孤兒》

17.Julianne Moore：朱麗安·摩爾（1960～），美國演員，第87屆奧斯卡金像獎最佳女主角，代表作為《依然愛麗絲》（Still Alice）。

18.indie [??ndi] n. 獨立制作的影片

19.freckle [?frek（?）l] n. 雀斑

20.six-pack：發(fā)達的腹肌

21.CAA：創(chuàng)新藝人經(jīng)紀公司，全稱為Creative Artists Agency，是世界排名第一的經(jīng)紀代理公司。

22.pissed [p?st] adj. 喝醉的

23.Felicity Jones：菲麗希緹·瓊斯（1983～），英國演員，代表作為《愛瘋了》（Like Crazy）。

24.Universal：即Universal Pictures （環(huán)球影業(yè)公司），好萊塢實力最強的電影公司之一

25.choreographer [?k?ri??ɡr?f?（r）] n. 舞蹈設計者；編舞

26.pelvis [?pelv?s] n. 骨盆

27.Magna Carta：《大憲章》，1215年英王約翰被迫簽署的憲法性的文件，旨在保障封建貴族的政治獨立與經(jīng)濟權(quán)益。

28.trepidation [?trep??de??（?）n] n. 惶恐；不安

29.on edge：緊張不安；煩躁

30.all-nighter：通宵活動

31.dailies [?de?liz] n. 〈美〉[復]工作樣片（電影編輯、試鏡用的膠片）

32.underwhelming [??nd?（r）?welm??] adj. （響應或回應）不熱烈的