美国国家公共电台 NPR Hank Azaria Says 'Brockmire' Has Been With Him For Years

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

"Brockmire" is back. Jim Brockmire, the beloved old voice of the Kansas City Royals baseball team, who became one of the first Internet sensations 10 years ago when he shared the shock of a profound personal embarrassment¹ without dropping a moment in his play-by-play of the game.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "BROCKMIRE")

HANK AZARIA: (As Jim Brockmire) Please imagine my surprise when I opened my front door to find about a half-dozen naked folks sprawled² out in my living room, engaged in what can only be described as a desperate and a hungry account of a love-making. And right in the center of it all was my - my wife, Lucy - fastball misses, just low, count goes full, 3 and 2. That'll bring Clark up to bat. Clark having himself a heck of an afternoon with two doubles. Bob Greenwald - Bob Greenwald, that two-faced S-O-B - I hosted his kid's bar mitzvah. I hosted his kid's bar mitzvah. Here's the kicker. Here's what kills me. My wife Lucy has the stone, she has the unmitigated gall³ to turn to me and tell me that she is a sexual astronaut.

SIMON: That's Hank Azaria as the character Brockmire on the IFC series that premiered this spring. It tells the story of a man coming back to life in Minor⁴ League Baseball, now the voice of the Morristown Frackers. Hank Azaria, of course, is the actor and producer. He's appeared in "The Birdcage," "Shattered Glass," "Night At The Museum," so many other films. He's won six Emmys for his television roles. He joins us from New York. Thanks so much for being with us.

AZARIA: My pleasure.

SIMON: You've carried Brockmire around with you for a long time now, haven't you?

AZARIA: (As Jim Brockmire) I have. I'll answer as Brockmire. I have. He's been with me since I was a teenager. By the way, you did a wonderful job of cleaning up for your audience what Brockmire really expressed there. If you tune⁵ into the show, you'll catch some blue language, some...

SIMON: Oh, yes (laughter).

AZARIA: (As Jim Brockmire) ...Some more graphic⁶ detail, as we like to say...

SIMON: Graphic is the word, yeah.

AZARIA: (As Jim Brockmire) I can't. It's explicit⁷ (laughter).

SIMON: Please, go ahead Brockmire - Mr. Brockmire or Hank, whoever you are, yeah.

AZARIA: (As Jim Brockmire) Sometimes I don't know, Scott Simon. I'll tell you that right now.

You know, I sent the shows out to some baseball men that I thought would appreciate it. One of them was Bob Costas who - I couldn't believe it. He absolutely accurately⁸ defined the character's voice. He called it the generic⁹ baseball announcer voice of the 1970s, which is exactly how I'd describe him. It's no one distinct. People ask me, who'd you based it on? Is it a conglomeration¹⁰? And I grew up a Mets guy, so that was Bob Murphy, Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson. It's none of those men. It's closer to the TV pitchman who sold you the Ginsu knife or told you about Popeil's Pocket Fisherman. And the comic premise¹¹ of the short became, do these guys always sound like this, even when they're at home, if he's drunk on the air having a completely explicit inappropriate meltdown about his wife's infidelity (laughter)? Do he still sound like this and does he still give you the count afterwards?

SIMON: Is Brockmire in anyway an alter ego¹²?

AZARIA: My stock in trade is voices, so there literally¹³ are so many (laughter) that I don't consider any - the closest to an alter ego I have, Scott, (as Moe) is Moe from "The Simpsons" because I've been doing Moe for so long, and I actually was a bartender myself, that I like to think of it as, if I didn't get my "Simpsons" job instead of Moe the bartender, I'd probably be Hank the bartender.

And Moe - he's a New York guy. He's from Queens. To me, he often feels like a sort of a dark shadow New York version of myself.

But Brockmire, no - but he was a go-to voice that I would entertain myself with a lot in lonely moments as a youth. I would just kind of narrate¹⁴ my days sometimes as Jim Brockmire. When Brockmire goes to Morristown and goes, (as Jim Brockmire) all right, let's see who we have in attendance here today. We have some feral dogs, and a boy with a gun. And Brockmire's officially disturbed.

I actually would sort of engage in nonsense narration¹⁵ of my (laughter) own day like that every once in a while.

SIMON: Well, he - the fact is Jim Brockmire is a very talented professional, I mean, an artist in a way. As Jules, the team owner played my Amanda Peet, once says to him, you can sure paint a picture.

AZARIA: He's good. He's got almost - thanks to Joel Church-Cooper, our wonderful writer, he has a nearly Shakespearean, poetic¹⁶ way of expressing himself, which if you think about it, the guys who do this really well, like the Vin Scullys and Jack¹⁷ Bucks¹⁸ and Ernie Harwells and Red Barbers of the world, had. It's an almost poetic, spoken word kind of thing they got going on while they're delivering, you know, the action of a baseball game in real time.

SIMON: When you see Brockmire always in - with the exception of maybe some of the intimate scenes - in his madras sport coat, it might seem to be like a kind of a sports rube, but he's a sophisticated man. He's been around the world.

AZARIA: Again, Joel Cooper, our writer, kind of saw in him Jim Brockmire being the embodiment of baseball and what baseball means to America and thus, kind of an embodiment of America at this point. You know, he's rooted in a lot of the traditions of the past, as baseball is. He's struggling to find who he is and what he is and how he's relevant in the modern world, including - he's an Internet sensation, and he didn't know it. And by the way, this whole thing called digital media and social media, what is it? And how does one navigate¹⁹ it?

And he's of the tradition of, like, Sinatra and those guys too, I suppose, those kind of hard-drinking men's men. And - but no, he's a sophisticated guy. His reference is - another comedic premise we found that was fun was a guy who describes everything and also lends itself to a lot of observational comedy. And he makes a lot of references like, you know, the way ESPN kind of blew our minds 30, 40 years ago when they started putting pop culture references into sports. Brockmire's right along with that.

SIMON: You've got a British director, Tim Kirby.

AZARIA: Yes.

SIMON: Now, at first I wondered, is that a drawback? But then, as I thought it through, I thought, no, it might help you actually set up for him what's so important about baseball to some people.

AZARIA: You're the first person to ask that question, and it's absolutely correct because we wondered the same thing, too. We love Tim and his work. We're like, well, can we really have a Brit who doesn't understand baseball directing all these? And then, we realized that Joel Cooper, the writer, and myself are so baseball oriented. It actually was an aid to have somebody there who didn't know any of it and was able to say (imitating British accent) so I don't understand. What's happening here?

Like, oh, OK, if you don't understand baseball, you don't get this moment. So it helped us make it accessible for folks who may not, you know, understand the language of baseball.

SIMON: Yeah. The series is profane²⁰ and utterly²¹ hilarious²²...

AZARIA: (Laughter).

SIMON: ...But it can also be unexpectedly touching²³. I - Jim Brockmire can be a very likeable man.

AZARIA: We made this as a short for "Funny Or Die," which was pretty sophomoric²⁴ and funny. And frankly²⁵, like, the only reason he drank was to really allow him to melt down on the air and be so explicit like that. It's just a believable excuse to be that foul-mouthed on the air. But what the writer saw in it was a portrait of a pretty lonely alcoholic²⁶.

And then, the director really took that ball and ran with it. He didn't let me get away with anything less than honoring the dark night of the soul (laughter) that Jim Brockmire was experiencing, which was funny to me because to me it was really just a - it's a jumping-off point for comedy. But as I was acting²⁷ it and working on it as an actor - not as a producer or developing it - I realized this is quite emotional stuff, yeah. And it's not sentimental²⁸, but it's highly emotional.

SIMON: Yeah, picked up for a second season already I gather.

AZARIA: Yes.

SIMON: But we have to wait another year to see it.

AZARIA: (As Jim Brockmire) You have to wait till baseball comes back again in 2018.

It seemed to work pretty well releasing it in tandem²⁹ with opening day of baseball, probably going to do that again.

SIMON: Hank Azaria - "Brockmire" is on IFC Wednesday nights at 10. Thanks so much for being with us, both of you.

AZARIA: (As Jim Brockmire) My pleasure.

And my pleasure as well.

1 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

2 sprawled   

v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawled full-length across the bed. 他手脚摊开横躺在床上。
• He was lying sprawled in an armchair, watching TV. 他四肢伸开正懒散地靠在扶手椅上看电视。

3 gall   

v.使烦恼，使焦躁，难堪；n.磨难

参考例句：

• It galled him to have to ask for a loan.必须向人借钱使他感到难堪。
• No gall,no glory.没有磨难，何来荣耀。

4 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

5 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

6 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

7 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

8 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

9 generic   

adj.一般的，普通的，共有的

参考例句：

• I usually buy generic clothes instead of name brands.我通常买普通的衣服，不买名牌。
• The generic woman appears to have an extraordinary faculty for swallowing the individual.一般妇女在婚后似乎有特别突出的抑制个性的能力。

10 conglomeration   

n.团块，聚集，混合物

参考例句：

• a conglomeration of buildings of different sizes and styles 大小和风格各异的建筑楼群
• To her it was a wonderful conglomeration of everything great and mighty. 在她看来，那里奇妙地聚集着所有伟大和非凡的事业。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

11 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。

12 ego   

n.自我，自己，自尊

参考例句：

• He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。
• She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。

13 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。

14 narrate   

v.讲，叙述

参考例句：

• They each narrate their own tale but are all inextricably linked together.她们各自讲述自己的故事，却又不可避免地联系在一起。
• He once holds the tear to narrate a such story to mine.他曾经含着泪给我讲述了这样的一个故事。

15 narration   

n.讲述，叙述；故事；记叙体

参考例句：

• The richness of his novel comes from his narration of it.他小说的丰富多采得益于他的叙述。
• Narration should become a basic approach to preschool education.叙事应是幼儿教育的基本途径。

16 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

17 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

18 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

20 profane   

adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污

参考例句：

• He doesn't dare to profane the name of God.他不敢亵渎上帝之名。
• His profane language annoyed us.他亵渎的言语激怒了我们。

21 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

22 hilarious   

adj.充满笑声的，欢闹的；[反]depressed

参考例句：

• The party got quite hilarious after they brought more wine.在他们又拿来更多的酒之后，派对变得更加热闹起来。
• We stop laughing because the show was so hilarious.我们笑个不停，因为那个节目太搞笑了。

23 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

24 sophomoric   

adj.一知半解的；大学或四年制中学的二年级的

参考例句：

• Do you really believe that sophomoric argument?你当真相信那种幼稚可笑的论点吗？
• As a sophomoric student,it's very happy for me to receive invitation.作为一个二年级的学生，能收到邀请，我自然感到特别开心。

25 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。

26 alcoholic   

adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者

参考例句：

• The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
• Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。

27 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

28 sentimental   

adj.多愁善感的，感伤的

参考例句：

• She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人，她相信姻缘命中注定。
• We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。

29 tandem   

n.同时发生；配合；adv.一个跟着一个地；纵排地；adj.（两匹马）前后纵列的

参考例句：

• Malcolm's contract will run in tandem with his existing one.马尔科姆的合同将与他手头的合同同时生效。
• He is working in tandem with officials of the Serious Fraud Office.他正配合欺诈重案办公室的官员工作。