美国国家公共电台 NPR For Sandra Oh, A Star Turn Tracking A Stylish Assassin On 'Killing Eve'

For Sandra Oh, A Star Turn Tracking A Stylish¹ Assassin On 'Killing² Eve'

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We know more than we ever did before about how hard it can be for women trying to make it in Hollywood. Our next guest, though, says she was prepared for just about anything the industry through her way sort of by accident because Sandra Oh had to face her toughest critics a long time ago - her parents who absolutely did not want her to become an actor.

SANDRA OH: It was very, very, very difficult to rebel against them coming from a very typical, strict Asian-immigrant upbringing. But when I defied them, there was a certain amount that could not hurt me because I had already upset the most important people to me. And when I achieved a certain amount of success and acceptance, (laughter) they came around. They came around.

MARTIN: And for good reason because turns out Sandra Oh was pretty good at being an actor. In 2006, she won a Golden Globe for her portrayal³ of the hard-charging Doctor Cristina Yang on the hit TV show "Grey's Anatomy⁴."

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "GREY'S ANATOMY")

OH: (As Cristina Yang) Don't come to me for absolution. You want to be a shark, be a shark.

ELLEN POMPEO: (As Meredith Grey) I'm not...

OH: (As Cristina Yang) Oh, yes you are. Only it makes you feel all bad in your warm, gooey places. Oh, screw you. I don't get picked for surgeries 'cause I slept with my boss. And I didn't get into med school 'cause I have a famous mother. You know, some of us have to earn what we get.

MARTIN: For fans of smart, nuanced female characters, it's a big deal that Sandra Oh is back on TV a few years after leaving "Grey's." Her new series is also female-driven - a bit subversive⁵, too. It's a thriller⁶ from the writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge who made a name for herself with the show "Fleabag." This new series on BBC America is called "Killing Eve." In it, Sandra Oh stars as an American living in London. She works for MI5, Britain's security service, which sounds super sexy and interesting. But her job isn't those things, and she longs for something more meaningful. She gets that when she picks up the trail of an assassin, a woman who is murdering high-value targets across Europe. The story unfolds cat-and-mouse style with these two very different women linked in a perilous⁷ chase.

OH: One who is the hunter. The other who is the killer⁸. You know, one who is, young, powerful, filled with vitality⁹. The other who is middle-aged¹⁰, seemingly unremarkable and a little plateaued. You can go all over the place. One who has fantastic fashion sense. The other who doesn't really care.

(LAUGHTER)

OH: And my character's...

MARTIN: Eve we're talking about. Yeah.

OH: ...The one who's quite shlumpy.

MARTIN: Let's play a scene. This is a point where Eve Polastri, your character, is trying to convince her boss to let her go down this rabbit hole - to let her investigate this theory that the assassin killing all these people is a woman. He is not having any of it. Let's listen to this.

OH: Great.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "KILLING EVE")

DAVID HAIG: (Bill Pargrave) Eve, what's happened to you? You're going mad.

OH: (As Eve Polastri) Nothing ever happens. See, now this woman is happening. And either someone is stopping it from coming out, or someone is too lazy to follow it up.

HAIG: (As Bill Pargrave) Are you accusing me of something?

OH: (As Eve Polastri) I don't know. Maybe. Yes, maybe you're being lazy.

HAIG: (As Bill Pargrave) And so what if it is a woman anyway? I don't care if it was an alien.

OH: (As Eve Polastri) Yeah, but she's new. And she's prolific¹¹, Bill. Look.

MARTIN: There is something intriguing¹² to her, in particular about the idea that this is a female - that this killer is a woman. And frankly¹³ to the audience, it's really intriguing. It's not something that we see a lot of.

OH: It is. It's unusual, and Eve - first very doubtful or not so confident in her instinct. Through the series, we see her gaining more confidence with her instinct that she's right because her fascination¹⁴ with a woman, who is able to do this job of being an assassin - no remorse¹⁵ and with such a great sense of (laughter) style - that she assassinates¹⁶ people with a certain amount personality. And that - Eve catches on to that. And I think she really is attracted to that because those are the things that she doesn't have within herself.

MARTIN: There are these dark, funny moments. And this is something that we saw in "Fleabag." This is...

OH: Yes.

MARTIN: ...The show that Phoebe Waller-Bridge wrote and got a lot of critical acclaim¹⁷ for. But it also, I think, is a sweet spot for you in characters that you've played. Cristina Yang on "Grey's Anatomy" - she also had that dry, dark sense of humor. Is that just you? Is that just Sandra?

OH: I feel like I don't really have a sense of humor.

MARTIN: Really?

OH: I feel - it's like I (laughter)...

MARTIN: Come on.

OH: I don't know if I could characterize it dark or light. I just - I do like humor. When I saw "Fleabag" and when this script came to me, there is a uniqueness and dark naughtiness...

MARTIN: Right.

OH: ...To Phoebe Waller-Bridge's sensibility that I did gravitate towards very much. And it's much darker than anything that I've played before. And I just - I personally like that taste-wise.

MARTIN: How did this part come to you?

OH: They called me.

(LAUGHTER)

MARTIN: Who's they? The people - the Hollywood people?

OH: The BBC...

(CROSSTALK)

OH: (Laughter) No, but the thing is it's - in some ways, I wish it was that easy - that they called me. And in some ways, it was because they called me. And then when I look back, it's also - it took me 30 years to get this call. And I mean that very - from a very true place. I was very, very happy to get this call. I left "Grey's Anatomy" four years ago, and I've just been actively¹⁸ waiting. And what I mean by that is actively trying to find the right project to fall in love with.

MARTIN: I read, though, that when you were in Sundance, you recounted this story of reading the script initially¹⁹ and making an assumption that you were not the lead.

OH: Yes. You know, as an actress of color - right? - you - just to see how deep the belief system had run into me, myself - that I would see a script and immediately not assume that I am the primary storyteller. And, you know, they basically woke me up from that. And it was really sad. It was very, very sad, and then also happy...

(LAUGHTER)

MARTIN: Right.

OH: ...In that moment because it was sad to see how deep the internalization went for me. And it was really exhilarating to know that that belief system is no longer true.

(SOUNDBITE OF YEAH YEAH YEAHS SONG, "GOLD LION")

MARTIN: It was great to talk with you, Sandra. Thank you so much.

OH: Thanks, Rachel.

MARTIN: Take care.

OH: Thank you.

MARTIN: That was Sandra Oh. Her new series on BBC America is called "Killing Eve."

1 stylish   

adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的

参考例句：

• He's a stylish dresser.他是个穿着很有格调的人。
• What stylish women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world.巴黎女性时装往往会引导世界时装潮流。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 portrayal   

n.饰演；描画

参考例句：

• His novel is a vivid portrayal of life in a mining community.他的小说生动地描绘了矿区的生活。
• The portrayal of the characters in the novel is lifelike.该书中的人物写得有血有肉。

4 anatomy   

n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织

参考例句：

• He found out a great deal about the anatomy of animals.在动物解剖学方面，他有过许多发现。
• The hurricane's anatomy was powerful and complex.对飓风的剖析是一项庞大而复杂的工作。

5 subversive   

adj.颠覆性的，破坏性的；n.破坏份子，危险份子

参考例句：

• She was seen as a potentially subversive within the party.她被看成党内潜在的颠覆分子。
• The police is investigating subversive group in the student organization.警方正调查学生组织中的搞颠覆阴谋的集团。

6 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。

7 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。

8 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

9 vitality   

n.活力，生命力，效力

参考例句：

• He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后，身强体壮，充满活力。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。

10 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

11 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。

12 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

14 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

15 remorse   

n.痛恨，悔恨，自责

参考例句：

• She had no remorse about what she had said.她对所说的话不后悔。
• He has shown no remorse for his actions.他对自己的行为没有任何悔恨之意。

16 assassinates   

v.暗杀( assassinate的第三人称单数 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan have more encounters with Xanatos, who, in The Uncertain Path, nearly assassinates Yoda. 魁刚和欧比又和萨那托斯有过多次相遇。 来自互联网

17 acclaim   

v.向…欢呼，公认；n.欢呼，喝彩，称赞

参考例句：

• He was welcomed with great acclaim.他受到十分热烈的欢迎。
• His achievements earned him the acclaim of the scientific community.他的成就赢得了科学界的赞誉。

18 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

19 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。