有一個老外叫「曹操」

趣味 07-21

Jonathan Kos-Read是一個美國人，他的中文名字叫「曹操」。這個住在北京潘家園附近的曹操並不簡單，在中國已經生活了20多年了，並出演了100多部電影電視劇。

（圖 via 曹操）

I met Jonathan Kos-Read around 6:30 am at the hotel lobby in Hengdian, a small town in east China"s Zhejiang Province. Just getting back from Venice, Italy for shooting, he flew back to Hengdian World Studios, China"s equal to Hollywood, to shoot for another Chinese TV series. Kos-Read is no stranger to Hengdian. Naming himself in Chinese after the infamous Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) general Cao Cao, he has appeared in more than 100 Chinese movies and television shows, playing various famous people who have come to China such as Joseph Stillwell and Claire Lee Chennault. He has been in many major blockbusters in the Chinese mainland such asIp Man 3andMojin - The Lost Legend, making him a prolific foreign actor working in the country.

我第一次見到Jonathan Kos-Read是早晨六點半，在小鎮橫店的一個酒店大堂里。他剛剛從義大利威尼斯完成拍攝，飛回有中國好萊塢之稱的橫店影城，為另一部劇拍攝海報劇照。Kos-Read對橫店非常熟悉。他也有一個中文名，和著名的東漢將軍一樣——曹操。在中國出演了100多部電影電視劇的他，扮演過無數來到中國的西方名人，包括Joseph Stillwell和Claire Lee Chennault。也出演過《葉問3》和《尋龍訣》這樣大片，他是當之無愧的在中國工作的多產外國演員。

（圖 via 曹操）

Working hard

天道酬勤

Wearing a loose white Chinese-style vest, Kos-Read spoke with the sleepy and raspy voice of someone who just woke up. Having only slept for four hours and most likely pretty jet lagged, he leaned his head against the back of the chair and closed his eyes to rest for a brief moment.

身穿一件白色的中式馬甲，剛睡醒的曹操聲音睏倦且略帶沙啞。只睡了四個小時，還在倒時差，和他談話的過程中，他都不得不頭靠在椅背上，時不時閉著眼睛說話。

After gulping down some coffee and entering the dressing room, he transformed into this energetic person who interacted with the crew in fluent Chinese. He seemed to bring joy to the dressing room. At the same time, he was meticulous about every detail of the character he was going to play that day.

然而喝了咖啡走進化妝間的他立馬變成了一個活力四射的人，和劇組用流利的中文交流問候起來。他似乎為整個房間帶來了歡樂。但是這個開心果，在面對角色塑造時，又會變得十分嚴肅，對每個細節都十分在意。

"I thought about my character. I think he is a very neat person. Everything about him should be in order… I think he would check his beard every morning and trim it. That"s the kind of person he is," he said, explaining why he was giving detailed instructions on how he wanted his beard trimmed.

「我想了一下我這個角色。我認為他是一個非常整齊的人。他對每個事情都會非常有條理……我覺得他是那種每天早晨會檢查自己的鬍鬚，然後修剪的人。他就是這樣一個人，」他認真地和化妝師解釋著，對於如何修剪他的鬍鬚，詳細地提出要求。

Kos-Read noted that being a foreign actor in China requires one possess a series of characteristics: Looks that match the Chinese idea of a "typical" foreigner, acting skills, the ability to speak Chinese and a certain level of understanding about China and how it works. Last but not least is the willingness to work hard.

曹操認為在中國當一名外國演員需要很多特徵：首先你要有中國人認為的那種典型的西方人的外表，要有足夠的演技和一口流利的中文，同時也要了解中國以及這裡為人處事的方式。最後還有一點就是你要願意付出努力。

"You are gonna work hard. I know a lot of foreigners are like, "I"m gonna be in the movie. It"s cool." But it"s really hard. The work is hard. The lines are hard. You have to memorize the Chinese lines. You have to be really genuinely serious about acting and understanding your character and figuring out what you should look like," Kos-Read added.

「你一定要願意努力。我知道許多外國人，他們就想著『我要演電影啦。太棒了』。但是這其實很難的。這不是一份容易的工作。台詞很難。你要背下來那些中文台詞。你要真真正正地認真對待演戲，仔細鑽研你的角色，去思考你的角色該是怎樣的一個人，」他補充道。

（圖 via Bi Mengying/GT）

Changing stereotypes

改變刻板印象

"The kind of ideas of what foreigners are like was completely imaginary… Foreigners weren"t people. They did all these sorts of things that foreigners do," said Kos-Read, admitting that during the early stage of his career two decades ago most Chinese filmmakers projected their stereotypes of foreigners onto the parts he played. At the time, he was one of a handful of foreigners in the Chinese mainland who were working as full-time actors.

「他們對於外國人的印象全部都是想像中的……外國人對他們來說可能並不是真實的人。他們就是外國人，做著外國人做的事情，」曹操說。他坦言，二十年前，在他所扮演的角色中，投射出了多數中國影片製作人自己對外國人的刻板印象。而那時候在中國工作的全職外國演員也很少。

"And the real difference now is that there are so many foreigners in China, especially in Beijing. Where the scripters used to just use their imagination to write about foreigners, now most of them know, or are friends with, one or two foreigners, so they have the same epiphany that most people do when they become closer to people from other countries... So they write foreign characters as people first, and foreigners second, so the scripts are a lot better in terms of the way they write foreigners than they used to be," he said.

「但現在真的不同了。現在在中國，尤其是北京，有很多外國人。過去編劇可能就是用想像力來寫外國人的角色。但現在他們許多人有一、兩個外國朋友。他們可以更好地理解外國人的情感，與其他國家的人關係更近了……所以現在他們塑造劇中的外國人形象時，他們首先想到的是一個真實的人，然後才會從一個外國人的角度去塑造他。所以現在對外國角色來講，劇本比以前更好了，」他說道。

（圖 via 曹操）

Further opportunities

更多的機會

Kos-Read explained that his relationship with China began while he was studying film at New York University, during which time he took a Chinese language course. As he began learning the language, the determination to master it by moving to China took form within him.

曹操說他最開始來中國的原因，還要追溯到他大學的時候。他在紐約大學學習電影的時候，選擇了一門中文課程。為了更好的掌握這門語言，他決定搬到中國生活一段時間。

"When I came, I figured I"d stay at least two years to get fluent in Chinese. I stayed 10 times longer than that," he said, smiling.

「最開始我來的時候，我打算在這裡住上至少兩年來達到學習中文的目的。結果我一不小心待了那十倍長的時間，」他說完後，露出了笑容。

Working as an actor and staying in Beijing much longer than he planned has not been the only surprise over the years. Before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, he was invited to host a segment of a Chinese news program calledDiqiri(The Seventh Day).

成為一個演員，在北京生活得比計劃的時間長很多，對曹操來說並不是唯一的驚喜。在2008年北京奧運會之前，他被邀請主持北京衛視的一個節目《第七日》。

"When I started to do it, I had no idea what a popular show it was. Then immediately people started to recognize me on the street," he recalled.

「我剛開始主持的時候，我根本不知道這個節目有多火。之後人們開始在街上認出我，」他回憶道。

At one point he became a little worried about being replaced, so he decided to come up with a tagline, capitalizing on the fact that the general he was named after appears in a well-known Chinese saying that is roughly equivalent to "speak of the devil."

那之後，他突然擔心起來，萬一他被換掉怎麼辦？於是他想了一個招兒，他想出了一個獨特的結束語。

"Don"t forget, next week. Speaking of Cao Cao, Cao Cao will come. And then my little section, the name of it became Cao Cao Lai Le [Cao Cao Arrives]. And then what they are going to do, I mean they can"t, [change it to something] like Carl Lai Le, or John Lai Le. It would be more trouble to replace me than it"s worth," he said, laughing.

「下周，別忘了，說曹操，曹操就來。之後我主持的這個板塊乾脆名字就變成了『曹操來了』。那現在他們能怎麼辦？他們不能把我換掉了。改成什麼卡爾來了，約翰來了，那不行。這回他們很難換掉我了，」他大笑道。

More roles in films and TV and opportunities to host travel shows came his way, filling his life with adventure. Combined with his passion for photography, he has traveled to more than 150 cities across the country.

之後，越來越多的電影電視角色，甚至主持旅遊節目的機會找上門來。他的生活充滿了冒險。此外，由於他自己喜歡攝影，他的腳步穿過了中國150多座城市。

"Coming to China, learning Chinese, when I was whatever, 21, 22 years old, and coming to Beijing, becoming an actor here, living here for 25 years, starting a family here... It"s one of the greatest choices of my life. Because I made that decision one night, flipping through a course book, I have this just fantastically fun and interesting life that I wouldn"t have otherwise," he said.

「在我21、22歲時，來到中國來到北京學習中文，然後成為了一名演員，在這裡居住了25年，並在這裡組建了家庭。這是我生命里最好的選擇之一。只因為我當時某個晚上，翻閱著課程單，決定選擇了學習中文，之後我就有了這個無比有趣生活，」他說道。