A Cumberbatch Moment: The Oscar-Poised Rise of The Imitation Game Star

by John Powers

Mac 译

A Cumberbatch Moment: The Oscar-Poised Rise of The Imitation Game Star

本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇：“卷福”的奥斯卡时刻

by John Powers

Mac 译

我更喜欢称本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇为“卷福”，因为这里面代表了影迷对他以及这个角色的喜爱，而这个角色也必定是他演艺生涯的一个重要注脚。你看他那种略带神经质的表演会禁不住疑问：他本人是这样的吗？如果不是，为什么能把这个角色演绎得如此惟妙惟肖？

康伯巴奇出生演艺世家，名校出身，一直得到不同程度的锤炼和赏识。如果你以为“卷福”之前的康伯巴奇一事无成、籍籍无名，那你就错了，他在舞台剧、电视剧以及电影都有作为，所以他可以在名利突然而至的时候不至于失态，可以在所谓的“无名小卒”时期不至于变态。他在健全人格形成之前并没有在名利漩涡中被刺激得找不着北，这归功于他的家庭，也可以归功于他接受的教育，甚至于他自己本身。到目前为止，他的人生是成功范本中最具有可模仿性和可行性的例子，里面没有太多偶然性和上天眷顾。厚积薄发，一鸣惊人—成功到来的时候，他以一种自然和舒服的姿态拨地而起，让所有人都打心里为他祝福。

—Mac

I really, really love my job,” says Benedict Cumberbatch in the lush1)baritonethat is one of his trademarks. “I love sets. I love crews. I love theaters. I love audiences.”

And he has every reason to be feeling the love. After all, this is his time—the Cumberbatch Moment. Not only is his new film, The Imitation Game, a front-runner for the Academy Award (it won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, a traditional2)bellwether), but he himself is a surefire Best Actor nominee for his touching, slyly funny performance as Alan Turing, a real-life genius who helped save England during World War II only to die alone and forgotten, a prophet without honor in his own land.

The Imitation Game is an exciting crowd-pleaser about Turing, a socially awkward misfit whom most everyone finds weird, arrogant, and offputting. But he’s also a cosmic genius. It’s Turing who cracks the so-called Enigma code, which3)encryptedall of the Nazi military’s wartime messages. He’s ably assisted by a team of world-class4)cryptanalysts, which includes Joan Clarke, a brilliant mathematician whom Turing champions despite the military’s sexist objections, and with whom he becomes intimate. She’s played with resourceful intelligence and warmth by Keira Knightley, who became mates with Cumberbatch one summer when they shared a communelike farmhouse while filming Atonement, and discovered a mutual pleasure in cooking and live music.

我真的真的热爱我的工作，”本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇用其标志性的浑厚男中音如此道来，“我热爱片场、工作人员、剧场还有—观众。”

于他而言，这份热爱合情合理，毕竟，当下正是他事业的全盛时期—康伯巴奇时刻。不仅仅因为他的新电影《模仿游戏》成为奥斯卡大热—该电影在多伦多国际电影节里赢得“大众之选奖”，而多伦多电影节是传统的电影颁奖领头羊，还因为他本人凭借触动人心、机智幽默的表演必将毫无争议地获得最佳男演员提名—他扮演的是阿兰·图灵是真人真事中的一位天才，曾帮助英国在二战中取得胜利却最终被世人遗忘，作为一名无冕先知在自己的国土孤独离世。

《模仿游戏》剧情激动人心，很对观众口味，讲的是关于图灵的故事，这个人不善社交，与周遭格格不入，在大多数人眼中古怪、傲慢而且令人扫兴。但同时他也是一名非一般的天才。就是图灵破解了所谓的英格码—纳粹军队就是用这种代码来传达战时信息。一群世界一流的密码专家巧妙地帮助图灵，其中包括才华横溢的数学家琼·克拉克，尽管在军队中因为性别备受歧视，但是图灵一直很拥戴她，和她关系亲密。凯拉·奈特利以机智与热情诠释了这个角色。奈特利与康伯巴奇在某个夏天拍摄《赎罪》时，因为共用一个公社式的农舍，发现彼此都喜欢烹饪和露天音乐会而变成好友。

1) baritone [ˑbærɪtəʊn] n. 男中音

2) bellwether [ˑbelˑweðə] n. 领头羊，领导者

3) encrypt [ɪnˑkrɪpt] v. 将…译成密码

4) cryptanalyst [krɪpˑtænəlɪst] n. 密码专家

Although The Imitation Game is set 70 years ago, it still feels relevant. For one thing, the team’s codebreaking equipment, known as the Turing Machine, was the5)prototypeof today’s modern computer. “The algorithms Alan used during the war,” Cumberbatch says, “are still used in Google’s search engine.” Yet what gives the movie its sting is the heartbreaking fate of this lonely, decent man. Because his wartime work was marked top secret, the public never knew of his heroic achievements. More tragically, because he was totally unabashed about his homosexuality at a time when it was still illegal in Britain—Turing is today a gay icon—he was a target of police harassment.

“I felt a responsibility to show him properly,” says Cumberbatch. “Alan’s face should be on the back of banknotes like Darwin and Newton. It should be on the front of history textbooks and science books.”

In person, you grasp what a fne actor Cumberbatch is: He’s not remotely arrogant or fragile. Youngerlooking than on-screen, he comes across as sweetly boyish, a quality that may6)beliehis sophistication as an actor but helps seal the deal with his female fans. His words come in enthusiastic flurries—“God, I talk quick,” he says when I play back a moment of tape to make sure the recorder’s working—and you never quite know where his conversation may swirl. He exudes an aura of innocent, almost7)star-struckpleasure in his good fortune, as when he talks about the “bliss” of hanging out with Depp: “We rolled cigarettes and sat around and talked and talked and talked. He’s a friend now, which is an amazing thing to think about.”

Now that Cumberbatch is riding so high, it’s easy to forget that, for nearly a decade before stardom hit, he’d already been a successful actor. Indeed, he was nominated for an award for his frst stage performance, back in 2001. Before the show Sherlock became a certifed hit, he had already starred as Stephen Hawking for the BBC and been cast in such big movies as War Horse, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and 12 Years a Slave.

With Sherlock, which debuted in 2010, it did. Actor and role merged8)alchemically. Cumberbatch instantly became identifed with an irresistible hero who satisfes everyone’s fantasy of9)thumbing one’s nose atthe world, especially authority, yet always being right.

尽管《模仿游戏》讲述的是70年前的故事，但是依然没有过时。其一，剧组那个破译密码的仪器—广为人知的“图灵机器”，是今天现代计算机的原型。“图灵在战争期间使用的算法，”康伯巴奇说道，“今天的谷歌搜索引擎还在使用。”然而，这部电影触动人心之处在于这位孤独而正派的男人那让人心碎的命运。因为他在战争期间的工作是至高机密，公众从来就不知道他的英雄壮举。更可悲的是，因为他完全不羞于承认自己的性向—而同性恋在当时的英国仍被视作非法的—因而当时成为警察骚扰的对象，尽管今天他已是同性恋人士的标杆偶像。

“我觉得我有责任正确地诠释这个人物，”康伯巴奇说道，“阿兰的头像应该像达尔文和牛顿一样印在钞票的背面，他应该印在历史教科书和科学图书的首页。”

见过本人，你就能了解康伯巴奇为什么是一名好演员：他有亲和力、不傲慢，也不敏感。真人比上镜更加年轻，他流露出讨人喜欢的孩子气，这个特质隐于他作为演员的世故之下，对女性“粉丝”极有杀伤力。他的谈话热情洋溢—“天啊，我讲太快了，”当时我倒带检查录音机是否运作正常，他这样说道—另外，你很难确定他的谈话会向哪个方向延伸。当说到他与戴普一起外出的“福气”时，他流露出一种天真，几乎是追星族碰上好运的那种欣喜：“我们卷好烟，坐在一起，然后天南地北地聊啊聊。我们现在是朋友了，想起这件事真快乐。”

既然康伯巴奇现在地位超然，那就很容易让人忘记成为巨星前的那近十年，他其实已经是一名很成功的演员。事实上，在2001年他就因为第一次登上舞台表演而获得提名一个奖项。在《神探夏洛克》成为公认的大热之前，他就已经为BBC扮演史蒂芬·霍金，并且参演过诸如《战马》、《谍影行动》以及《为奴十二载》这样的大热电影。

《神探夏洛克》于2010年首登电视屏幕，成功随之而来。演员与角色完美结合。康伯巴奇马上成为了不可抵抗的英雄化身—他对世界，特别是权威那不屑一顾的态度满足了很多人的幻想，但最后他又总能证明自己是对的。

“The BBC liked the choice, too, but with one10)proviso,” recalls Sherlock’s co-creator Steven Moffat. “They said, ‘Is he sexy enough? You promised us a sexy Sherlock.’ Back then nobody thought of him as sexy—not even Benedict.” He laughs. “Who knew that he’d wind up being a sex symbol in China?”

He’s not kidding. When I was recently in Asia—where some Chinese people charmingly call Sherlock “Curly Fu”—people kept asking me, “Have you met Benedict Cumberbatch?” in the same awed tones with which they would’ve asked about Mick Jagger in the late sixties. He fnds such11)adulationenjoyable (“I’m tickled pink”) and occasionally12)daft. Some fans ask him to sign pictures of otters, an animal he’s said to resemble—“It’s a great disservice,”he says dryly, “to a wonderful woodland13)amphibiouscreature.” Others simply melt in his presence. “I have boyfriends coming up to say, ‘My girlfriend is obsessed with you,’ and I say, ‘I’m so sorry.’ ” He laughs in delighted14)commiseration.

It was his range and versatility that impressed Dominic Cooke, who first directed him in Rhinoceros seven years ago at the Royal Court and is now helming The Hollow Crown, a far grander production, complete with battle scenes that show off Cumberbatch’s abilities as a horseman.

“BBC电视台也很喜欢这个选角，但带有一个附加条件，”《神探夏洛克》的联合制作人史蒂芬·莫法特回忆道，“他们说：‘他足够性感吗？你保证要给我们塑造一个性感的夏洛克。’在那时候没人认为他性感，就连本尼迪克特本人都不这样认为。”他笑道。“谁会想到他在中国会成为性感符号？”

他不是开玩笑。当我最近去到亚洲，那里的一些中国人亲昵地称夏洛克为“卷福”，人们不断问我：“你见过本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇吗？”那种充满敬畏的语气就好像在上世纪六十年代末期问有关米克·贾格尔的事情一样。他享受这样的奉承（“我都要脸红了”），有时候却觉得太过疯狂了。有一些“粉丝”让他在水獭的照片上签名，大家认为他和水獭长得很像—“对那么可爱的森林两栖动物而言，这是极大的侮辱，”他冷冷地说道。有些人只要他出现就心满意足。“我的一些男孩朋友对我说：‘我的女友很迷你。’然后我说，‘我感到很抱歉。’”他大笑，怀着欣喜的同情。

多米尼克·库克对康伯巴奇的能力与才艺印象深刻，他七年前在皇家剧院第一次执导康伯巴奇主演的《犀牛》，而现在掌舵更为宏伟的作品《空王冠》，该剧的战争场景充分展示了康伯巴奇作为骑士的能力。

5) prototype [ˑprəʊtətaɪp] n. 原型

6) belie [bɪˑlaɪ] v. 掩饰

7) star-struck 追星族

8) alchemically [ælˑkemɪkəlɪ] adv. 完美地

9) thumb one’s nose at 对…不屑一顾

10) proviso [prəˑvaɪzəʊ] n. 限制性条款，附加条件

11) adulation ['ædjʊˑleɪʃən] n. 奉承，阿谀

12) daft [dɑːft] adj. 愚蠢的，神经的

13) amphibious [æmˑfɪbɪəs] adj. 两栖的

14) commiseration [kə'mɪzəˑreɪʃən] n. 同情

“Benedict’s one of those actors who really can transform into something different,” Cooke tells me. “I went to see him in two roles, back to back. One was in Terence Rattigan’s play After the Dance, a very English role, uptight on the surface and filled with emotion underneath. Then I saw him15)buck nakedon the stage doing something like modern dance in Frankenstein. I don’t know any actor anywhere who could do both things as well as that. They aren’t just different characters. They are totally different kinds of acting performance.”

Still, it’s one measure of his good sense that he tries to keep his success in perspective. Rather like George Clooney, who also didn’t get big until his mid-30s, Cumberbatch took off when he was old enough to appreciate fame without being undone by it. He can be tickled by Oscar speculation but not16)enthralledby it. “I sometimes worry about the currency surrounding the furor—the Internet, the teens. I’m careful that it doesn’t obscure other things that I care about. When somebody says that I’m perfect for a role because it will get an audience, that immediately makes me cold on it.”

Indeed, when I ask whose careers he might like to emulate, he names actors who he feels have“gone the distance,” meaning they17)rose through the ranks, did decades of great work, and keep going strong—Michael Gambon, Ian McKellen, Bill Nighy…

“The adoration thing is amazing,” he tells me,“but it won’t carry on forever, and I want my work to carry on forever”—he stops, laughing at such18)grandiosity. “Or at least for the next 40 years.”

“本尼迪克特是那种真正能在各种不同角色中转换的演员，”库克告诉我，“我连续去看过他演的两个角色。其中一个是泰伦斯·拉提根的戏剧《舞会之后》，他演绎一个非常地道的英国人角色，表面上沉静规矩，内里却热情洋溢。然后我看到他在舞台上一丝不挂似地跳着类似《科学怪人》这样的现代舞。我不知道哪个演员可以同时精彩地演绎出这样两种角色。他们不仅仅是不相同的角色，更是大相径庭的表演方法。”

然而，他良好的判断力让他对于成功有正确的看法。康伯巴奇和乔治·克鲁尼很相像，都是直到近不惑之年才一举成名天下知，他在成熟的年纪面对成功，而不至于在名利的漩涡中迷失。他对奥斯卡的提名心动，但又不至于沉迷。“我有些时候会担忧这份狂热背后的依托—网络以及青少年。我会提醒自己不让名利蒙蔽双眼，凌驾我在乎的事情。当有人说我很适合某个角色，因为这样的角色有市场，我会立刻热情消退。”事实上，当我问及哪些人的职业生涯他认为可以效仿的时候，他说了一些他感觉“一直坚持到底”的演员的名字，意思是这些人一步一步往上爬，数十年都有上佳表现，并且一直表现强劲—迈克尔·刚本、伊恩·麦凯伦、比尔·奈伊……

“崇拜这件事很有意思，”他对我说，“但是不会永远持续，而我希望我的工作能够永远持续，”—他打住了，然后因自己的宏图大志笑起来，“或者至少能持续接下来的40年。”

15) buck naked 一丝不挂

16) enthrall [ɪnˑθrɔːl] v. 迷惑，迷住

17) rise through the ranks 出身寒微

18) grandiosity ['grændɪˑɒsɪtɪ] n. 堂皇，宏图