I have to try really really really really hard. I mean that could be my epitaph: She tried really hard.

我一定要非常非常非常地用功。我是說，這句話可以作為我的墓志銘：她一生都在拼搏。

—Meryl Streep (梅麗爾?斯特里普)

In the flesh1)， she does not have an aura. She’s not lit from within. Heads do not snap2) in her direction when she walks through a hotel lobby in a baggy maxi-dress and brown calf-high boots， flanked by her dutiful makeup artist of 36 years and her imperious3) publicist—the few celebrity trappings4) of a woman who stubbornly considers herself a working actor， and nothing more.

And yet for half of her 63 years she has been dubbed either the Greatest Film Actress of Her Generation or， now， the Greatest Living Film Actress.

So how does Meryl Streep， working actor， advance her artistry when she has nothing left to prove， when everything she does seems beyond reproach?

In a room off the lobby of the W hotel， she removes her glasses and hair clip and tosses both on a table. She is beautiful—as she has always been—in the remote， masky way a sculpture by Michelangelo is beautiful. Her presence in person feels like the absence of a character. And for this question， she must play the Greatest Living Film Actress.

“I feel more worried because， you know， the expectations are so high，” she says， brushing out her blond-white hair into a mane5). “I do work very hard. I think I’ve always been that type of girl， from the very beginning. I’m the oldest， and I feel like I have to do a good job. I have to try really really really really hard. I mean that could be my epitaph6): She tried really hard.”

She looks down， eyes glazing over， as if seeing her gravestone.

“She tried，” she repeats softly， shrugging， then releasing a husky giggle. “You know?”

Deep into it

We know， Meryl.

The mastery of foreign accents， the exhaustive7) preparation and pinpoint8) technique， the 17 Oscar nominations from 47 feature films over 36 years. You tried. And succeeded.

There never wasn’t praise. Praise since a professor at Vassar called her acting “mind-boggling9)，” praise since her drama school days at Yale， where she gave herself an ulcer10) playing 40 stage roles in three years. Praise in 1975 when she first got to New York， where Joseph Papp11) called her the most remarkable actress who’d ever come through his Public Theater.

Forget crying on cue12). She was able to blush on cue， Papp said.

“She’s going to be the Eleanor Roosevelt13) of acting，” said Dustin Hoffman， her Kramer vs. Kramer co-star， in a 1980 Newsweek cover story that proclaimed her “A Star for the ’80s.” Critics in that era placed her at the vanguard14) of “the new American actor”—trained within an inch of her life15) in multiple genres and therefore confident and nimble16) enough to explore wildly. To try.

She tried in Sophie’s Choice and entered the pantheon at 33. The trying—the precision bordering on mimicry17)—was a turnoff18) for some.

“She has， as usual， put thought and effort into her work，” wrote New Yorker critic Pauline Kael in her review of Sophie’s Choice. “It could be said that in her zeal to be an honest actress she allows nothing to escape her conception of a performance. Instead of trying to achieve freedom in front of the camera， she’s predetermining what it records.”

Nitpick19).

She tried working-class (Silkwood). She tried epic (Out of Africa)， comedy (Death Becomes Her) and action (The River Wild). She tried and sometimes fell short of perfection， but even her flubs20) are gold， according to Clint Eastwood21)， who directed her in The Bridges of Madison County in 1995.

“When I showed her a rough cut of the film， she said， ‘You’ve printed all my mistakes!’ ” Eastwood says. “And I said， ‘Yeah， and they’re so good.’ ”

The source of this unassailable ability remains a mystery， even to her， says cinematographer Stephen Goldblatt， who shot Julie Julia， in which Streep channeled Julia Child， and the telepic Angels in America， in which Streep played four roles， including the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg.

“I remember Mike Nichols22) asking her， ‘Why did you do this or that?’ in the scene where Ethel’s with Roy Cohn as he’s dying，” Goldblatt says. “And she said， ‘. . . I don’t know.’ And I really think that’s the essence. She’s so deep into it that she’s not having a conscious conversation as an artist， as an actor， with herself. It’s that good. It’s not even skill or artifice. It’s complete subjection to the character. She is no longer Meryl Streep.”

Desire to do well

And yet she’s Meryl Streep here， in this room off the W’s lobby， hours before appearing at a gala23) for the National Women’s History Museum.

There is nothing to say about her handshake， her mood， her carriage. She has no smell. Her eyes， obscured by modish rectangular glasses， seem dark and colorless—until she begins to recite a verse by 8th-century poet Wang Wei to prove a point about an artist’s individual voice.

“I seem to be alone on the empty mountain24)，” Streep says in her silvery contralto25)， shifting her posture as if bracing for a blast of high-altitude air.

She pauses.

For an almost uncomfortable period of time.

“Yet suddenly I hear a voice ...”

Another long pause.

Her eyes search the air. They are slate blue， sparkling.

“Is it sunshine entering a forest grove， shining back at me from the green moss?”

And scene.

We get it now. The moss. Or， rather， the sunshine off it. That’s the mystical place where the Streepness originates. Now， it shines on what she calls “big， terrifying” roles that make her nervous and therefore challenge her impeccable instrument. Her most recent mark is Margaret Thatcher， whom she plays in the The Iron Lady.

“For a girl from Jersey to walk into an English soundstage with 40 of the best English actors and presume to be their first woman prime minister， it’s just like， ‘Oh my God， who do you think you are?’ ” Streep says. “It really does raise the stakes26) and makes the adrenaline flow.”

Her characters， she says， help her understand little things about herself， and she will continue to pick projects that fill in her own paint-by-numbers27) portrait. How does she dovetail with Thatcher?

“Terrifyingly close，” she says， cackling. “That dutifulness， that relentlessness28)， that desire to do well， do right. To act according to your convictions. To try， try， try. Keep trying， keep trying. Don’t let the bastards get you. Don’t let them say you’re too old.”

Old seems to work for Meryl. In the past few years， she has eased into her emerita29)-ness， turned each acceptance speech into a master class of diva30) comportment31)， relished32) roles in exuberant33)-if-commercial projects—and her box office receipts have started matching the volume of her critical praise. A string of movies made more than $100 million: The Devil Wears Prada， in which she nibbled scenery as an ice-queen fashion editor， Mamma Mia!， in which she belted34) Abba35) songs in the Greek Isles， and It’s Complicated， in which she bedded Alec Baldwin36) between 1，500-thread-count37) sheets.

Those dollars， she says， are the only reason she’s still employed. Simple as that.

“My generation of actresses—my friends， my cohort—should be working at the same level of endeavor as I am， and they’re not，” Streep says. “Why? Because to businessmen， they’re old. And that bugs me. That’s wrong. Because the audience is there.”

Earlier in the week， she was in London for a tribute to Vanessa Redgrave38)， whom Streep calls “the pinnacle.” The film reel included a lengthy dinner scene from Julia， Streep’s first movie role.

“First of all， you’d never see a scene like that in a movie now，” Streep says. “The idea that a camera and the audience would be interested to just sit at a table for nine minutes and experience the tension that was going on in the scene ... Jesus. What is happening to this thing we love? Film! It’s so powerful.”

And she leans back in her chair， exhales39) and extends her arms in some strange supplication to her chosen medium， as if she has opened herself up as a sounding board40)， an instrument to be played by the universe， a lute suspended—absorbing and projecting， at this moment， a rich vibe41) of weary gratitude.

“Ask a woman”

Between the hotel and the Ronald Reagan Building， she does not make a costume change. She appears onstage in the same baggy dress， with the same casual hair. She trumpets the idea of a National Women’s History Museum， ably performing her prepared remarks and then， in closing， decides to try something.

“As Margaret Thatcher would say— ” and without warning she drops her voice a half-tone， upholsters42) her throat with a bristly British accent， cocks her head to suggest a hairdo and blazer and strand of pearls that aren’t actually there， and the air in the theater suddenly turns chilly and electric， like a seance43) is afoot， and behind the rostrum now is a fully-formed life force radiating energy:

“ ‘If you want something spoken about， ask a man. If you want something done， ask a woman.’ ”

The audience gasps at the quick-change and roars with approval， and then Streep snaps out of it， and Thatcher is gone， and so is she， replaced by applause.

單從自身條件來講，她并沒有耀眼的光環(huán)。她的光芒也并非來自內(nèi)在的涵養(yǎng)。當(dāng)她穿著寬大的長裙和棕色的及膝皮靴從酒店大廳走過時，眾人并沒有齊刷刷地轉(zhuǎn)頭向她行注目禮。陪在她身邊的，一個是她恪盡職守的化妝師(已為她工作36年)，一個是她一臉傲氣的發(fā)言人——這是她作為名人僅有的一點點綴，她總是很固執(zhí)地認(rèn)為自己只是一個職業(yè)演員，別的什么都不是。

然而，在她63歲的人生歷程中，有一半的時間人們稱她為“同代人中的最佳女電影演員”，或者，正如現(xiàn)在人們對她的稱呼那樣，“當(dāng)代最佳女電影演員”。

那么，梅麗爾?斯特里普，一個僅僅把演藝看做是一種職業(yè)的人，在事業(yè)達到巔峰之后，在一切都完美得似乎無可挑剔之后，又將如何提升自己的藝術(shù)造詣呢？

在W酒店大廳臨近的一個房間里，她摘下了墨鏡和發(fā)夾，隨手把它們?nèi)拥揭粡堊雷由?。和往常一樣，她還是那么美——那是一種像米開朗基羅雕像一樣遙遠而模糊的美。但單從她自身的姿態(tài)來看，總讓人覺得好像少了點“大牌”的氣派。要想看到這種氣派，必須得是她扮演“當(dāng)代最佳女電影演員”的時候。

“我感到壓力越來越大，要知道，人們的期望太高了，”她一邊說，一邊梳理著淺淡的金發(fā)，使其自然下垂，“我的確很勤奮。我覺得我一直都是非常勤奮的人，從一開始就是。我是年紀(jì)最大的，我覺得自己一定要把事情做好。我一定要非常非常非常地用功。我是說，這句話可以作為我的墓志銘：她一生都在拼搏。”

她視線下移，目光凝滯，仿若在看著自己的墓碑一樣。

“拼搏，”她輕聲地重復(fù)著，聳了聳肩，然后沙啞著聲音咯咯笑了起來，“你們知道嗎？”

愛拼才會贏

我們知道的，梅麗爾。

惟妙惟肖的外國口音，巨細無遺的場外準(zhǔn)備，準(zhǔn)確到位的表演技巧，36年來出演的47部故事片中有17部獲得奧斯卡提名。你打拼過。也成功了。

她從來都不缺少贊美。自從瓦薩爾學(xué)院的教授稱她的表演“令人難以置信”，自從她在耶魯戲劇學(xué)院學(xué)習(xí)、三年里演出了40個舞臺角色結(jié)果累出了潰瘍，自從她1975年首次來到紐約、被約瑟夫?帕普稱為在他的公共劇院演出過的最優(yōu)秀的女演員，人們對她的贊美之辭就從未停息。

且不說需要她哭時她馬上就能哭出來，據(jù)帕普說，需要她臉紅時她也能立刻臉紅起來。

“她總有一天會成為演藝界的第一夫人。”達斯汀?霍夫曼說?；舴蚵怯捌犊巳R默夫婦》中和她搭檔的男主角，他在1980年《新聞周刊》的一篇封面文章中這樣評價她，那篇封面文章稱梅麗爾為“80年代的明星”。那個時代的批評家認(rèn)為她是“新一代美國電影演員”的先鋒——她幾乎玩命似的接受各種表演風(fēng)格的訓(xùn)練，因此才能充滿自信、游刃有余地在演藝世界中隨心所欲地探索，才能放手一搏。

她在影片《蘇菲的選擇》中拼搏過，33歲時就進入了演藝界的“萬神殿”。那種拼搏——那種惟妙惟肖的模仿——令不少人望而卻步。

“在表演中，她一直都有自己的想法，也很能吃苦，”《紐約客》評論員波琳?凱爾在評論《蘇菲的選擇》時這樣寫道，“可以這樣說，她熱切希望自己成為一名忠于職守的演員，一旦她對某個表演有了自己的構(gòu)想，她決不允許遺漏任何細節(jié)。在鏡頭面前，她想的不是如何表現(xiàn)自然，而是事先想好要讓鏡頭記錄下什么?！?/p>

她對每一個細節(jié)都到了吹毛求疵的地步。

她演過工人階層 (《絲克伍事件》)，演過史詩般的影片(《走出非洲》)，還演過喜劇(《飛越生長》)和動作片(《狂野之河》)。她嘗試過各種角色，有時也會有不盡完美之處。但在克林特?伊斯特伍德看來，即使她偶有失誤，也錯得精彩。伊斯特伍德曾在1995年指導(dǎo)她飾演《廊橋遺夢》中的角色。

“當(dāng)我將經(jīng)過粗略剪輯的片子播放給她看時，她說：‘你把我所有的失誤都保留下來了！’”伊斯特伍德說。“我回答說：‘是的，這些失誤都很棒?！?/p>

電影攝影師斯蒂芬?戈德布拉特曾評價說，這種無懈可擊的表演能力源自何處至今仍是一個不解之謎，即使梅麗爾本人也無法說清。戈德布拉特是《朱莉與朱莉婭》的攝像，在該片中斯特里普飾演朱莉婭?查爾德；戈德布拉特同時也是電影電視劇《天使在美國》的攝像，在該劇中斯特里普飾演了四個角色，包括伊瑟爾?羅森伯格的鬼魂。

戈德布拉特說：“我記得邁克?尼科爾斯曾問過梅麗爾，在羅伊?科恩臨死時與伊瑟爾在一起的那個場景中，‘你為什么要這樣或者那樣做？’她說：‘……我不知道?！掖_信這就是梅麗爾成功的訣竅。她已深深地融入劇情，已經(jīng)無法和作為藝術(shù)家和演員的自己進行清醒的對話。這真是棒極了。這甚至已經(jīng)不是演技或者表演的問題，而是完全服從于角色。她已不再是梅麗爾?斯特里普?！?/p>

精益求精

然而，此時此刻，在W酒店大廳附近的一個房間里，在她即將出席美國女子歷史博物館的歡慶晚會前的幾個小時里，她還是梅麗爾?斯特里普。

她握手的姿態(tài)、情緒的表現(xiàn)，還有一舉一動都沒有特別之處，也沒有特別的氣息。在時髦的直框眼鏡遮擋下，她的眼睛顯得幽暗、淡然。然而，當(dāng)她開始背誦公元8世紀(jì)詩人王維的一首詩時，就像完全變了一個人。她背誦這首詩，是為了佐證她關(guān)于藝術(shù)家要有自己獨特聲音的觀點。

“空山不見人?！彼固乩锲找运倾y鈴般的女低音吟誦道，同時變換了一下姿勢，仿佛要去擁抱高山上吹來的風(fēng)。

她停頓了片刻。

這片刻的時間幾乎令人覺得尷尬。

“但聞人語響……”

又是長時間的停頓。

她的目光向半空中搜索著什么。青藍色的眼睛閃爍著光芒。

“返景入深林，復(fù)照青苔上?！?/p>

景象畢現(xiàn)！

現(xiàn)在我們明白了。是青苔！或者，確切地說，是青苔反射的陽光。這正是斯特里普獨特風(fēng)格的神秘來源?，F(xiàn)在，這陽光又照射到她稱之為“令人惶恐的大角色”之上。這種角色讓她緊張，因而對她那無懈可擊的演技也是一種挑戰(zhàn)。她最近飾演的角色是影片《鐵娘子》中的瑪格麗特?撒切爾。

“對于一個來自(新)澤西州的女孩來說，和40位最優(yōu)秀的英國演員一起走進英國攝影棚，還要假設(shè)是他們的第一位女首相，這真有點像‘哎呀天吶，你覺得你是誰??？’”斯特里普說，“這個賭注下得也確實有點大了，讓人腎上腺素猛增，太刺激了。”

她說，她飾演的角色可以幫助她了解自己性格中細微的東西，她也會像玩數(shù)字填圖那樣，一如既往地選擇那些完全符合她本人形象的項目。那么，她是如何與撒切爾的形象相契合的呢？

“真是驚人的相似，”她咯咯笑著說，“那種責(zé)任感，那種拼命三郎的精神，那種一心想把事情做好、做對的勁頭。只管按照自己的信念而行事。努力，努力，再努力。不停地嘗試，不停地打拼。不要讓那些壞蛋抓住你。不要讓他們說你太老了?！?/p>

上了年紀(jì)的梅麗爾似乎老當(dāng)益壯。在過去的幾年時間里，她已逐漸做好了光榮隱退的準(zhǔn)備，把每次的獲獎感言都變成了天后儀態(tài)的大師級教程，喜歡在熱情火爆的商業(yè)片中飾演角色——她的票房收入已開始與她贏得的評論界的贊譽成正比。有好幾部電影的票房都超過了一億美元，這其中包括：《穿普拉達的女王》，片中她夸張地飾演了一位時尚雜志主編，也是一個冷冰冰的女魔頭；《媽媽咪呀》，片中她在希臘群島上高唱阿巴樂隊的歌曲；還有《愛很復(fù)雜》，片中她蓋著1500針的豪華被單與亞歷克?鮑德溫同床共枕。

她說，這些票房就是仍然還有人愿意用她的唯一理由。就是這么簡單。

“我這一代女演員——我的朋友和同輩——本應(yīng)像我現(xiàn)在這樣勤奮地工作著，但她們卻沒有，”斯特里普說，“為什么呢？因為對那些生意人來說，她們都老了。這讓我覺得很不舒服。這顯然是錯誤的，因為她們的觀眾都還在?！?/p>

本周早些時候(編注：指2011年12月的第一周)，她去倫敦參加了向瓦妮莎?雷德格瑞夫獻禮的活動，斯特里普稱瓦妮莎為“頂峰”。影帶中包含了《朱莉婭》中的一段長時間的就餐場景，這是斯特里普飾演第一個電影角色的影片。

“首先，在現(xiàn)在的電影中，你再也看不到這樣的場景了，”斯特里普說，“其背后的理念是攝像和觀眾都有興趣坐在餐桌旁長達九分鐘來體驗劇情中上演的那種緊張感??天吶。我們所鐘愛的這種東西到底怎么了？我是說電影！它是那么強大?！?/p>

她身體后仰靠在椅子上，長呼一口氣，張開雙臂，似乎在為她所選定的電影媒體進行某種奇怪的祈禱。此時此刻，她仿佛已完全敞開了自己，變成了一塊共鳴板，一件將由宇宙彈奏的樂器，一把懸掛起來的魯特琴——正為迸發(fā)而積聚力量，雖然疲憊不堪，卻充滿感激。

“讓女人去做”

在從酒店去羅納德?里根大廈時，她沒有換服裝。出現(xiàn)在講臺上時，她依舊穿著那件寬松的長裙，梳著同樣休閑的發(fā)型。她先是祝賀國家女子歷史博物館成立，然后根據(jù)事先準(zhǔn)備的講稿做了精彩的演講。最后，她決定要來點什么。

“正如瑪格麗特?撒切爾喜歡說的那樣——”她突然毫無征兆地將聲音降了半調(diào)，話語中是一種尖銳的英國口音，頭部微微側(cè)向一邊，仿佛在向人們展示一個撒切爾的形象：獨特的發(fā)型、輕便的上衣，還有一串珍珠項鏈——而事實上這些東西都不存在。劇場里的空氣似乎突然凝固了，變得緊張異常，好像招魂儀式上神靈突然降臨一樣。此刻，站在講臺上的是一個神采奕奕、全身散發(fā)著生命活力的鐵娘子：

“‘你要想談?wù)撘患?，就讓男人去做。你要想成就一件事，就讓女人去做。’?/p>

面對這突如其來的變化，人們驚呆了，但隨即爆發(fā)出一陣贊嘆喝彩之聲。斯特里普恢復(fù)了常態(tài)，撒切爾不見了，之后，梅麗爾也走下講臺，只留下陣陣經(jīng)久不衰的掌聲。

1.in the flesh：本人，親自

2.snap [sn?p] vi. 敏捷地動作，迅速地行動

3.imperious [?m?p??ri?s] adj. 專橫的，傲慢的

4.trapping [tr?p??] n. 裝飾物，附屬品

5.mane [me?n] n. (人的)長頭發(fā)

6.epitaph [?ep?tɑ?f] n. 墓志銘，碑文

7.exhaustive [?ɡ?z??st?v] adj. 無遺漏的，徹底的

8.pinpoint [?p?n?p??nt] adj. 精確的，細微的

9.mind-boggling：令人難以置信的，十分驚人的

10.ulcer [??ls?] n. 潰瘍

11.Joseph Papp：約瑟夫?帕普(1921～1991)，美國戲劇制片人、導(dǎo)演。下文中提到的Public Theater即由他創(chuàng)立。

12.on cue：恰好在這個時候

13.Eleanor Roosevelt：埃莉諾?羅斯福(1884～1962)，美國第32任總統(tǒng)富蘭克林?德拉諾?羅斯福的妻子。第二次世界大戰(zhàn)后，她出任美國首任駐聯(lián)合國大使，主導(dǎo)起草了聯(lián)合國的《世界人權(quán)宣言》。

14.vanguard [?v?nɡɑ?(r)d] n. 前鋒，先鋒

15.within an inch of one’s life：(相當(dāng)于very close to losing one’s life)幾乎喪命地

16.nimble [?n?mb(?)l] adj. 輕巧的，敏捷的

17.mimicry [?m?m?kri] n. 模仿

18.turnoff [t??(r)n?f] n. 放棄，停止，中斷

19.nitpick [?n?t?p?k] vi. 找茬兒，吹毛求疵

20.flub [fl?b] n. 失誤，失策

21.Clint Eastwood：克林特?伊斯特伍德(1930～)，美國演員、電影導(dǎo)演與電影制片人

22.Mike Nichols：邁克?尼科爾斯(1931～)，德裔美國人，電影導(dǎo)演、作家、制片人和喜劇演員。他于1987年憑借影片《畢業(yè)生》(The Graduate)獲得奧斯卡最佳導(dǎo)演獎。

23.gala [?ɡɑ?l?] n. 節(jié)日慶?；顒?/p>

24.這首詩名為《鹿柴》，是王維五言絕句組詩《輞川集》二十首中的第四首，也是他的山水詩代表作之一，是他隱居輞川時的作品。這首詩描繪了鹿柴附近的空山深林在傍晚時分的幽靜景色，充滿了繪畫的境界。

25.contralto [k?n?trɑ?lt??] n. 女低音

26.raise the stakes：增加重要性(或危險性)

27.paint-by-numbers：一種數(shù)字填圖游戲

28.relentlessness [r??lentl?sn?s] n. 不松懈，不屈撓

29.emerita [??mer?t?] adj. (婦女)榮譽退休的

30.diva [?di?v?] n. 歌劇中的女主角；令人欽佩的女性

31.comportment [k?m?p??tm?nt] n. 舉止，態(tài)度，動作

32.relish [?rel??] vt. 從……中得到樂趣，喜愛，喜好

33.exuberant [?ɡ?zju?b?r?nt] adj. 生氣勃勃的，興高采烈的

34.belt [belt] vt. [俚]大聲而有力地歌唱

35.Abba：阿巴樂隊，瑞典的流行音樂組合，成立于1973年。樂隊名稱來自于四名成員姓名首字母的組合。該樂隊于1982年解散。

36.Alec Baldwin：亞歷克?鮑德溫(1958～)，美國著名演員

37.1，500-thread-count：1500針。Thread count意為“針數(shù)”，在本文中表示床單每平方英寸的針數(shù)。針數(shù)越高，表示床單質(zhì)地越好，越持久耐用。

38.Vanessa Redgrave：瓦妮莎?雷德格瑞夫，演員、配音、制片人，出身于演藝世家，曾獲戛納電影節(jié)最佳女主角和奧斯卡女配角的殊榮。

39.exhale [eks?he?l] vi. 呼氣

40.sounding board：共鳴板，宣傳者

41.vibe [va?b] n.〈口〉(感情上的)感應(yīng)，共鳴

42.upholster [?p?h??lst?(r)] vt. 裝飾

43.seance [?se??ns] n. 降神會