美国国家公共电台 NPR 'It's Lovely Being Mean': Benedict Cumberbatch Gets Into Character As The Grinch

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Sometimes, it seems like there's no role Benedict Cumberbatch can't play. He's been the iconic British detective...

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SHERLOCK")

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH: (As Sherlock Holmes) She's got a West Highland² terrier called Whiskey - not exactly what we're looking for.

MARTIN FREEMAN: (As Dr. John Watson) Sherlock, for God's sake.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: ...Tolkien's dragon Smaug.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG")

CUMBERBATCH: (As Smaug) I smell you.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: And now Cumberbatch is back on the big screen as another icon¹, the Grinch.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE GRINCH")

CUMBERBATCH: (As The Grinch) If you can get past the present, the only obstacle left is the cookie. Look at it in all its red, sugary splendor³.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: He's the voice behind the bright-green grump in the new animated⁴ version of Dr. Seuss' Christmas tale. And Benedict Cumberbatch joins us now from New York. Welcome to the program.

CUMBERBATCH: Thank you for having me. I'm a big fan of the program.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: And I'm a big fan of yours. And I'm a big fan of "The Grinch," which is, of course, a Christmas classic.

CUMBERBATCH: Yes.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: And like "A Christmas Carol," the main character is not in the Christmas spirit. Why did you want to play the Grinch?

CUMBERBATCH: I think it's a time-old classic. And I think it was time, as well, for maybe a reimagining of it. And I think it's such an iconic American role and something I was surprised to be asked to do. And that's a good thing in an actor's life when you're surprised by an offer. And then they said, we love your accent. And I went, oh, that's very kind. Now, this is, I think, what the Grinch might sound like from my...

GARCIA-NAVARRO: (Laughter).

CUMBERBATCH: ...Reading of the book. They went, oh, that's great, but we like your accent.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: (Laughter).

CUMBERBATCH: And I went ah, but the Grinch doesn't have my accent. He's American. And they went, no, we want him to be in an English - it divided the room. Some people wanted that, and some producers wanted it to be American. And I sort of - I fought for that argument a little bit. And we landed on a voice we all liked.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Why didn't you want him to be a Brit? It's the classic...

CUMBERBATCH: Because that would...

GARCIA-NAVARRO: ...Evil character - the British accent, you know...

CUMBERBATCH: Yeah, for classic...

GARCIA-NAVARRO: ...The whole thing.

CUMBERBATCH: ...Really cliche⁵. So I just wanted...

GARCIA-NAVARRO: (Laughter).

CUMBERBATCH: ...To move away from that. And, you know, he's part of Whoville, even though he's separated from it. And that's very much the heart of our retelling. This guy is traumatized by Christmas because, poor thing, he grew up as an orphan⁶. And therefore, all the joy and belonging and loving he sees going on everywhere else, he's not a part of. So he's, you could say, green with envy. And that's - it's - yeah, it makes him far more empathizable (ph) and far more of a sort of antihero.

And also, we kind of enjoy the Grinch. We like him. We're used to him being mean, but he's only really scary when he can't see any answer other than stealing Christmas, and then he does get a little psychotic. And not to put our younger viewers off, but, you know, he becomes a bit tunnel-visioned.

And in the world we live in today, we know a few people like that, I think, who act out on hate and ignorance and fear. And it's pretty toxic⁷. And the lesson was, I think, that you can take those people back into the fold by offering love and forgiveness.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah, the thing in this retelling which I thought was really interesting - I mean, Jim Carrey's Grinch from the 2000 film was distinctly mean, right?

CUMBERBATCH: Yeah.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: But your Grinch is mostly unhappy. This seems like a story ultimately about loneliness.

CUMBERBATCH: Yeah, I think that's right. And not belonging in, I think, a place and not being accepted or forgiven for what you are. And I think one of the greatest things about Christmas is having that sense of community spirit where you look outside your own circumstances and try to help those less well-off than you. And, you know, acts of kindness are very important at that time of year because it can be very isolating⁸ and very lonely.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah. One of the things watching this film is that the Grinch reminds the people of Whoville that they don't need all the trappings of Christmas to find joy.

CUMBERBATCH: That's right because, obviously, it's hard to imagine children that wouldn't be upset by the idea of waking up and seeing that all of their Christmas decorations and presents had been...

GARCIA-NAVARRO: My daughter would be distinctly unhappy.

CUMBERBATCH: I think that that's - that she would be forgiven for that reaction. So, you know, it is also a learning curve for the Whos in our version. And I think in the book, it's sort of slightly glided⁹ over that they're just - they're high on the spirit of Christmas.

But I think the film deals with the reality, especially in a modern context, that, you know, those things are part of the excitement of Christmas. But they shouldn't be the raison d'etre for the excitement. The real excitement is the people who are giving each other something, the joy and love and generosity¹⁰ and the things we need most, as the Grinch says at the end of the film.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: You know, you are obviously a renowned¹¹ actor of stage and screen. And I'm just curious how you got into character for this. You know, how did you reach down into the Grinch's hardened, green, little heart? And what did you find?

CUMBERBATCH: I had a lot of fun doing that. I mean, it's lovely being mean. It's great fun. And, you know, I wouldn't myself go about knocking the heads off snowmen or taking a jar away from a woman who's trying to reach to the top shelf to get it and then...

GARCIA-NAVARRO: That's good to hear.

CUMBERBATCH: ...Put it back out of her reach. But I quite like playing those things because, like, watching them, you get a vicarious thrill out of it. As far as getting into character goes, it really was the book I went off first. And then we realized, oh, Christ, he's just really mean.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: He is really mean.

CUMBERBATCH: He was very kind of growly and snarly¹². And that would take some enduring for a whole film. It would be a bit scary for kids. So we decided¹³ to remind ourselves that he really, really enjoys Christmas. And that was the kind of key direction that Scott, the director, gave me because you are acting¹⁴ in the dark. You're on a mic. You're not with any other actors. You have no environment. You don't have any visual stimulus¹⁵. So...

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah.

CUMBERBATCH: You know what we do for a living, there's a lot of navel-gazing. And it gets a little bit serious in some interviews talking about all of this. But the fact is it's play.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: (Laughter).

CUMBERBATCH: All of this is play. We're narrators. We're storytellers. And you're reduced back to that innocent state of imagining and imagination, which is what all of Seuss' worlds are from. They're so extrapolated from our reality. They're so odd and unreal and yet universally catchy¹⁶ and poignant¹⁷ and pertinent¹⁸.

And, you know, they transcend¹⁹ cultures and logic²⁰ because they just tap into that need for story and theme. And through rhyme and amazing illustrations, they do that. So if you're an actor free on a mic to kind of imagine all of that, it's kind of - it's a wonderful state to be in.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Benedict Cumberbatch - he's the voice of the Grinch in "The Grinch" - out now. Thanks so much.

CUMBERBATCH: You're welcome.

1 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

2 highland   

n.(pl.)高地，山地

参考例句：

• The highland game is part of Scotland's cultural heritage.苏格兰高地游戏是苏格兰文化遗产的一部分。
• The highland forests where few hunters venture have long been the bear's sanctuary.这片只有少数猎人涉险的高山森林，一直都是黑熊的避难所。

3 splendor   

n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌

参考例句：

• Never in his life had he gazed on such splendor.他生平从没有见过如此辉煌壮丽的场面。
• All the splendor in the world is not worth a good friend.人世间所有的荣华富贵不如一个好朋友。

4 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

5 cliche   

n./a.陈词滥调(的)；老生常谈(的)；陈腐的

参考例句：

• You should always try to avoid the use of cliche. 你应该尽量避免使用陈词滥调。
• The old cliche is certainly true:the bigger car do mean bigger profits.有句老话倒的确说得不假:车大利大。

6 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

7 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

8 isolating   

adj.孤立的，绝缘的v.使隔离( isolate的现在分词 )；将…剔出（以便看清和单独处理）；使（某物质、细胞等）分离；使离析

参考例句：

• Colour filters are not very effective in isolating narrow spectral bands. 一些滤色片不能很有效地分离狭窄的光谱带。 来自辞典例句
• This became known as the streak method for isolating bacteria. 这个方法以后就称为分离细菌的划线法。 来自辞典例句

9 glided   

v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔

参考例句：

• The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
• They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

11 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

12 snarly   

adj.善于嚣叫的；脾气坏的；爱谩骂的；纠缠在一起的

参考例句：

• It was fought in East Main Street in Columbus with a large, snarly nondescript. 这一架是在哥伦布东大街打的，对手是个大膘肥，呲牙咧嘴，是个不伦不类的杂种。 来自辞典例句

13 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

14 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

15 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

16 catchy   

adj.易记住的，诡诈的，易使人上当的

参考例句：

• We need a new slogan.The old one's not catchy enough.我们需要新的口号，旧的不够吸引人。
• The chorus is very catchy to say the least.副歌部分很容易上口。

17 poignant   

adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的

参考例句：

• His lyrics are as acerbic and poignant as they ever have been.他的歌词一如既往的犀利辛辣。
• It is especially poignant that he died on the day before his wedding.他在婚礼前一天去世了，这尤其令人悲恸。

18 pertinent   

adj.恰当的；贴切的；中肯的；有关的；相干的

参考例句：

• The expert made some pertinent comments on the scheme.那专家对规划提出了一些中肯的意见。
• These should guide him to pertinent questions for further study.这些将有助于他进一步研究有关问题。

19 transcend   

vt.超出，超越(理性等)的范围

参考例句：

• We can't transcend the limitations of the ego.我们无法超越自我的局限性。
• Everyone knows that the speed of airplanes transcend that of ships.人人都知道飞机的速度快于轮船的速度。

20 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。