美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Authenticity Is My Rebellion': Viola Davis On 'Widows,' Steve McQueen And Legacy

 

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WIDOWS")

VIOLA DAVIS: (As Veronica) My husband left me the plans for his next job. All I need is a crew to pull it off.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Here's the premise¹ of "Widows," the action-packed heist thriller² from director Steve McQueen. Masked men break into a private vault³. Things go very, very wrong. Their four wives become four widows. And to save their own lives, they become professional criminals.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WIDOWS")

DAVIS: (As Veronica) We have three days to look and move like a team of men. The best thing we have going for us is being who we are.

ELIZABETH DEBICKI: (As Alice) Why?

DAVIS: (As Veronica) Because no one thinks we have the [expletive] to pull this off.

CORNISH: Viola Davis plays the lead widow Veronica.

DAVIS: She's lost her husband. She has no idea how she's going to pay her bills. She is sinking under the weight of depression. And this act of criminality - it's almost like a metaphor⁴ for her to take ownership of her life. But at the same time, it's a way to pay that rent. It's a way to survive.

CORNISH: Earlier this week, I sat down with Viola Davis in front of a live audience in New York City for a conversation that was intense at times and very frank.

(APPLAUSE)

CORNISH: She told me that her character had to be more than a Hollywood cliche⁵.

DAVIS: The biggest issue I have with heist films is who would go to any act of criminality after they come from a seemingly normal life? Who just goes out and commits a crime? So I needed to answer the question why. If I approach any role like how Hollywood would want to look at it, like, OK, I know what the demographic of the audience is going to want to want.

CORNISH: Right.

DAVIS: They're going to want this babe next to Liam Neeson.

(LAUGHTER)

DAVIS: And she's got to be light and funny. I'm not the actress for that.

CORNISH: (Laughter).

DAVIS: I really am not. I'm not the go-to actress for that. But Steve McQueen definitely wanted to approach it realistically. That's how I approached it. I approached her like a real woman.

CORNISH: You mentioned Steve McQueen, obviously the Oscar winner for "12 Years A Slave." And is there a way that your relationship was different than maybe you've had with other directors? I've read you say that there are times when you felt stifled⁶ or your ability to kind of have input⁷ in the creative process - that you didn't always feel that power. And was he different?

DAVIS: Yeah, he's different. He is a director that sees you. I always say that if I were not a celebrity⁸, I would be invisible. It's a larger question about how black women are treated, how our femininity and beauty is appreciated, our mess, our complexity⁹...

CORNISH: And whether we're allowed to reveal it.

DAVIS: Absolutely, even to ourselves. We get together. We out-strong each other, you know?

(LAUGHTER)

DAVIS: It's like, girl, I would never let this man beat my ass¹⁰, and I would never let him do that. And it's like, listen; I know you're with a man that's, like, treating you like crap. Come on.

CORNISH: Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

DAVIS: But that's because we haven't felt supported. And we have never felt adored. I felt that adoration¹¹ from Steve McQueen. He saw all the things everyone else sees. I mean, I have a deep voice. I'm not a size 2. You know, people feel like I'm take-charge. That's how I come off. You know, I'm a leader, all of those things. That's what - how people see me. But then he sees my shyness. He sees the part of me that is very feminine and fragile.

CORNISH: We asked Steve McQueen about you, about your gifts as an actor and what makes you distinct. Given what you've said about how he sees you, thought you'd like to hear it.

STEVE MCQUEEN: Viola is almost like an iceberg¹². You know, there's a gravitas. You see something. As an audience, we look at her. We are going to identify with her because we see something in her which we see in ourselves. Now, that doesn't happen with every actor, only the greats. And often you think, actors - what's an actor? An actor, a great actor can translate humanity and show us ourselves raw, bare, naked. And that's what she does.

CORNISH: So that is his in-passing (laughter) description.

(APPLAUSE)

CORNISH: But I guess I want to ask about that rawness because I think in some of your best-celebrated roles, people have talked about scenes in which you are very vulnerable or you are crying or you are bringing such an intensity¹³ to the role. And you've said that each of your characters cost you.

DAVIS: Yeah, takes a chunk¹⁴ out of your soul. It should. I think if it's not costing you anything, you're not doing it right. My job is to create a human being. My job is as an observer and a thief. As an artist, you notice everything. You notice how people look when they're falling in love. You notice that little blink in someone's eye when they're thinking about what they're going to eat, the time their parent died. And what we do as artists is to create human beings so people can feel less alone. That's what I do. And it is the most awesome¹⁵ way to feel empathy for another human being, to literally¹⁶ sit with them and to see them.

CORNISH: Viola Davis has won a Primetime Emmy for her role in "How To Get Away With Murder," the Tony and the Oscar for her role in August Wilson's "Fences." Asked about whether a Grammy is next - and she jokes she can't sing. She now has her own production company called JuVee. So given the fact that she's essentially¹⁷ at the top of her game, I asked her what success means to her now.

DAVIS: You know, it's like you spend your whole life wanting to climb Mt. Everest. And then you get to the top, and then you say, and now what? Most people I know who are on the top are not as happy as you would like to believe. And it's not like they don't have fulfilling personal lives or whatever. It's just that they're disillusioned¹⁸ because the No. 1 thing that people feel is that you live to get to that ultimate level of success. And once you reach it, you've got the sweet elixir¹⁹. You've gotten the answer, and you have it.

You crumble²⁰ because you haven't thought of significance. Significance is something completely different. It's what are you going to do with your dash of time? My definition of success is legacy²¹, is significance. And also, might I add, my authenticity²² is my rebellion. It's my F-you, per se. It helps when I think of it like that. I want something quite beautiful like Shirley Chisholm, you know? On her tombstone is unbought and unbossed (laughter).

(APPLAUSE)

CORNISH: Well, Viola Davis, thank you so much for sharing with us. This has been such an amazing conversation. I feel like I'm - we were in a revival²³ or something. Like, I feel that...

(LAUGHTER)

DAVIS: Except there's no singing.

CORNISH: Yeah, I feel refreshed.

(APPLAUSE)

CORNISH: That's actress Viola Davis in front of a live audience in New York City. You can hear a full version of this conversation at npr.org. Her new film "Widows" opens today.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TO HIGHER GROUND")

UNIDENTIFIED S INGERS: (Singing) Take me, oh, Lord, to higher ground. Help me to find some peace of mind in your love.

1 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

2 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

3 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

4 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

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 stifled   

（使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵

参考例句：

• The gas stifled them. 煤气使他们窒息。
• The rebellion was stifled. 叛乱被镇压了。

7 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

8 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。

9 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

10 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

11 adoration   

n.爱慕，崇拜

参考例句：

• He gazed at her with pure adoration.他一往情深地注视着她。
• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。

12 iceberg   

n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人

参考例句：

• The ship hit an iceberg and went under.船撞上一座冰山而沉没了。
• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。

13 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

14 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

15 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

16 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

17 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。

18 disillusioned   

a.不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的

参考例句：

• I soon became disillusioned with the job. 我不久便对这个工作不再抱幻想了。
• Many people who are disillusioned in reality assimilate life to a dream. 许多对现实失望的人把人生比作一场梦。

19 elixir   

n.长生不老药，万能药

参考例句：

• There is no elixir of life in the world.世界上没有长生不老药。
• Keep your mind awake and active;that's the only youth elixir.保持头脑清醒和灵活便是保持年轻的唯一灵丹妙药。

20 crumble   

vi.碎裂，崩溃；vt.弄碎，摧毁

参考例句：

• Opposition more or less crumbled away.反对势力差不多都瓦解了。
• Even if the seas go dry and rocks crumble,my will will remain firm.纵然海枯石烂，意志永不动摇。

21 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

22 authenticity   

n.真实性

参考例句：

• There has been some debate over the authenticity of his will. 对于他的遗嘱的真实性一直有争论。
• The museum is seeking an expert opinion on the authenticity of the painting. 博物馆在请专家鉴定那幅画的真伪。

23 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。