美国国家公共电台 NPR Actor Lakeith Stanfield: 'We All Have Images That We're Attempting To Push'

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

The actor Lakeith Stanfield is having a moment. My co-host Audie Cornish recently sat down with him to talk about how he picks his projects and what's next.

AUDIE CORNISH, BYLINE¹: Stanfield was in Jordan Peele's Oscar-winning horror satire², "Get Out."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GET OUT")

LAKEITH STANFIELD: (As Andre Logan King) Get out. (Screaming) Get out.

DANIEL KALUUYA: (As Chris Washington) Yo.

STANFIELD: (As Andre Logan King) Get out.

KALUUYA: (As Chris Washington) Yo, chill man.

STANFIELD: (As Andre Logan King) Get out.

KALUUYA: (As Chris Washington) Chill.

STANFIELD: (As Andre Logan King) Get out of here.

CORNISH: He's also in the FX show "Atlanta," where he plays Darius, the stoner friend to a rap star, who often says pretty outrageous³ things.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "ATLANTA")

STANFIELD: (As Darius) No. If you use a rat as a phone, man, that'd be genius. I mean, there's, like, five rats for every one person in New York alone. Everybody would have an affordable⁴ phone. Yeah, man. I mean, it'd be messy but worth it.

CORNISH: And this summer, Lakeith Stanfield is in the new movie "Sorry To Bother You." He plays Cassius Green, a telemarketer.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SORRY TO BOTHER YOU")

STANFIELD: (As Cassius Green) Mr. Davison (ph). Cassius Green here. Sorry to bother...

"Sorry To Bother You" is an absurdist dark comedy with magical realism that's set in the world of telemarketing. It tells a story of Cassius Green, who attempts to situate himself in a better position in life by working up the ranks as a telemarketer, which requires that he change himself in crazy ways in order to do it.

CORNISH: That change comes shortly after his character begins at the telemarketing company, when he gets a helpful tip from Langston, the man sitting next to him, played by Danny Glover.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SORRY TO BOTHER YOU")

DANNY GLOVER: (As Langston) Hey, young blood. You want to make some money here? Then read your script with a white voice.

STANFIELD: (As Cassius Green) People say I talk with a white voice anyway, so why are you helping⁵ me out?

GLOVER: (As Langston) Well, you don't talk white enough. And I'm not talking about Will Smith white. I'm talking about the real deal, like this young blood.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As Langston's white voice) Hey, Mr. Kramer (ph). This is Langston from RegalView.

CORNISH: That's where I started with Lakeith Stanfield. We spoke⁶ about what it means to change who you are to get ahead.

STANFIELD: We all have images that we're attempting to push to other people, for better or for worse. We want people to view us as things that get us through doors or things that allow us to move through life more comfortably or things that allow us to make more money or be more successful in the workplace, for example. So we let off an image that we feel is appropriate for whatever we're trying to accomplish. The white voice in this movie, I think, is a metaphor⁷ for the different things that we put on to be perceived a certain way.

CORNISH: I think there are plenty of people - black and brown people - who have talked about growing in integrated communities growing up and having to do some version of this, maybe not so intensely, but basically saying, there's a set of friends where you talk to them one way, and maybe a set of friends where you're a little more relaxed and talk to them using inferences and references that are different.

STANFIELD: For instance, this is my radio voice.

(LAUGHTER)

STANFIELD: If you were talking to me face-to-face...

CORNISH: I knew it.

STANFIELD: ...It might be a little bit different.

CORNISH: What's the not-radio voice?

STANFIELD: Let me get into the mode of it. Hey, what up?

CORNISH: What up?

STANFIELD: (Laughter).

CORNISH: Nice.

STANFIELD: Chilling.

CORNISH: Yeah.

STANFIELD: Chilling like a villain⁸.

CORNISH: What's up, man? I like it. And even, maybe, you're bringing it to, like, a public radio - like, a little smooth, a little gentle in your delivery?

STANFIELD: I listen to a lot of NPR, so...

CORNISH: Nice.

STANFIELD: ...I've become good at this (laughter).

CORNISH: When you were starting out in your career, did you feel these pressures one way or another? I don't know what kind of roles you went out for. I mean, you sort of carved such a niche⁹ place for yourself in terms of the kinds of roles you're getting now.

STANFIELD: When I first started, I came from an environment where we didn't have very much, kind of like...

CORNISH: And you grew up in - is it Southern California?

STANFIELD: Southern California, near San Bernardino, Victorville. On the way to Vegas, you pass through this little desert. And so we didn't really have much stuff resource-wise. So me moving to LA was, like, me going to the big city. And you would see the lights. And the sidewalk there was sparkly, and we thought that was a cool thing until I got there and realized that it's only cool if you can afford to survive here.

CORNISH: Right.

STANFIELD: Which, at the time, I couldn't, so I had very little money, very little means. But just making that transition, going to LA, for people that lived at home still, they thought that I might be selling out, sacrificing my realness, my rawness, who I really was deep down to come dance in Hollywood.

And so it was a real conflicting thing for me making the transition because I didn't want to disappoint my friends. But at the same time, I felt like I was making a change for the better. I mean, after all, the only way you can do something great is if there's great risk.

CORNISH: One of your best-known characters at this point is that of Darius. He plays this kind of stoner sidekick to a local rap star on the show "Atlanta" on FX. And he's someone who's often saying things that are a little bit loopy, and also sometimes profound.

And I want to talk about one of the best episodes of this most recent season. And in this episode, Darius is being held at gunpoint by a character who is a legendary¹⁰ musician who's gone to the dark side because he's had a traumatic childhood. And here's how the scene between them plays out.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "ATLANTA")

STANFIELD: (As Darius) When you're young, you try to just make it be OK and say everything's going to be fine. And it's just, you don't know the difference. But that don't give you an excuse to grow up and repeat the same [expletive] over and over. It's like there's a what-if factor. What if you would've been great at something else? Or if you would've seen the love?

CORNISH: Can you talk a little bit about that moment, that scene, because it's something where you deliver it with a lot of carefulness and kind of caring, if that makes sense?

STANFIELD: Yes. I have to give all the appropriate kudos¹¹ to everyone else involved because they really created an environment for me to feel comfortable displaying my emotions. But really, I did get a little choked up during that scene because there was something that was personal to me, discussing the journey of parenthood, of sacrifices and whether or not it's the right way to address a child is to sort of try to beat greatness into them.

Some of these questions I'd had all my life. And so I had to confront them there, and "Atlanta" will make you confront something that is true to your life. And I really appreciate them for presenting me that challenge.

CORNISH: I think you've carved out a place for yourself, in terms of your roles of men who are empathetic and aren't afraid to be vulnerable. It's, like, not about being macho, even though it's very masculine.

STANFIELD: I - yeah. It's my contention¹² that being able to display yourself in any real way, I think that that is a brave thing to do. You know, bravery can be shown by anyone in any particular gender¹³ or whatever people align¹⁴ themselves with. Bravery is just simply standing¹⁵ out and saying, well, I'm going to do this, and I'm going to feel this, and I'm going to be this, regardless.

I just sat down with myself and said, I have to remain true to myself and do what I feel to be. That's my life's journey. That's just my thing that I've been sent here to do. And so it's tattooed¹⁶, in a sense, in my psyche¹⁷.

CORNISH: At this point, do you feel like you're kind of at just the beginning of your career? And if so, what are you looking forward to? What kind of roles would you like to take on?

STANFIELD: I can't tell. I'm just really, really happy to be here. I've done a lot so far to try and position myself as a working actor, which is really hard.

CORNISH: Right. Just working is (laughter) a battle at first.

STANFIELD: Yeah. All this other stuff is great, but really, I just want to tell cool stories and, hopefully, touch people as people have touched me.

CORNISH: Well, Lakeith Stanfield, thank you so much for speaking with us.

STANFIELD: Oh, thank you. Thank you for having me.

CORNISH: Lakeith Stanfield - his new film is called "Sorry To Bother You."

(SOUNDBITE OF STRFKR'S "QUEER BOT")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 satire   

n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品

参考例句：

• The movie is a clever satire on the advertising industry.那部影片是关于广告业的一部巧妙的讽刺作品。
• Satire is often a form of protest against injustice.讽刺往往是一种对不公正的抗议形式。

3 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

4 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 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。

7 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。

8 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

9 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

10 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

11 kudos   

n.荣誉，名声

参考例句：

• He received kudos from everyone on his performance.他的表演受到大家的称赞。
• It will acquire no kudos for translating its inner doubts into hesitation.如果由于内心疑虑不安而在行动上举棋不定，是得不到荣誉的。

12 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

13 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

14 align   

vt.使成一线，结盟，调节；vi.成一线，结盟

参考例句：

• Align the ruler and the middle of the paper.使尺子与纸张的中部成一条直线。
• There are signs that the prime minister is aligning himself with the liberals.有迹象表明首相正在与自由党人结盟。

15 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

16 tattooed   

v.刺青，文身( tattoo的过去式和过去分词 )；连续有节奏地敲击；作连续有节奏的敲击

参考例句：

• He had tattooed his wife's name on his upper arm. 他把妻子的名字刺在上臂上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sailor had a heart tattooed on his arm. 那水兵在手臂上刺上一颗心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

17 psyche   

n.精神；灵魂

参考例句：

• His exploration of the myth brings insight into the American psyche.他对这个神话的探讨揭示了美国人的心理。
• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche.她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。