VOA标准英语2008年-Versatile Hollywood Actor Finds His Niche

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
10 January 2008

Success in Hollywood comes by way of many different routes.  For actor Christian¹ Clemenson, the road started in a small-town in the Midwestern state of Iowa and has led to a role on a television series called Boston Legal.  Mike O'Sullivan spoke² with the actor about his work and why he loves it.

He is one of the faces that viewers see again and again in different programs and movies.  Christian Clemenson is a character actor who has played an Air Force officer, a doctor, salesman and priest, and dozens of other roles.   

In the 2006 feature film United 93, he played real-life hero Thomas Burnett, a passenger on a jet hijacked³ by terrorists on September 11, 2001.  The plane crashed killing⁴ all aboard near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.  Burnett and fellow passengers resisted the hijackers, after Burnett called his wife to explain what was happening. 

TOM: "I'm on United Airlines 93 from Newark to San Francisco.  The plane has been hijacked.  We're in the air.  One guy knifed a guy and they're saying they've got a bomb on board.  Please call the authorities."

Today, Clemenson has a role on the weekly TV network series, Boston Legal, playing a brilliant but quirky lawyer named Jerry Espenson.  The role earned him a 2006 Emmy award for outstanding guest actor in a drama. 

His road to Hollywood began in Humboldt, Iowa, a small town in the vast expanse of the U.S. Midwest.

"They claim the population is 5,200," he said.  "The census⁵ will tell you the population is about 3,000, but they still maintain it's 5,200."

As a boy, he delivered papers for the Des Moines Register, which gave him a scholarship to a prestigious⁶ East Coast boarding school favored by the families of the rich and famous.

"I ended up getting admitted to the school called the Philips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.  And that changed my life," he added.

Lonely and far from home, he joined a drama group.  He maintained his interest in theater after he finished high school and went on to study at Harvard University.

Later completing a master's degree at the Yale School of Drama, he set off for New York to work in television and on Broadway, then came to Los Angeles, where he auditioned⁸.

"That's sort of the life of a character actor in Los Angeles," he explained.  "For someone like me, you begin slowly.  And you audition⁷ and audition and audition.  I remember I was looking at a diary I kept when I first came out here, and the number of auditions⁹ I went out on, and nothing happened."

But beginning in 1985, he started getting parts in series and movies. 

A three-episode assignment on the drama Boston Legal  became a recurring¹⁰ role, where he plays opposite stars James Spader, William Shatner and Candice Bergen.

Clemenson works 12-hour days that start at six in the morning, and he says working in Hollywood is not quite as glamorous¹¹ as some people think.

"That is not an easy life," he noted¹².  "And yes, there are these few moments, and they are only one a year where suddenly it seems glamorous where you get to dress up in a tuxedo¹³ and smile on a red carpet, but that is unusual.  Most of our work is really, really difficult."

He says the lure¹⁴ of money and fame did not bring him to Hollywood.  He is here because he loves acting¹⁵, the process of bringing a character to life.

"I come to work and I create something special," he said.  "And I go home at night, and I have this tremendous sense of satisfaction.  I know I'm lucky."

He says there are no guarantees in the entertainment business, and an actor is never sure if his current role is his last one.  But the satisfaction of acting keeps him in Hollywood.

A nine-week long writers strike has put production on hold for many actors and crewmembers, including Clemenson.  He says he hopes the strike will end soon, so he can get back to the studio to do what he loves doing.

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 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。

3 hijacked   

劫持( hijack的过去式和过去分词 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• The plane was hijacked by two armed men on a flight from London to Rome. 飞机在从伦敦飞往罗马途中遭到两名持械男子劫持。
• The plane was hijacked soon after it took off. 那架飞机起飞后不久被劫持了。

4 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。

5 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

6 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

7 audition   

n.(对志愿艺人等的)面试(指试读、试唱等)

参考例句：

• I'm going to the audition but I don't expect I'll get a part.我去试音，可并不指望会给我个角色演出。
• At first,they said he was too young,but later they called him for an audition.起初，他们说他太小，但后来他们叫他去试听。

8 auditioned   

vi.试听（audition的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• None of the actresses we have auditioned is suitable. 我们试听的这些女演员都不合适。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• What is that, from some script you auditioned for in the '40s? 什么玩意儿是你40年代试的那些剧本吗？ 来自电影对白

9 auditions   

n.（对拟做演员、歌手、乐师等人的）试听，试音( audition的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Find modeling auditions, casting calls& acting auditions, all in one place. 找一个立体感试听，铸造呼叫和表演试听一体的地方。 来自互联网
• We are now about to start auditions to find a touring guitarist. 我们现在准备找一个新的吉他手。 来自互联网

10 recurring   

adj.往复的，再次发生的

参考例句：

• This kind of problem is recurring often. 这类问题经常发生。
• For our own country, it has been a time for recurring trial. 就我们国家而言，它经过了一个反复考验的时期。

11 glamorous   

adj.富有魅力的；美丽动人的；令人向往的

参考例句：

• The south coast is less glamorous but full of clean and attractive hotels.南海岸魅力稍逊，但却有很多干净漂亮的宾馆。
• It is hard work and not a glamorous job as portrayed by the media.这是份苦差，并非像媒体描绘的那般令人向往。

12 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

13 tuxedo   

n.礼服，无尾礼服

参考例句：

• Well,you have your own tuxedo.噢，你有自己的燕尾服。
• Have I told you how amazing you look in this tuxedo?我告诉过你穿这件燕尾服看起来很棒吗？

14 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

15 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。