美国国家公共电台 NPR Actor Chadwick Boseman On His New Role As 'Marshall'

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

And finally, we have one more film to tell you about that opened Friday. It focuses on a little-known moment in the career of the late civil rights icon¹ Thurgood Marshall. Long before Marshall became the first African-American to serve on the U.S. Supreme² Court or even argued the landmark³ school desegregation case Brown v. Board of Education, He took on an exhausting run of difficult cases, challenging the racist⁴ practices and attitudes that shaped the lives of African-Americans. The new film "Marshall" tells the story of one of those early cases in 1941, in Connecticut, where a black man, a chauffeur⁵, was accused of raping⁶ his white socialite employer. Chadwick Boseman, whom you might remember as Jackie Robinson in the film "42," plays the young Thurgood Marshall as he takes on the defense⁷.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MARSHALL")

CHADWICK BOSEMAN: (As Thurgood Marshall) The NAACP, we're not like most lawyers. We only represent innocent people, people accused because of their race. That's our mission. You understand? So I need to know this. Look at me now. Did you do what they said you did?

STERLING⁸ K. BROWN: (As Joseph Spell) I never touched that woman.

BOSEMAN: (As Thurgood Marshall) OK, Joseph. You've got lawyers now.

MARTIN: I spoke⁹ with Chadwick Boseman from Chicago member station WBEZ, and I started by asking him to tell me about that period in Marshall's life. And I need to let you know that owing to the topic, some might be disturbed by some of the language.

BOSEMAN: At this point in his career, he's essentially¹⁰ become the sole lawyer for the NAACP. He's not famous. He has argued some pretty high-profile cases. He's just sort of coming into his own in terms of being known as the attorney that is fighting for civil rights or human rights throughout the nation. This particular case is one where the stakes are pretty high because if they lose this case, the NAACP will lose its donors¹¹ and probably cease to exist, number one.

And number two, the domestic workers throughout the North and some in the South are being fired by their bosses because, essentially, they don't trust having a chauffeur or having a butler, someone who is in the household who may rape¹² white women. So it becomes a thing of, this has to be rectified¹³ in order to save the jobs of black people at that time because you can't really work. So it was important to solve this case, to find this man innocent, to save the jobs of many other people.

MARTIN: And talk a little bit about the role that Josh Gad¹⁴ plays as your co-counsel, and explain why he needed a co-counsel.

BOSEMAN: So because a lot of times these cases were happening - and this is throughout the South as well - in places where maybe Thurgood Marshall or whatever attorney later on that the NAACP sent was not part of the bar. Maybe they weren't part of the bar in that state. They had to have a local attorney take on the case as well. So Sam Friedman represents this in Bridgeport, Conn. He is the local attorney that must bring the case before a Connecticut judge. And what happens in this case is when Thurgood Marshall shows up, usually he would be able to speak on behalf of the client, but this Bridgeport, Conn., judge basically gags Thurgood Marshall when he gets there. So it's the equivalent of trying to win a boxing match with your hands tied behind your back.

And for me, as an actor, when I first read this, I was like, wait a minute. I thought I was playing Thurgood Marshall. I thought I was going to have like these big courtroom speeches and, you know, I was going to be able to like use my Shakespearean training, my classical training. And that's not the case because he's silenced. So it becomes a really difficult task to win this case without being able to speak. So Sam Friedman becomes essentially a student, a protege. He's never tried a criminal case before. He's, you know, essentially only argued cases that were insurance, you know. It's totally out of his realm. And so Thurgood Marshall has to essentially teach him how to try a criminal case.

MARTIN: There's so much going on here that we could talk about, but a couple things. First of all, I just want to ask about how you understood Thurgood Marshall. I mean, he went on to argue 32 cases before the Supreme Court, including, of course, Brown v. Board of Ed, first African-American justice on the high court. This is all before that, right? So - but you still portray¹⁵ him as a person with a lot of, I don't know, style and a lot of self-possession. But it's also a lot of pressure. I mean, and the film kind of makes the case that this did take a personal toll¹⁶ on him and the people who were important to him. So I'm just wondering how you understood him in this and how you went about thinking about who you were going to be to portray him.

BOSEMAN: For me, the research, he was brought into a place where he was educated at Howard. He was educated in Baltimore, educated at Lincoln University. A lot of that stuff affected¹⁷ him in a particular way. He was actually born in Harlem and moved back to Baltimore. And he moved back to Harlem with his wife, Buster, and had that sort of Harlem Renaissance¹⁸ period affect who he was. So all of that is where he's coming into this with. He's a man about town. He's a man who enjoys life. He's a man who could have sort of the comfort abilities of this renaissance. And he is putting that on the line to go fight in places where he's not wanted.

MARTIN: But I'm asking you how you figured out how to play that line because you didn't grow up in that era where you were - where people thought that you should cross the street when they walked on it, you know what I mean? Like that level of - I'm just wondering how you figured that out for yourself.

BOSEMAN: I don't know if that's true. You know, I'm from Anderson, S.C., but I grew up in the South. So I know what it is to ride to school and have Confederate flags flying from trucks in front of me and behind me, to see a parking lot full of people with Confederate flags and know what that means. I've been stopped by police for no reason. I've been called boy and nigger and everything else that you could imagine. Along with the great hospitality that is in the South, that is part of it.

And so I understand when it is to exist in that space and find your manhood. And so I don't think that that is a thing that has gone completely foreign to our existence right now. So part of my, I guess, ability to face it is because I faced it. I failed at facing it. I get the opportunity in playing the character to relive those things and do things a different way.

MARTIN: That's Chadwick Boseman. He plays a young Thurgood Marshall, the man who would later go on to become the first African-American justice of the Supreme Court, who argued some 30 cases before the Supreme Court before that. He's the star of the new film "Marshall," which came out on Friday. And Chadwick Boseman joined us from member station WBEZ in Chicago. Chadwick Boseman, thank you so much for speaking with us.

BOSEMAN: Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

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 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

4 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

5 chauffeur   

n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车

参考例句：

• The chauffeur handed the old lady from the car.这个司机搀扶这个老太太下汽车。
• She went out herself and spoke to the chauffeur.她亲自走出去跟汽车司机说话。

6 raping   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的现在分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• In response, Charles VI sent a punitive expedition to Brittany, raping and killing the populace. 作为报复，查理六世派军讨伐布列塔尼，奸淫杀戮平民。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The conquerors marched on, burning, killing, raping and plundering as they went. 征服者所到之处烧杀奸掠，无所不做。 来自互联网

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

8 sterling   

adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑)

参考例句：

• Could you tell me the current rate for sterling, please?能否请您告诉我现行英国货币的兑换率？
• Sterling has recently been strong,which will help to abate inflationary pressures.英国货币最近非常坚挺，这有助于减轻通胀压力。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

11 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

13 rectified   

[医]矫正的，调整的

参考例句：

• I am hopeful this misunderstanding will be rectified very quickly. 我相信这个误会将很快得到纠正。
• That mistake could have been rectified within 28 days. 那个错误原本可以在28天内得以纠正。

14 gad   

n.闲逛；v.闲逛

参考例句：

• He is always on the gad.他老是闲荡作乐。
• Let it go back into the gloaming and gad with a lot of longing.就让它回到暮色中，满怀憧憬地游荡吧。

15 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

16 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

17 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

18 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。