It Never Hurts to Be Bold 大膽一試又何妨

Dear Mr. Hill，

Seeing that1） ... I have seen your fantastically entertaining and award-winning film The Sting， starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford， and enjoyed it very much， it is all together fitting and proper that you should \"discover\" me.

Now， right away I know what you are thinking （\"who is this kid？\"）， and I can understand your apprehensions2）. I am a nobody. No one outside of Skyline High School has heard of me.... My looks are not stunning3）. I am not built like a Greek God4）， and I can't even grow a mustache， but I figure if people will pay to see certain films ... they will pay to see me.

Let's work out the details of my discovery. We can do it the way Lana Turner5） was discovered， me sitting on a soda shop stool， you walk in and notice me and—BANGO6）—I am a star.

Or maybe we can do it this way. I stumble7） into your office one day and beg for a job. To get rid of me， you give me a stand-in8） part in your next film. While shooting the film， the star breaks his leg in the dressing room， and， because you are behind schedule already， you arbitrarily9） place me in his part and—BANGO—I am a star.

All of these plans are fine with me， or we could do it any way you would like， it makes no difference to me！ But let's get one thing straight. Mr. Hill， I do not want to be some bigtime10）， Hollywood superstar with girls crawling all over me， just a hometown American boy who has hit the big time11）， owns a Porsche and calls Robert Redford \"Bob\".

Respectfully submitted，

Your Pal Forever，

Tom Hanks

尊敬的希爾先生：

鑒于我觀看了您執導的由保羅·紐曼（編注：美國著名演員）和羅伯特·雷德福（編注：美國著名導演、演員）主演的饒有趣味且屢獲殊榮的電影《騙中騙》（編注：1973年12月于美國上映），而且非常喜歡它，我覺得您應該“發掘”我這顆新星，這么做完全合適。

現在，我立馬就知道您在想什么（“這小子是誰？”），而且我能夠理解您的擔憂。我是個無名小卒。出了我所就讀的地平線高中，沒有人聽說過我……我長得并不英俊帥氣，身材也不像希臘神話中的美男子那樣健美，我甚至連一根胡子都沒長，但我想，如果人們愿意花錢觀看某些電影的話，他們就會掏錢看我的表演。

讓我們設想一下我被“發掘”的具體情形吧。我們可以像拉娜·特納被發掘的那樣，我坐在一家汽水店的凳子上，您走進來，注意到我，結果——BANGO——我成了明星！

或者我們也許可以這樣做。一天，我跌跌撞撞地走進您的辦公室，乞求您給我一份工作。為了擺脫我，您讓我在您的下一部影片中當一個替身演員。在影片拍攝過程中，主演在更衣室里摔斷了腿，因為拍攝進度已經落后，于是您隨意讓我試了一下他的角色，結果——BANGO——我成了明星！

這些計劃我覺得都不錯，或者我們可以按照您喜歡的任何方式來，對我而言沒有什么區別！但有件事我得說清楚。希爾先生，我不想像一些當紅的好萊塢巨星一樣與那些個女孩左擁右抱，我只想做一個大獲成功的美國鄰家男孩，擁有一輛保時捷，能管羅伯特·雷德福叫“鮑勃”（譯注：Bob為Robert的昵稱）就行了。

此致

敬禮

您永遠的朋友，

湯姆·漢克斯

1.seeing that： 因為，由于

2.apprehension： 請參見P50注釋24

3.stunning [?st?n??] adj. 絕色的；極漂亮的

4.Greek God： （作為男子健美典型的）希臘神式美男子

5.Lana Turner： 拉娜·特納（1921～1995），20世紀美國著名女演員，憑借《冷暖人間》（Peyton Place）榮獲1957年奧斯卡最佳女主角的提名。

6.BANGO： 用于表示對優秀、領悟或憤怒的感嘆。

7.stumble [?st?mbl] vi. 蹣跚而行；跌跌撞撞地行走

8.stand-in： 替身

9.arbitrarily [?ɑ?b??trer?li] adv. 任意地

10.bigtime： （= big-time）重要的；赫赫有名的

11.big time： （活動、職業的）頂峰

What's More

他是《西雅圖夜未眠》里那個帶著淡淡憂傷的父親，是《阿甘正傳》里那個自強不息的“傻”阿甘，是《拯救大兵瑞恩》里的硬漢約翰·米勒上尉，也是無數影迷心中的“阿湯哥”……熒幕上的阿湯哥性格多變、感情細膩，而生活中的他又是什么樣的呢？不妨聽聽這些偶遇過阿湯哥的人都是如何評價他的吧。

①\"One time， I saw Tom Hanks at an Italian restaurant. I looked over and the guy was eating bread. Just putting pieces into his mouth and chewing them with his teeth， like a regular person. I figured a movie star like him would have someone to do that for him. Not Tom Hanks， though. Classiest （最優雅的） guy on Earth.\"

②\"So I'm waiting outside the Paramount lot （電影制片場）， hoping to see a celebrity， and out comes Tom Hanks. Just walking， using legs. So I say， 'Would you please sign my tee shirt？' Then I brace （使有應付……的心理準備） myself—you know， expecting him to vomit bile （憤怒） on me， out of disgust. But instead， he says， 'Sure'， and signs my shirt！ Here's the craziest part： he used a pen. I figured he'd probably plunge （使插入） a syringe （注射器） into my chest and sign his name using blood from my heart. But no. He uses a regular pen. Like the kind you would find in a store. If there's a classier guy on Earth， I'd like to meet him.\"

③\"I'm sitting on a bench with my family when Tom Hanks walks by on the sidewalk. I don't know what to say， so I just shout out， 'Hey， Tom！' And he stops！ So I figure， okay， this is it； I'm going to die. He's going to take out a gun and shoot me point blank （直接地） in the face， which， let's be honest， is exactly what I deserve. I mean， the guy has a million important things to do， and here I am， stopping his walking.... But none of this transpires （發生）. Instead， he just smiles at me， and says， 'Hey.' Class act （值得盛贊之人或事）！\"

（From theoccasional.com）