花癡女們看過來 吳彥祖主演的美劇來了

In AMC’s new martial arts series, “Into the Badlands,” Daniel Wu plays Sunny, a Motorcycle-riding, katana-wielding assassin whose loyalty to his flinty-eyed master is matched only by his prodigious kill count (400 and climbing).

在美國AMC頻道最新的武打劇集《荒原》(Into the Badlands)中，吳彥祖飾演桑尼(Sunny)，一個騎摩托車、揮武士刀的殺手。他對眼神冷酷的主人忠心不二，與這種忠心相配的是他驚人的殺人數目（400個，還在不斷上升中）。

Al Gough and Miles Millar, of “Smallville” fame, are the show’s proud creators, but on a recent afternoon at the Soho House club here, they were holding forth on another martial arts television series, “Kung Fu,” the 1970s drama with David Carradine as a Shaolin monk.

該劇編劇是以《超人前傳》(Smallville)成名的艾爾·高夫(Al Gough)與邁爾斯·米拉(Miles Millar)。但在前不久的一個下午，在當地的Soho House俱樂部，他們滔滔不絕地談起了另一部武術電視劇《功夫》(Kung Fu)，這是20世紀70年代的一部劇集，大衛·卡拉丁(David Carradine)在其中飾演一個少林僧人。

“I actually thought it was kind of boring,” Mr. Gough, 48, said of the series, which he first saw in reruns as a boy. “There wasn’t enough fighting in it. And then I realized, Oh my God, it’s a white dude.”

“我覺得它有點沒勁，”48歲的高夫說起那部劇集時說，他小時候在電視上看過它重播。“裏面的打戲不夠多。然後我才明白過來，上帝呀，那是一個白人傢伙。”

When “Into the Badlands” begins on Sunday, it will be the only martial arts drama on television, and one of the few to tackle the genre since “Kung Fu” aired four decades ago. Biographers of the martial arts legend Bruce Lee claim that he lost out on the lead role in that earlier series because network execs didn’t think American audiences would watch a TV show starring a Chinese-American martial artist, even a show ostensibly about a Chinese-American martial artist. The role went to Mr. Carradine, whose kung fu skills were lackluster and who was not, of course, Chinese.

於週日上映的《荒原》是目前電視臺上映的唯一一部武術劇，也是四十年前的《功夫》以來，這個類型中寥寥無幾的後繼者。傳奇武術家李小龍的傳記作者們稱，李小龍失去了在這部早期電視劇中出演主角的機會，因爲電視臺高管們覺得，美國觀衆不會喜歡看一個美籍華裔武術家主演的電視劇，即便這部劇表面上就是關於一個美籍華裔武術家的。最後這個角色給了卡拉丁，他武藝平平，當然，也不是中國人。

“Looking back, it was a travesty,” Mr. Millar said.

“回頭再看，它只是一部拙劣的仿作，”米拉說。

In many ways, “Badlands” is an effort to right that wrong while simultaneously bringing authentic Hong Kong-style kung fu to American audiences. The producers assembled a team of specialists and stuntmen led by the fight director and actor Stephen Fung (“House of Fury,” “Tai Chi Hero”) and the martial arts choreographer Ku Huen Chiu (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”), and took them to Louisiana, where the series is filmed.

《荒原》在很多方面都是力圖糾正這個錯誤，試圖把真正的香港式功夫帶給美國觀衆。製片人召集了由專家與特技演員組成的團隊，由武打導演兼演員馮德倫（代表作《精武家庭》、《太極2：英雄崛起》）及武術動作設計谷軒昭（代表作《臥虎藏龍》）領銜，一行人來到路易斯安那拍攝這部劇集。

“Badlands” is set in a post-apocalyptic future in what was once the American Midwest, where all-powerful “barons” rule the land with the help of armies of warriors (think shoguns and samurai, except with oil fields). The show’s creators selected Mr. Wu, a Hong Kong star with more than 60 films to his credit, for the role of Sunny.

《荒原》發生在世界毀滅性災難之後，這裏曾經是美國的中西部，如今由獨攬大權的“領主”統治，並有武士充當幫手（有點像日本幕府時代將軍和武士的關係，只不過這裏還有油田）。劇集的主創們選擇了香港影星吳彥祖飾演主角桑尼，他已經出演過60多部影片。

Born in Berkeley, Calif., and raised in nearby Orinda, Mr. Wu was initially brought on board as an executive producer involved in the martial arts side of the series. He balked at accepting the lead role because of the physical effort it entailed. “I was 40 when I started the show, and I wasn’t sure if my body could take it,” Mr. Wu said in a phone interview from Hong Kong.

吳彥祖出生在加利福尼亞州伯克利，在奧林達附近長大，一開始是作爲武術方面的執行製片人參與到這部劇集中來。他對飾演主角感到猶豫，因爲這個角色有一定的身體要求。“片子開拍時我40歲，我不知道我的身體能不能受得了，”吳彥祖在香港接受電話採訪時說。

His were valid concerns. As with action films in Hong Kong, the production of “Badlands” was divided between two units running concurrently: a main unit, with its full roster of actors and directors and makeup artists, and an equally large unit dedicated to fight scenes. The lead actor would have to work in both groups on a six-day-a-week schedule, combining full days with the main unit with the infamous training regimens required of Hong Kong-style martial arts filmmaking.

他的擔心是有道理的。和香港的動作片一樣，《荒原》的拍攝也分爲兩組同時進行：主劇組有自己全部的演員、導演和化妝師，此外還有一個同樣大的劇組，專拍動作戲。主角每週工作六天，和兩個劇組都要合作，除了整天和主劇組呆在一起，還要接受香港式武打片著名的刻苦訓練。

The search for the lead actor lasted four months, with the producers seeing scores of hopefuls from the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia. Most could do martial arts and a few could act, but very few could do both. “We saw people who, if there actually was a Badlands in real life, they could probably be Sunny,” Mr. Gough said, laughing. “But they couldn’t act.”

主角的選角過程持續了四個月，製片人面見了許多來自美國、歐洲、亞洲和澳大利亞的候選者。其中大多數人會武術，一少部分人會表演，但幾乎沒有人既會武術又會表演。“我們見了許多人，如果現實生活中真的有‘惡土’，他們沒準能當上桑尼，”高夫笑着說，“但是他們不會表演。”

After prodding from the creators and producers, Mr. Wu finally agreed to take the role. “I think maybe that was our secret intention all along,” said an executive producer, Stacey Sher (“Django Unchained,” “Erin Brockovich”). “As a friend said to me, how can you do a martial arts television series with Daniel Wu that doesn’t star Daniel Wu?”

在主創和製片人的說服之下，吳彥祖最終同意接受這個角色。“我覺得這一直都是我們的祕密目標，”執行製片人史黛西·謝爾（Stacey Sher，曾參與《被解放的姜戈》[Django Unchained]和《永不妥協》[Erin Brockovich]）說，“就像我一個朋友說的，你們和吳彥祖一起拍一部武打電視劇，怎麼能不讓吳彥祖當主演呢？”

The show began production last summer in southeast Louisiana, where the cast and crew endured temperatures that spiked into the high 90s; New Orleans’s oppressive humidity; and swarms of large, hungry mosquitoes. Add to that the show’s accelerated shooting schedule (six days per fight scene, as opposed to two weeks in your typical Hong Kong film), and one can see why martial-arts series are so rare. “When we got into it, we were like, now we know why no one else is doing this,” Mr. Wu said. “Because it’s so hard.”

劇集是夏天開始在路易斯安那東南地區開拍的，劇組成員忍受着約32攝氏度的高溫、新奧爾良的潮溼憋悶，以及大羣飢渴的巨大蚊子。這部劇的拍攝速度又特別快（六天一場打鬥戲，典型的香港電影是兩週一場打鬥戲），這下人們可以看出來武打電視劇爲什麼這麼少了。“當工作深入下去的時候，我們想，現在我們才明白爲什麼沒有人拍這種片子了，”吳彥祖說，“因爲太難了。”

The series features two major fights per episode. Keen-eyed fans will spot homages to several well-known martial arts scenes, from the rain-soaked swordfight in Wong Kar-wai’s “The Grandmaster” to Bruce Lee’s battle royale in the Japanese dojo in “Fist of Fury” (a.k.a. “The Chinese Connection”). The level of violence equals those of Hong Kong action films, with eviscerations, snapped necks and impalements galore. In one scene, a master swordswoman named the Widow (Emily Beecham) juliennes a victim so neatly that all that’s left of him is a crimson cloud.

這部劇中每集都有兩場打鬥戲。目光敏銳的劇迷肯定能看出對經典武打場面致敬的若干場面，比如王家衛《一代宗師》中的雨中對劍，還有《精武門》中李小龍在日本柔道館裏的混戰。劇集的暴力程度和香港動作片大體相當，有挖出內臟、折斷脖子和刺穿身體。在其中一幕，一個名叫“寡婦”（艾米麗·比查姆[Emily Beecham]飾演）的女劍客大師把受害者切得粉碎，只剩下一團血紅色的雲霧。

“We spent a lot of time talking to standards and practices,” Mr. Millar said.

“我們花了很多時間討論標準和慣例問題，”米拉說。

In Hollywood action movies, directors mask their actors’ subpar fighting skills with shaky camera moves and extreme close-ups. In “Badlands,” the camera pulls way back, so that viewers can see 10 combatants (or 20, or 30) in a single shot. “The difference between American action and Hong Kong action is that in Hong Kong, you go wide,” Mr. Millar said.

在好萊塢動作片裏，導演會使用晃動的鏡頭和極爲貼近的特寫，掩飾演員拙劣的打鬥技巧，。在《荒原》裏，鏡頭拉得很遠，觀衆可以在同一個鏡頭裏看到10個打鬥者（也許是二三十個）。“美國動作片和香港動作片的區別就在於，在香港，鏡頭更寬，”米拉說。

“Badlands” isn’t the first martial arts outing for Mr. Gough and Mr. Millar. The first two films they wrote together were “Lethal Weapon 4,” with Jet Li, and the Jackie Chan film “Shanghai Noon.” In 1998, midway between “Kung Fu” and “Badlands,” the two were writers on the CBS series “Martial Law,” which featured the Hong Kong action film star Sammo Hung as a Chinese policeman fighting crime in Los Angeles. The series was notable not for its story line or acting, but for its lead’s top-notch kung fu credentials.

《荒原》並不是高夫和米拉第一次嘗試武打片，之前，他倆還曾經一起創作過兩部武打電影，一部是李連杰主演的《致命武器4》(Lethal Weapon 4)，一部是成龍主演的《上海正午》(Shanghai Noon)。1998年，正好是在《功夫》與《荒原》之間，兩人爲CBS創作了劇集《過江龍》(Martial Law)，由香港動作明星洪金寶主演，飾演一個在洛杉磯打擊犯罪的中國警察。這部劇集引人矚目的不是故事情節，也不是演技，而是主角一流的功夫本領。

The show, Mr. Gough said, was sold to CBS on the strength of a single fight scene in a garage. “In some ways, it was the worst way to do a show,” he said.

高夫說，這部劇只憑一幕車庫中的打戲就賣給了CBS。“在某些方面，這是拍一部電視劇最糟糕的方式，”他說。

For “Badlands,” the creators were determined to make sure that the story and acting were at least as good as the fight sequences, and that the cast was as diverse and gender-balanced as possible. Sunny’s fiercest rival, the Widow, is played by a British woman; his love interest is black (Madeleine Mantock); the actor who plays his boss (Marton Csokas) hails from New Zealand; and his young protégé is portrayed by a performer of German/East Indian/Pakistani descent (Aramis Knight).

在《荒原》中，主創們決心讓故事和表演至少做到和武打一樣好，同時儘可能實現演員的性別平衡與多樣化。桑尼最兇狠的對手“寡婦”由英國演員飾演；他的愛人是黑人（瑪德琳·曼托克[Madeleine Mantock]）；他的老闆由新西蘭演員馬爾頓·索克斯(Marton Csokas)飾演；他年輕的被保護人由德國/東印度/巴基斯坦混血兒阿拉米斯·奈特(Aramis Knight)飾演。

When the writers created the show, Ms. Sher said, “all of the main barons were men.” But, she added, “my personal crusade is to turn everybody into a feminist.”

編劇們最初創作劇本的時候，謝爾說，“所有的領主都是男人。”但是，她補充說，“我個人的努力就是要讓所有人都成爲女權主義者。”

And then there’s Mr. Wu, that rarest of actors on American TV: an Asian-American romantic lead in a drama series (members of that tiny fraternity have been largely confined to comedies, including the short-lived “Selfie” and “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”). But it’s a milestone that Mr. Wu nearly overlooked, having starred in Hong Kong films for 18 years.

還有吳彥祖，他是美國電視界最缺少的那種男演員：一個劇情類連續劇中浪漫的亞裔美國主角（這類演員主要限制在喜劇類別裏，比如短命的《再造淑女》[Selfie]和《瘋狂前女友》[Crazy Ex-Girlfriend]）。“但這個里程碑差點被混跡香港影壇18年的吳彥祖忽視過去。”

“I really didn’t think about it until people started asking me about it,” he said. “And then someone sent me a picture of the billboard on Melrose Avenue, and I was like, O.K., this is crazy — I can’t remember seeing a billboard of an Asian dude on an American show, like, ever.’”

“我真的沒有想太多，直到人們開始問我，”吳彥祖說，“後來有人送了我一張梅爾羅斯大街上公告牌的照片，我想，啊，真是瘋狂——我好像從來沒有見過公告牌上出現什麼亞洲演員主演美國電視劇的宣傳照。”