PBS高端访谈:《绝命毒师》男主角的幸运人生（在线收听）

JUDY WOODRUFF: Oscar-nominated actor Bryan Cranston is best known for his Emmy-winning role as Walter White in the TV series Breaking Bad. But, as he explains in tonight's Brief But Spectacular episode, it took him some luck to get there. Starting next Saturday, Cranston will be playing the role of Howard Beale in the Broadway production of Network, based on the famous film.

BRYAN CRANSTON, Actor: The first thing I look for when I read a script is, does the story move me? What I truly love about this, and when I talk to audiences about anything I have done or any other movie or stage piece, is that the audience is always right. However you felt, however you reacted to something is always right. That's how you felt. And it's remarkable how you can sit next to someone and watch a movie. I could be weeping, and they're like, eh. It's like, really? They say, yes, it missed me. The only failure is if you move an audience to nothing, to boredom. If they are indifferent about what they just experienced, whether it's a painting or a recital or a singer or a dancer or a play, if they are, I feel nothing throughout, then we failed. Then we failed. Actors come to town, to New York or Los Angeles or London, and they say, you know, I'm going to give it a shot. I'm going to give it a year and see if I can become successful. And to those, I want to say, I can save you a year of your time. If you think that this is something that you can carve out some arbitrary amount of time to achieve certain things, this is not for you. This is a lifetime. When you first start out as an actor, your answer to any question is yes. Do you want to? Yes, I want to do that. I started out in 1979 doing background work as an extra. Angry mob. Drunken frat boy. Reckless driver. And then, when you first get that break where you actually have a name, Steve, wow, I actually have a name, I'm Steve, you feel like you have progressed to some degree. There's no career that has ever been achieved in entertainment, I truly believe this, without a healthy dose of luck. Someone said, OK, kid, I will read your script, or, all right, you want to audition? Come in. Do it right now. And then you got to be ready. Celebrity is a byproduct of what I do and what I like to do. It's not what I was after. I was a working actor. Things were fine. I was paying my bills, leading a very middle-class economic life. And then I got a lucky break at age 40 and was cast in Malcolm in the Middle. At 50, I got an even bigger break when I was cast as Walter White on Breaking Bad. That was my trajectory. It came when it was supposed to come. And that's the interesting thing about luck. It doesn't work on your timetable. It works on its own. My name is Bryan Cranston, and this is my Brief But Spectacular take on being an actor.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And you can watch additional Brief But Spectacular episodes on our Web site. That's PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief.

朱迪·伍德拉夫：奥斯卡提名男演员布莱恩·科兰斯顿最出名的当属他在电视剧《绝命毒师》中饰演的沃尔特·怀特，这个角色让他获得了艾美奖。不过，在今晚的《简短而精彩》将讲到他这一路上遇到过的好运。下周六开始，科兰斯顿将饰演百老汇作品《电视台风云》翻版中的德·比尔。

布莱恩·科兰斯顿，演员：我读剧本的时候首先会看中一点：故事是否打动我。我之所以执着于这一点是因为每次我跟关注交流我演过的作品时，我会发现观众的感觉经常是对的。你对影片的感觉和反应就能判断这部影片是好是坏。这就是人的感受。你能跟某人并坐在一起，看同一部电影，这是很棒的感觉。我有时候也会潸然泪下，他们就会觉得：你居然哭了？他们会说：是的，影片打动了我。影片唯一的失败在于：观众不为所动，甚至觉得无聊。如果他们对于上演的一切漠不关心，无论是作画、吟诵、唱歌、跳舞还是演戏，如果观众毫无感触，影片就是失败的。那么演员也失败了。演员会走访城镇，来到纽约、洛杉矶或是伦敦，他们会说：这次我要好好试一下。我要放手一搏，给自己一年的时间，看看自己是否会成功。对于这些人，我想说的是：我可以帮你们省下一年的时间。如果你觉得这件事是你随意花点时间就能做到的话，那这件事并不适合你。这件事是要花一生的时间去追寻的。演员刚出道的时候，对于任何问题的回答都是肯定的。比如，你想做这件事吗？是的。我想做。1979年，我开始从事背景工作，那时候只是临时演员。我分别出演了《超脱》、《电玩竞技场》和《亡命驾驶》。后来，你慢慢小有名气，史蒂夫，哇哦，我出名了，我是史蒂夫。那时候你会觉得你已经到了另一个阶段。业精于勤荒于嬉，我很认同这一点，不是仅凭运气就能实现的。有人会说，好了孩子，我会读一下你的剧本，好吗，你想试演一下吗？来吧，现在演一段，你要准备好。成为名人是我做自己喜欢做的事情后得到了附属品。这并非我所追寻的事情。我只是一个演员，想把一切都做好。我还是会照常生活，做一个不乱花钱的中产阶级。然后，40岁的时候，我的幸运来了——我出演了《布莱恩·科兰斯顿》。50岁的时候，更大的幸运眷顾了我，我出演了《绝命毒师》中的沃尔特·怀特。这就是我职业生涯的轨迹，顺其自然，水到渠成。走运这件事很有意思，幸运女神不一定何时会来。幸运女神有自己的行事方式。我叫布莱恩·科兰斯顿，这就是我本期作为一名演员为大家带来的《简短而精彩》。

朱迪·伍德拉夫：想了解更多的节目内容，可以登录我们的官方网站PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief。