Matt Lauer & Willie Geist

Lauer： What were you doing in your 20s？ Maybe you shouldnt answer that， but Jon Favreau spent his at the right hand of the President writing words that made history.

Geist： Jon Favreau started writing presidential campaign speeches for John Kerry at the age of 22， a few months removed from his college graduation. He later teamed up with a freshman Senator named Barack Obama， the man who now calls Favreau his“1）mind reader.”

The two have been inseparable writing partners since Favreau joined then Senator Obama in 2005. Four years later， at 27 years old， the Massachusetts native became the second-youngest head speech writer in the history of the White House.

勞爾：你20多歲的時候在干什么？也許你不應該回答，但喬恩·費夫洛在這個年齡段伴隨總統(tǒng)左右，為其撰寫創(chuàng)造歷史的說辭。

蓋斯特：在喬恩·費夫洛22歲大學畢業(yè)后幾個月，他開始為約翰·克里（美國現(xiàn)任國務卿）寫總統(tǒng)競選演講稿。后來，他和當時新上任的參議員巴拉克·奧巴馬合作，現(xiàn)在奧巴馬稱費夫洛為他的“讀心者”。

自從費夫洛在2005年和時任參議員奧巴馬合作之后，他們兩個成了密不可分的寫作伙伴。四年后，27歲的馬薩諸塞州小伙成為了白宮歷史上第二年輕的首席演講稿撰寫人。

Theres a lot of focus on your age. People are obsessed that youre this “2）wunderkind.” Did you ever stop and say “I might be in a little over my head here？”

Favreau： Well， all the time I think that Im in over my head.

Geist： Still？

Favreau： Yeah， of course， especially when youre writing for the President.

Geist： Favreau hit the ground running， writing an inaugural address， making the case for health care reform and 3）scrambling to finish a Nobel Prize acceptance speech aboard Air Force One.

Geist： For a variety of reasons it was a difficult speech， yes. Not the least of which the President openly said，“Im not sure I deserve this.”

Favreau： He didnt have much time to write the speech， and so he spent the night before we went to 4）Oslo up til three in the morning writing seven pages of material. We fly to Oslo， and， during the flight， everyone falls asleep， and we are trying furiously to finish the speech. He handed us edits， literally as he was in the elevator over to the…to the stage and we put the final words on the 5）prompter right as he was walking up to the 6）podium.

Geist： With his age， his looks and his 7）proximity to power， Favreau became a star quickly： one of Time magazines 100 most influential people， one of Peoples most beautiful， and 8）tabloids started asking about his relationships after he was spotted with actress Rashida Jones.

What do you think about this celebrity aspect of this job？

Favreau： You know， I…Ive always been told “always take your job seriously， never take yourself seriously，”and， you know， this is more 9）fodder for my friends to 10）mock me relentlessly for than anything that I actually take seriously.

Geist： Favreaus job is most difficult， he says， during times of a national crisis.

Favreau： He said to me， “You know， youre not a parent yet， but， when youre a parent， having a child is like walking around all day with your heart outside your body.” That was a line that we ended up using in…in 11）Newtown. In the eight years Ive known him， Id never seen him like that. It affected him very deeply.

Geist： Even as Favreau walks away from the White House， he suspects he hasnt heard the last from his friend in the 12）Oval Office.

Favreau： Ive told him Ill be there if he ever…if he ever needs me， and…and hes told me that once in a while he might call， and I will pick up the phone. Geist： You wont send him to voice mail.

Favreau： I will not send him to voice mail， no. No， thats a call Ill take.

Geist： Ultimately he has his eye on screenwriting for television.

Lauer： We wish him well. Hes a talented young man.

大家都很關(guān)注你的年齡，人們談論說你是一個了不起的“神童”。你是否有停下來，問問自己，“我會不會做不來這個？”

費夫洛：嗯，我一直都認為這超出我的能力。

蓋斯特：現(xiàn)在還這樣想嗎？

費夫洛：是的，當然，我畢竟是為總統(tǒng)寫演講稿啊。

蓋斯特：費夫洛爭分奪秒展開工作，撰寫就職演講稿，用言辭說服國民支持醫(yī)療改革，在空軍一號上匆忙地完成一份諾貝爾獎獲獎感言。

蓋斯特：從多方面角度來看，寫諾貝爾獎獲獎感言真的不是一份簡單的活兒?？偨y(tǒng)不會公開這樣說，“我不敢肯定這是我應得的。”

費夫洛：他沒有多少時間寫演講稿，所以他在我們?nèi)W斯陸的前一天晚上工作到凌晨三點，撰寫了七頁材料。我們飛去奧斯陸，在飛行過程中，所有人都睡著了，而我們卻在拼命地完成演講稿。幾乎是在他前往臺前的電梯里，他把演講稿的草稿交給我們，然后在他正好走向演講臺那一刻，我們剛好來得及把演講辭的最終版本放上了提詞機。

蓋斯特：因為他的年齡、他的相貌，以及他與權(quán)力的近距離，費夫洛很快成為了一個明星：《時代》雜志最具影響力100人之一；《人物》雜志最帥氣的人之一；當他被發(fā)現(xiàn)與女演員拉什達·瓊斯在一起的時候，眾小報也開始關(guān)注他的私生活。

對于這份讓你成為名人的工作你是怎么看待的？

費夫洛：你知道，大家一直在告訴我，“永遠要認真對待你的工作，永遠不要把自己當回事，”還有，你知道，我對名人效應這類事情并不看重，但我的朋友倒是無休止地拿這些事跟我開玩笑。

蓋斯特：他說，在全國性的危機事件發(fā)生時，他的工作是最難的。

費夫洛：他跟我說，“你知道，你還沒有為人父母，但是，當你為人父母，有了孩子的時候，你會感覺就像是你的心不在自己身上，而完全放在孩子身上了?！弊罱K，我們在紐敦鎮(zhèn)槍擊案后的演講中也用了這句話。在我跟他相處的八年中，我從來沒有見過他那樣，那對他的影響太深了。

蓋斯特：費夫洛說，雖然他不再在白宮工作了，但是他覺得自己與總統(tǒng)的關(guān)系并未結(jié)束。

費夫洛：我告訴他，只要他……只要他需要我，我就會幫忙。還有……還有，他告訴我，也許會偶爾給我打電話，我會接他的電話的。

蓋斯特：你不會把他的電話轉(zhuǎn)接到語音信箱吧？

費夫洛：我不會把他的電話轉(zhuǎn)接到語音信箱的，不會。肯定不會，我會接起他的來電的。

蓋斯特：他最終把目光放到了電視劇本創(chuàng)作上了。

勞爾：我們祝愿他一切順利，他是個很有才華的年輕人。

翻譯：小蝸