‘Platonic’ Star Luke Macfarlane on Turning Down ‘Barbie,’ ‘Bros’ Disappointment and Bias Against TV Comedy

前言：本篇文章轉載自《The Hollywood Reporter》雜志專訪，UP本人非專業(yè)翻譯，如有錯誤敬請體諒指正。

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正文

The actor, who stars in the Apple TV+ series 'Platonic' opposite Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne, discusses his "brutal" decision about 'Barbie' and his feelings regarding inclusivity within the holiday-film world.

這位在Apple TV+系列電視劇《Platonic》中與Seth Rogen和Rose Byrne演對手戲的演員，談到了自己對電影《Barbie》的難舍決定和對假日電影包容性的想法。

It’s been an eventful year for Luke Macfarlane, who reunites with?Bros?director?Nick Stoller?for?Apple TV+’s comedy series?Platonic?alongside?Seth Rogen?and?Rose Byrne.

過去一年對于Luke Macfarlane來說是很重要的一年，他與《Bros》的導演Nick Stoller再次合作，與Seth Rogen和Rose Byrne一起出演Apple TV+的喜劇《Platonic》。

In the show that hails from co-creators Stoller and Francesca Delbanco and is currently streaming, Macfarlane plays attorney Charlie, who is raising three children with wife Sylvia (Byrne) and has to adjust to her rekindled friendship with the unpredictable Will (Rogen).

在這部由Stoller和Francesca Delbanco共同創(chuàng)作的電視劇中，Macfarlane飾演律師Charlie，他和妻子Sylvia (Byrne飾)撫養(yǎng)了三個孩子，在妻子和捉摸不定的Will (Rogen飾)重燃友誼的過程中，他的角色被迫要適應這種變化。

Macfarlane has had a full plate recently, having co-starred opposite Billy Eichner in last fall’s Universal release?Bros, which?spurred plenty of debate?when it underperformed at the box office. He is also known for his Christmas films, including starring in numerous Hallmark projects and appearing in Netflix’s 2021 feature?Single All the Way, which was the streamer’s first rom-com to focus on LGBTQ lead characters.

Macfarlane最近忙得不可開交，他在去年秋天環(huán)球影業(yè)發(fā)行的同影《Bros》中與Billy Eichner演對手戲，但那部電影票房不佳，引發(fā)了很多爭論。他還因出演了眾多圣誕電影而被觀眾所熟知，包括許多Hallmark系列電影，同時他也出演你了Netflix 2021年的電影《Single All the Way》，那部電影是網飛第一部主打LGBTQ主題的浪漫喜劇。

During a conversation with?The Hollywood Reporter, Macfarlane weighs in on why starring in?Platonic?meant saying goodbye to a role in Greta Gerwig’s highly anticipated summer release?Barbie, the range of emotions he feels now about the?Bros?experience, why television comedies don’t always seem to earn the respect they deserve and what it’s like to be known as a mainstay of Hallmark’s Christmas film circuit.

在接受《The Hollywood Reporter》的采訪時，Macfarlane談到了為什么出演《Platonic》就等于和Greta Gerwig執(zhí)導的備受期待的暑期檔電影《Barbie》中的角色說再見，他現(xiàn)在對參演《Bros》的感受，電視喜劇似乎總不能贏得應有尊重的原因，以及因出演Hallmark圣誕電影系列而被人熟知是什么感覺。

For?Platonic, you reunite with your?Bros?director Nick Stoller. Had you already filmed?Bros?before doing the show?

在《Platonic》中，你和《Bros》的導演Nick Stoller再次合作，那在拍這部劇之前，你就已經拍了《Bros》嗎?

I was cast in?Bros?for a very long time. There was the pandemic, and then things didn’t happen for a super long time, but we always lightly kept in touch with each other, which was just more than anything setting the groundwork for a good director-actor relationship. And then when we were filming?Bros, I knew that he was pitching this show with Rose and Seth, but he never mentioned it to me really in any detail. I didn’t know much about it, other than it was really Francesca’s baby and something that felt very personal to her.

《Bros》的拍攝經過了很長時間，因為當時疫情的原因，很長一段時間拍攝工作根本沒有進行，但我和Nick總是保持著聯(lián)系，這為良好的導演-演員關系奠定了基礎。后面當我們在拍《Bros》的時候，我知道他要和Rose和Seth一起拍這部劇，但他從來沒有跟我提過任何細節(jié)。我了解不多，只知道這對Francesca來說很重要，對她對特殊的意義。

It was interesting because I had auditioned for a small part in?Barbie?and got it. And then I got an email from Nick that was like, “I think you’d be really great in this part.” I was like, “Great. I have this offer for?Barbie, so you gotta let me know.” We tried to make it work, and I was like, “You know what? I really, really wanted to work on this show.” Careers are funny things — you never really know. When I read about the character on the page, I was like, “This is somebody I understand.”

說來也有趣，因為當時我正好試鏡成功了《Barbie》的一個小角色，然后我就收到了Nick的一封郵件，他當時說：“我覺得你會很適合這個角色。”我回復到：“太好了，我剛試鏡成功《Barbie》，所以你一定得告訴我是什么。”我們試過調整檔期，我對Nick說，“你知道嗎?我真的，真的很想出演這部劇。”職業(yè)生涯中總會遇到些有趣的事情——你永遠都猜不準會發(fā)生什么。當我在稿子上讀到這個角色的時我就明白，“我懂這個角色。”

For?Barbie, it was just that the timing couldn’t work out for both?

對《Barbie》來說，是否只是單純的檔期沖突？

It was one of those brutal things. Yeah, the timing couldn’t work out for both. I’m not trying to sound boastful. It was a small, little part, but I’ve never been part of some beautiful, big, cool thing like that. It would have been cool to be able to do both.

這是一件很難抉擇的事情。是啊，檔期剛好沖突，我沒想凡爾賽，《Barbie》那只是一個很小很小的角色，但我從來沒有參與過那種大制作電影（好心酸- -），如果兩者檔期能錯開的話，那就再好不過了。

You have a great straight-man presence in this, as opposed to the chaos of Seth and Rose. What was that dynamic like to play opposite them?

與Seth和Rose飾演的有缺陷的角色相比，你在這部劇中的形象很正面，和他們演這樣的對手戲是什么感覺？

Intimidating — they’re both so good. Seth is this really bright, verbal guy. Jokes just come out of him with like this incredible ease, and everything’s effortless. And the same thing for Rose’s comedy, especially when it comes to her physicality — it’s really laid-back and funny.

會很緊張——因為他倆太棒了。Seth是個聰明伶俐的人，講笑話對他來說簡直輕而易舉。Rose也是如此，尤其是她的肢體語言——是一種很悠閑的搞笑。

Charlie’s uptightness is something that comes naturally to me. Nick would often poke fun at me during the filming of?Bros?— he’s like, “You’re very stiff.” And that is just kind of the way I move, which seemed appropriate to Charlie. He’s really got a strong moral center, and he believes in doing things the right way, and he’s a little stiff. [With] Seth and Rose’s really easy calm, it makes for a good contrast.

Charlie的正經很符合我的性格，在拍攝《Bros》的時候Nick就經常逗我說：“你太拘謹了。”我的行為舉止就是這樣，Charlie覺得這很合適。（他認為）我正義感很強，永遠想以正確的方式做事，有點死板。這與Seth和Rose的隨心可以形成鮮明對比。

Were there any unique challenges to the role?

這個角色有什么獨特的挑戰(zhàn)嗎?

I’ll tell you exactly: I am not a dancer. Really difficult time getting on that bar with Seth, and I was getting over some injuries. Oof, I was not great.

我可以明確地告訴你：我不會跳舞，和Seth一起在吧臺上跳舞真的很難，我現(xiàn)在都還沒完全恢復過來，我真不是這塊料。

The show’s team made it clear in marketing before the launch that viewers wouldn’t have to worry about Seth and Rose’s characters potentially hooking up. Was that a nice aspect to doing the show?

該劇的制作團隊在開播前就明確表示，觀眾不必擔心Seth和Rose飾演的角色可能會在一起，你認為這種宣傳方式好嗎？

Totally. It was great. It wasn’t a love triangle situation. Not to get too heavy or deep about it, I also think anybody that saw?Bros?last year, anybody that knows anything about me, knows I’m an openly gay guy. The fact that that can still work in spite of what we think of the performer shows that our audience is more open-minded. I recognize I’m not a household name by any stretch of the imagination, but that it doesn’t need to be alienating that I can play a straight guy that is in a healthy relationship, that shows something about where we’ve come.

我完全支持這種方式。明確不是三角戀，讓觀眾不要想太多，我想去年任何看過《Bros》的人，任何了解我的人，都知道我是一個公開的同性戀?，F(xiàn)在人們不再會只根據(jù)演員來判斷自己喜好，說明我們的觀眾對演員的直接偏見越來越少了，我知道我不是一個家喻戶曉的名字，但這并不影響我可以扮演一個有健康關系的直男，這就是我最初來這想要追求的東西。

Has there been talk of a second season for?Platonic?

有談論過《Platonic》會有第二季嗎?

I know there’s been talk, but I’m not at those high-level ideas. There’s been definitely a conversation, but the world is a strange place right now with the strike and momentum and not knowing what’s a certain metric for success. And then truly, Rose and Seth are A-list movie stars. It depends on them and if they want to do it again too, but I know that a lot of people involved have lightly suggested that there’s a possibility for a season two.

我聽到一些小道消息，但我并不是那些做決定的人。確實有過這樣的討論，但現(xiàn)在我們正處在罷工的浪潮中，對于成功的標準也難以衡量。說真的，Rose和Seth都是一線演員，如果他們也想要第二季的話，他們的想法會有很重要的影響，但我知道很多人都稍有暗示會有第二季。

One thing that stands out about the show is that, especially for awards consideration, there are a lot of “comedies” that aren’t comedies.

這部?。ㄅc其他喜劇相比）最突出的一點是，尤其在獎項評選方面，很多“喜劇”并不是喜劇。

I totally agree.

我完全同意。

Whereas?Platonic?seems to delight in making people laugh. Does that seem to be a tougher sell in this prestige-TV era?

而《Platonic》似乎就是單純逗人發(fā)笑，在這個時代是否似乎有點不合市場了?

Seth’s a great person to talk to about this, and he has really interesting, smart opinions, so I’m going to echo a lot of what he said. But look, being on set with Nick, something that I really learned, which had not been a big part of my experience before, is jokes are important. Landing jokes — whether that’s [because] they’re funny, the timing’s right, the performance is right, it’s not pushed — that is very hard to do. In a show like?Platonic, jokes need to keep coming, and I really appreciate that.

Seth是一個很適合談論這個話題的人，他關于這個話題的觀點很有趣，所以我要借用下很多他說過的話。和Nick在片場時我真正學到了一些東西，這些東西在我之前的經歷中并沒有引起我的注意，那就是笑話很重要。“隨口笑話”——不管是因為笑話本身很有趣，或時機合適，或表達合適，還是顯得自然——這都是很難做到的。在《Platonic》這樣的劇里，需要一個又一個不重樣的笑話，我真的很佩服能做到這一點。（但不好笑啊叔）

Myself, like a lot of people in the industry, and I don’t know why this is, but do turn their nose up at that. I think it’s just because people think comedy is easier than it actually is. What is so clever about?Platonic?is that underneath it, there’s a real set of stakes and clarity about who all the characters are, and you understand them right off the bat.

我自己，和這個行業(yè)的很多人一樣，之前不知道為什么但確實對笑話嗤之以鼻，我認為是因為人們把覺得喜劇想得太簡單了?！?/span>Platonic》的聰明之處在于，在整套邏輯的背后，有一套真正的利害關系和清晰的人物形象，你能迅速地理解他們。

Now that we’re a bit removed from the?Bros?release and the discussion of its box office, how do you feel about all that?

現(xiàn)在才來討論《Bros》的上映和票房有點晚了，但你對這一切是什么感受?

Disappointed that more people didn’t go out and see it, but it’s OK. I really felt super proud about the movie. I can’t think of anything that I felt was a big mistake in making it, so it’s disappointing. Billy is so, so, so talented, so funny, so creative, has such a big heart. So it’s disappointing, but this is a business. And I think people are gonna find it. A guy came up to me in the gym the other day and was like, “I came home, my 17-year-old son was watching?Bros. And I was like, ‘I know that guy'” — and he knew me from the gym. He sat down and watched it. Hopefully, people will discover it that way. There’s a long tradition of films that don’t kill it in the box office but stand the test of time, and I believe?Bros?will be like that.

我很失望沒有更多的人去看這部電影，但沒關系，我真的為這部電影感到超級自豪。我很失望是因為我想不出有什么不好的地方，Billy非常非常有才華，非常有趣，非常有創(chuàng)造力，還有有一顆非常寬廣的心，所以我很失望，但這只是表面的商業(yè)表現(xiàn)，我相信人們將來某一天會發(fā)現(xiàn)這顆遺珠的。前幾天，在健身房有人和我打招呼:“我回到家發(fā)現(xiàn)自己17歲的兒子正在看《Bros》，我一下就發(fā)覺‘我見過這人’”——他在健身房認出了我，他看過了電影，我希望人們能以這種方式發(fā)現(xiàn)這部電影，一直以來都有初期票房不高，但后期經受住時間的考驗而成為經典的神作，我相信《Bros》也會是這樣。

Does it seem that there are execs who still are taking the chances needed to make rom-coms like?Bros?that are more inclusive in their choice of leads?

現(xiàn)在是否還有權位者仍然在冒險制作像《Bros》這樣的浪漫喜劇，在主角的選擇上更具包容性?

I don’t know. The idea of greenlighting any extremely expensive films seems like a terribly daunting thing right now. Rom-com is a really difficult genre in general because we know what happens: They get together. That makes it increasingly hard to be fresh. So in a way, the rom-com is primed for the unexpected coupling, whether that’s a gay couple or another kind of couple that is not the majority of people. I hope that they do because that’s a great way to make it fresh.

我不知道，如今對任何極其昂貴的電影開綠燈似乎都是一件很困難的事情。一般來說，浪漫喜劇是一種很難拍的類型，因為觀眾知道會發(fā)生什么：主角最終會在一起，這使得這種題材越來越難以保持新鮮。所以在某種程度上，反倒是同性情侶或其他類型的伴侶這種非傳統(tǒng)意義上的主角反而有優(yōu)勢。我希望他們這樣做，因為這可以讓故事保持新鮮。

You certainly have experience with the space as the king of Christmas movies. Does your personal experience lead you to believe that things are trending in a positive way with inclusion?

作為圣誕電影之王，你肯定對此有豐富經驗。你的個人經歷是否讓你相信，如今（Hallmark）正朝著積極包容的方向發(fā)展?

They certainly are. Hallmark is absolutely making efforts to create queer content, and I applaud them for that. They’ve been often the butt of jokes about the sort of limited nature of their cast, but they’ve really changed that, and they’re really continuing to do that. I think they’re doing that not just for the press. The Christmas movie [The Holiday Sitter, featuring an LGBTQ couple] they did last year was a big success for them, had lots of viewers. There’s an audience there, for sure.

當然，Hallmark在努力開辟全新的酷兒內容，我很支持他們的做法。他們經常因為所謂的演員陣容而被很多人譏諷，但他們已經改變了，而且還會繼續(xù)做下去。我認為他們這么做不僅僅是為了公關，他們去年拍攝的圣誕電影《The Holiday Sitter》(以LGBTQ情侶為主角)取得了巨大成功，吸引了很多關注，這說明酷兒內容是有受眾市場的。

Candace Cameron Bure, who is herself a Christmas stalwart …

Candace Cameron Bure就是一個圣誕的忠實擁護者……

（*補充：據(jù)外網流傳該女演員崆峒所以在hallmark推出第一部同影后便離開了工作十年之久的老東家，加入了此前備受爭議下架了同性廣告的公司Great American）

Maven? Yes.

Maven?是的。

Right. She made headlines?about her company Great American?[not focusing on queer characters in holiday films]. So moves like Hallmark’s seem encouraging.

她加入新公司Great American (不關注酷兒角色)（低情商：崆峒)的新聞上了頭條，所以似乎更顯得Hallmark這樣的舉動難能可貴。

Exactly. It’s that whole thing that was, why does me having visibility make yourself any less different? I think that we all deserve a place in the media, in the film world.

是的，就搞得好像我的存在都會讓你少點肉什么的，我覺得我們所有人都值得在媒體和電影界占有一席之地。

In a perfect world, where are we seeing you in a couple years?

在一個理想的完美世界里，未來幾年你覺得自己會發(fā)展如何?

(Laughs.) Well, I would love to come back and do?Platonic?again. We are in the middle of a writers strike, and that is a bummer. But as I said, Hallmark has been very good to me, and I have agreed to do a Christmas movie for them this year. So I’m adding to the canon.

(笑)首先我愿意繼續(xù)演《Platonic》，現(xiàn)在編劇們正在罷工，罷工的原因令人沮喪。但就像我說的，Hallmark對我很好，我已經同意今年繼續(xù)為他們拍一部圣誕電影，我在給自己添磚加瓦。

No one’s taking that crown.

沒人能奪走你那頂圣誕王冠。

That’s right. It’s getting very competitive.

說的沒錯，但競爭越來越激烈了。

Does it feel different to be on a Hallmark set now that you’ve done such a range of big Hollywood projects?

在好萊塢拍了好幾部作品之后，你再回到Hallmark感覺有什么不同嗎?

All sets are different. I’m so grateful in my career. I’ve done everything from a period drama to a sci-fi show to these Hallmark films, and they’re all different. That’s part of the fun of being an actor is like, “How does this thing work?” What’s been always fun about the Hallmark movies is how much leeway they give you and the pace. Talk about learning on the job. You gotta know what you’re doing when you show up because there is not a lot of time. We shoot them in 15 days, and they tend to overshoot so that they have their bases covered.

每個片場都是不同的，我很感激我的事業(yè)。從電視劇到科幻劇再到Hallmark電影，它們都不盡相同。當演員的樂趣之一就是，“這東西是怎么運作的?”Hallmark電影的有趣之處在于它們給你的時間和節(jié)奏，我們現(xiàn)在談的是在拍攝中不斷學習。當你出現(xiàn)在片場的時候，你必須知道你在做什么，因為時間并不多。我們一般要在15天內拍攝完成，往往會多拍一點，這樣容錯率就會多一點。

I was telling someone recently that I could see you in Chris Evans roles.

我最近在跟別人說你可以演Chris Evans的角色。

I appreciate it. From your lips to whoever’s ears because that really is the thing I want more than ever. I love doing action. I really do. I can’t dance, but I can learn a fight sequence really well.

很感謝你能這樣說，能從你嘴里聽到是我最開心的。我喜歡拍動作片，是真的喜歡，我不會跳舞，但我很擅長學習打斗。

*Interview edited for length and clarity.

*采訪內容因篇幅和清晰度而經過修改編輯。

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