美国国家公共电台 NPR A Superstar In China, Daniel Wu Emerges In His Native California

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Recent Hollywood productions like "The Mummy," "Ready Player One" and "Transformers: The Last Knight¹" have done better box office in China than the U.S. That's part of the reason Asian-American actors are starting to land more leading roles in U.S. films and TV shows. Here's Chloe Veltman of member station KQED with the story of one Chinese-American who's a big star across Asia and starting to match that fame here.

CHLOE VELTMAN, BYLINE²: In the dystopian AMC TV action series "Into The Badlands," Daniel Wu stars as a lethal³ warrior⁴ on a quest to discover the truth about his past.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "INTO THE BADLANDS")

DANIEL WU: (As Sunny) When I say go, we'll work our way up the opposite sides of the street. Arthur, you're with me. Bajie, take the girl.

VELTMAN: Over two decades, the 43-year-old has played leading roles in everything from romantic comedies to Kung Fu costume dramas. He's become a celebrity⁵ across Asia. But "Badlands" is the first starring role in the U.S. for the California native.

WU: As a kid growing up in the '70s, '80s and a person of color, I didn't see a future for that. In my field, there was a roadblock. And so I basically had to go to Asia and get successful there in order to come back here to have success here.

VELTMAN: Daniel Wu grew up in the Bay Area, the son of emigrants⁶ from Shanghai. He went to the University of Oregon, thought he'd become an architect. But in 1997, after graduating, he traveled to Hong Kong where he was spotted⁷ in a bar by a talent scout⁸ for a TV commercial. It just so happens that Hong Kong film director Yonfan caught the ad and gave the chiseled⁹ 20-something his first big break.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BISHONEN")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character, speaking Cantonese).

VELTMAN: The director taps the novice¹⁰ to star in his romantic drama "Bishonen." But there were challenges.

WU: I've never acted before. And my Cantonese was not good at the time, so I turned it down.

VELTMAN: But Yonfan wouldn't let go.

WU: By the end, I was like, OK. If you don't blame me for screwing it up, I'll give it a shot.

VELTMAN: This is the start of Wu's fast rise to stardom in China, though it didn't happen overnight.

WU: I came to Hong Kong as a foreigner. Even though I'm the same skin color, same hair color, same culture, I was treated differently at first.

VELTMAN: But after a couple of years, Wu says he was welcomed.

WU: These are my people, my own culture. And they're accepting me. I think that's the most touching¹¹ thing that's happened to me.

VELTMAN: Over the years, Wu says he returned to the U.S. for occasional, mostly disappointing meetings with movie executives.

WU: They don't really know what they're looking for. They're just looking for someone Chinese, you know, or Asian.

VELTMAN: But slowly, Wu started to find opportunities...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS")

RZA: (As Blacksmith) When you forge your weapon, you need three things.

VELTMAN: ...Like the American-Chinese co-production "The Man With The Iron Fists." Rapper and movie director RZA shot the movie in China in 2011. RZA casts Wu in a small role and says he was surprised when his local crew saw the actor as the biggest celebrity on set.

RZA: I'm telling you nobody gave two cent [expletive] about none of us. When Danny came on the set, everybody went crazy. And all of a sudden, I was making a movie, you know what I mean?

VELTMAN: These days, Wu's spending more time in California to be with his family. And after two decades of superstardom in China, he's finally landed a major role in the United States. He trains at a gym near his home in Oakland. He needs to stay in shape for "Into The Badlands" where he says he's been in more than 30 fight scenes in three seasons.

WU: In "Badlands," everything is very carefully choreographed¹².

VELTMAN: Wu says, while he and a few fellow Asian-American actors are starting to get more lead roles in the U.S., there's still plenty of room for growth.

WU: It's still not at the point where I'd like it to be.

VELTMAN: And he says it's going to be a slow transition to true multiculturalism¹³. For NPR News, I'm Chloe Veltman.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

4 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

5 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

6 emigrants   

n.（从本国移往他国的）移民( emigrant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At last the emigrants got to their new home. 移民们终于到达了他们的新家。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• 'Truly, a decree for selling the property of emigrants.' “有那么回事，是出售外逃人员财产的法令。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

7 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

8 scout   

n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索

参考例句：

• He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵，受了重伤。
• The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。

9 chiseled   

adj.凿刻的，轮廓分明的v.凿，雕，镌( chisel的过去式 )

参考例句：

• Woltz had chiseled the guy, given him peanuts for the book. 乌尔茨敲了这个作家的竹杠，用了他的书，却只给微不足道的一点点钱。 来自教父部分
• He chiseled the piece of wood into the shape of a head. 他把这块木头凿刻成人头的形状。 来自辞典例句

10 novice   

adj.新手的，生手的

参考例句：

• As a novice writer,this is something I'm interested in.作为初涉写作的人，我对此很感兴趣。
• She realized that she was a novice.她知道自己初出茅庐。

11 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

12 choreographed   

v.设计舞蹈动作( choreograph的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• There was some carefully choreographed flag-waving as the President drove by. 总统的车经过时，人们按精心编排的动作挥舞着旗帜。
• Achim had choreographed the dance in Act II himself. 阿希姆自己设计了第2幕的舞蹈动作。 来自辞典例句

13 multiculturalism   

n.多元文化

参考例句：

• Switzerland is well known for cheese fondue, penguin parades and its multiculturalism. 瑞士一向以芝士火锅，企鹅游行和多元文化等特色闻名于世。
• That may be one reason why multiculturalism came easily to it. 这也是多元文化容易适应发展的原因之一。