COME As You Are

這應該是兩篇文章，為了環保我把它們併成一篇。女王上週的宣傳行程是在加拿大，所以最近幾篇報導都是GlobalTV記者會上的訪問整裡。

早上要播放的TCC S1E04劇照

Are you the type of person who pays attention to weekly Nielsen ratings?

「你是那種會注意每週收視率調查的人嗎？」

It doesn't affect me. I know some people pay close attention to ratings, but it doesn't affect how I play the character. At the end of the day I have no control over it, so it's silly to give myself something else to worry about.

「它一點也不會影響到我。我知道有些人會非常注意收視率，但它不會影響我怎麼去演出這個角色。就算(戲)結束也不在我控制範圍內，所以去掛慮它對我而言是件很傻的事。」

女王不擔心收視率，這種事讓粉絲們來掛念就好。TCC現在正處於「半死不活」狀態(Half lived,half died)，其實上週收視率已經微幅回升，不過JBC上的網友們看到影評把矛頭對準女王，已經開始恐慌起女王的演藝事業會不會被影響，(請看這邊的討論：http://forum.jennifer-beals.com/index.php?showtopic=3189&st=1770&#entry6964072) 我是覺得還不用那麼杞人憂天，至少在2011/02/26這篇報導：http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/fox-tv-show-rankings-19233/，TCC還是FOX所有節目裡收視率上昇前段班的，另一篇FOX會取消或續訂的報導：http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/cancelled-or-renewed-fox-tv-shows-19012/，收視人口少但Demo高TCC一點點的戲都被續訂了，所以其實沒像外國粉絲那麼悲觀，大家可以注意後面那篇的報導，會隨時更新。

只是JB被當成TCC的戰犯讓我覺得非常不平，因為光頭製作人並不擅長細膩的感情戲(就動作來動作去)，而且戲要捧的也是不知那根蔥的男主角，正如homebody網友說的："I don't hold people's criticisms of JB against them. If I hadn't seen her in TLW, I would probably agree. She's not really there... which is odd, because I don't doubt her investment in telling a Chicago story. Frankly, she had more presence and heart on LIE TO ME." 如果我們不是看過TLW，大概也都會被那些膚淺(男性本位)的影評牽著鼻子走。

一般觀眾對TCC的看法是覺得很無聊，的確它不是一週一集沒負擔的CSI型影集，而且同時段的戲都是那種放輕鬆隨便看的情境喜劇，要讓觀眾花精神盯著一部很悶的連續劇型影集真的蠻難的(何況還是一部被「淨化」的影集，《光頭神探》因為在尺度比較大的有線台FX播放，髒話跟又黑又髒的劇情是滿天飆的。)，我只能說女王真的是非戰之罪，她要是錢領得比男主角多就算了。

Jennifer Beals: Bringing it all back home By ANDREW RYAN From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
Published Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011 10:27AM EST

原文如下：

After nearly three decades in film and television, Jennifer Beals has come home.

The striking actress has finally shed all vestiges of her Flashdance days with her new TV role as a tough lady cop on The Chicago Code, which, as the title suggests, films in her hometown of Chicago.

Born in the windy city to working-class parents, Beals was a model in her teens but also expanded her mind at Yale University, where she received her Bachelor's degree in American literature. She took on a small role in the 1980 filmed-in-Chicago feature My Bodyguard, but three years later she was the main attraction in Flashdance.

As the film's lead character, Alex, she played a feisty young woman who was a welder by day and exotic dancer by night. Flashdance was a global hit and thereafter Beals took on a steady succession of intriguing film roles, playing an undead beauty in The Bride (1985), a hot-blooded bloodsucker in Vampire's Kiss (1989) and a temptress in Devil in a Blue Dress (1995).

In 2004, Beals made the transition to TV playing the strong-willed Bette Porter on Showtime's The L Word, which ran six seasons. In recent years, she has done cameo turns in TV series including Frasier and Lie To Me. On Chicago Code, however, she's back home, back in the spotlight and loving every minute of it. She sat down for an interview last week in Toronto.

Who was the role model for playing the female police superintendent on The Chicago Code?

There was no template, really. I mean, you look at women like Hillary Clinton. You look at her presidential campaign. How she was characterized if she was emotional, or if she wasn't emotional. Those criticisms wouldn't have come up had she been a man. It makes you realize that when a woman is powerful and in a position of leadership, the rules are very different.

How important is it for your character to keep up her tough outer veneer?

Well, she is tough, so that isn't so much a veneer.

Are you the type of person who pays attention to weekly Nielsen ratings?

It doesn't affect me. I know some people pay close attention to ratings, but it doesn't affect how I play the character. At the end of the day I have no control over it, so it's silly to give myself something else to worry about.

Is it a personal bonus to shoot in your hometown of Chicago?

Of course, but remember I haven't been back in 20-odd years. The city has changed a great deal. All the neighbourhoods have changed. But I still feel a protectiveness of Chicago. I feel a great love for the city that I don't have to feign, so that makes my job easier.

Is the show partly an homage to the city itself? Without a doubt Chicago is a character on the show. The amazing architecture and the discrepancy between the affluent neighbourhoods and the neighbourhoods that have nothing. And then there's the constant movement--the L train is in the background all the time. There's helicopters, buses and cars. All these characters are trying to stay ahead in this city that is in constant flux, not only physically, but politically.

Can you recall the moment or event that pushed you toward acting?

I remember doing Fiddler on the Roof in high school and I was playing Hodel. During my solo I had one little moment where reality was kind of muted. It was one tiny millisecond of being transcended. And I thought, ‘Wow, that was amazing.' I also remember volunteer-ushering at the Steppenwolf Theatre and seeing Balm in Gilead with Joan Allen. It was so visceral and so present. It actually shifted the paradigm for me of what acting and theatre could be.

Looking back now, was Flashdance a curse or a blessing for you as a young actress?

Flashdance was certainly a baptism by fire. While all that was happening, though, I was still at university, so I was really quite unaware of what was going on. I was more concerned with my midterms and studying and where I was going to do my laundry.

How does your role on Chicago Code compare to your character on The L Word?

你會如何評比你在TCC跟TLW裡的角色？

In many ways it's a natural progression. Bette Porter on The L Word was very strong and grounded and righteous. She was very passionate about her job and always aware how deeply misogynistic that culture can be. Homophobia is a form of misogyny and I think Porter lived that. The L Word gave me the base of playing someone who is very strong and determined.

在很多方面它是一種自然的演化。在TLW裡的Bette Porter是非常堅強、牢固和公正。她對她的工作懷抱極大熱忱並且清楚意識到她所處的文化對女性是多麼歧視。厭惡同性戀也是厭惡女人的一種形式，我認為Porter活在那之中。TLW給我扮演非常堅強和獨斷的角色的基礎。(女王這段話可以看出她清楚知道TCC裡的Teresa被(男性本位male-center的製作單位)剝奪掉什麼東西，難怪某些TCC(男性)觀眾不喜歡她的「演技」，因為女王的威脅值真的太大了，為什麼他們要被一個女人牽著鼻子走？他們也感受不到JB細膩演技的那一部份，沒想到恐同症還真的在女王的現實生活上演，welcome to the male-center earth!)

Was The L Word a career peak for you?

對你而言，TLW是你的演藝生涯高峰嗎？

I always felt so fortunate to be part of the show. In some small way The L Word actually helped shift the culture and make people realize that the ways in which we are similar are much more numerous than the ways that we are different. The show really helped a lot of people, I believe.

我一直覺得我很幸運能成為這部戲的一部份。在一些很小不被注意的地方，TLW確實有扭轉文化(偏見)之功，而且也讓一般人了解到我們在大部份的地方是相似的，比我們不同的地方還多。我相信這部戲真的幫助到很多人。

Example?

例如？

For a lot of people, it gave them courage to come out. One of the more moving moments for me was when a couple came to visit the set. These women had been together 30 years and they had not come out at work or to their families. And after seeing our show they finally had the courage to come out, and people were very accepting of them. So they got to live their lives both authentically and openly.

對很多人而言，(TLW)它給他們勇氣走出來。在這之中最感動我的一刻是，當一對(同性)伴侶來訪問拍攝現場時。她們已經在一起30多年，卻從未跟身邊的家人或同事提起。在看完我們的戲之後，她們終於有勇氣告訴所有認識的人，其他人也很支持她們。所以她們終於擁有真摯和不再躲躲藏藏的生活。("So they got to live their lives both authentically and openly."這也是某人的心願嗎？抱歉這是TiBetters的YY心願。)

Given your film résumé range – Vampire's Kiss, Devil in a Blue Dress, Book of Eli – is it fair to assume you try to never play the same character twice?

I just go to whatever moves me at the time. In most cases it's a character that has some unique quality. I always try to keep it interesting.

What was your most recent engaging movie role?

I did a film in Vancouver last year called A Night for Dying Tigers that turned out to be a seminal experience for me as an actor. It was a great cast and the crew was literally eight to 10 people. It was a very intimate film, and very tough to shoot, in terms of the subject matter, but also very freeing. It was at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall but I couldn't go because I was working on Chicago Code.

Like most TV crime dramas, Chicago Code seems built to run several seasons. Are you in for the long haul?

Yes, I'm prepared for that. I trust [creator/executive producer] Shawn Ryan completely and I'd like to see my character go different places and create a private life for herself. I'm ready for the challenge.

This interview has been condensed and edited.

The Chicago Code airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on Fox and Global