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Martin Luther King is British， Coretta Scott King注1， too. So is Superman， Batman， the last Abraham Lincoln， the US Marine[海军陆战队士兵] in Homeland and many of the Baltimore cops and hoods[暴徒] in The Wire.
I could go on. In the entertainment award season， you’ll see lots of actors who appear in American cop， doc and spy movies and TV series[电视连续剧]， who win an award， take the stage， and say， “oh， thanks awfully chaps[（英）小伙].” They’re British actors—or maybe Australians—playing Americans. Now， this has been going on since Leslie Howard and Vivien Leigh played Ashley and Scarlett in Gone with the Wind. But when you have to hire British actors to play US presidents or soldiers， you may wonder， are all American actors on Tibetan vacations or in rehab[戒毒所]？
A Hollywood director once told me that British actors get a lot of work here because they tend to[趋向] be pros[专业人员]. They know their lines， and are less likely than American stars to insist that they need special treatment on set[在现场] before they shoot a scene.
American actors will say， “I’m from Dayton， I can play a New Yorker，” while British and Australian actors work to perfect[使完美] their American accents to match a given role. In fact， some British actors say taking on an accent can help them get more into character.
Carlton Cuse， the director of Lost， told TV Guide， “There seems to be a big gulf between Australian and British actors and American actors. The American actors just don’t seem as well trained or as deep and complex[复杂的].”
I think American directors like having British actors around to feel classy[上等的]. They get to say，“You know that guy playing the drug dealer？ He studied at the Royal Academy注2.”
There are a few Americans who’ve played signature[识别标志] British roles. Robert Downey Jr. has been Sherlock Holmes， Gillian Anderson is a regular on the London stage， and of course， Meryl Streep， who changes accents the way some of us change socks， has played Margaret Thatcher. But the talent difference between Hollywood and British actors doesn’t seem to be all that equal.
I won’t be happy until Beyoncé plays Queen Victoria.
马丁·路德·金是英国人，科丽塔·斯科特·金也是。超人、蝙蝠侠，上一部电影的亚伯拉罕·林肯、《国土安全》里的美国海军陆战队士兵，以及《火线》中一大堆巴尔的摩警察和小混混，他们全都由英国人扮演。
我可以继续数下去。在颁奖季，你会看到大量在美国电影或电视剧中扮演警察、医生或间谍的演员，他们得了奖，走到舞台上，然后说：“噢，非常感谢，伙计。”
他们是扮演美国人的英国演员，或澳大利亚演员。
自从莱斯利·霍华德和费雯·丽在《乱世佳人》中扮演阿什利和斯佳丽以后，这种情况就一直存在。但当你不得不聘请英国演员去演美国总统或美国大兵时，你可能会想，难道所有美国演员都到西藏度假或者进戒毒所了吗？
一位好莱坞导演曾经对我说，英国演员在这里可以得到这么多工作，是因为他们更趋专业。他们熟悉对白，也很少像美国明星那样要求在片场享有特别待遇才肯开拍。
美国演员会说：“我来自（美国）代顿，我可以演纽约人。”英国和澳大利亚演员则会练好他们的美国口音，配合角色要求。事实上，一些英国演员说，学习口音可以帮他们更好地投入角色。
《迷失》的导演卡尔顿·库思向《美国电视指南》杂志透露：“美国演员和澳大利亚及英国演员之间有很大差距。美国演员似乎不像后两者那么训练有素，也缺乏他们的深度和复杂性。”
我认为，美国导演喜欢用英国演员，是想突显自己的品位。他们会说：“你知道那个演毒贩的人吗？他曾在英国皇家艺术学院学习。”
也有美国人扮演著名英国角色的例子：小罗伯特·唐尼演过夏洛克·福尔摩斯，吉莲·安德森是伦敦舞台的常客，当然还有梅丽尔·斯特里普（她转换口音和我们某些人换袜子一样平常），她演过撒切尔夫人。但是好莱坞和英国演员之间在人才方面的不平衡还是非常明显。
在碧昂斯还没演维多利亚女王之前，我是不会开心的。
注1：科丽塔·斯科特·金（1927—2006），美国作家、民权运动家，也是马丁·路德·金的妻子。
注2：即Royal Academy of Arts，英国皇家艺术学院。
I could go on. In the entertainment award season， you’ll see lots of actors who appear in American cop， doc and spy movies and TV series[电视连续剧]， who win an award， take the stage， and say， “oh， thanks awfully chaps[（英）小伙].” They’re British actors—or maybe Australians—playing Americans. Now， this has been going on since Leslie Howard and Vivien Leigh played Ashley and Scarlett in Gone with the Wind. But when you have to hire British actors to play US presidents or soldiers， you may wonder， are all American actors on Tibetan vacations or in rehab[戒毒所]？
A Hollywood director once told me that British actors get a lot of work here because they tend to[趋向] be pros[专业人员]. They know their lines， and are less likely than American stars to insist that they need special treatment on set[在现场] before they shoot a scene.
American actors will say， “I’m from Dayton， I can play a New Yorker，” while British and Australian actors work to perfect[使完美] their American accents to match a given role. In fact， some British actors say taking on an accent can help them get more into character.
Carlton Cuse， the director of Lost， told TV Guide， “There seems to be a big gulf between Australian and British actors and American actors. The American actors just don’t seem as well trained or as deep and complex[复杂的].”
I think American directors like having British actors around to feel classy[上等的]. They get to say，“You know that guy playing the drug dealer？ He studied at the Royal Academy注2.”
There are a few Americans who’ve played signature[识别标志] British roles. Robert Downey Jr. has been Sherlock Holmes， Gillian Anderson is a regular on the London stage， and of course， Meryl Streep， who changes accents the way some of us change socks， has played Margaret Thatcher. But the talent difference between Hollywood and British actors doesn’t seem to be all that equal.
I won’t be happy until Beyoncé plays Queen Victoria.
马丁·路德·金是英国人，科丽塔·斯科特·金也是。超人、蝙蝠侠，上一部电影的亚伯拉罕·林肯、《国土安全》里的美国海军陆战队士兵，以及《火线》中一大堆巴尔的摩警察和小混混，他们全都由英国人扮演。
我可以继续数下去。在颁奖季，你会看到大量在美国电影或电视剧中扮演警察、医生或间谍的演员，他们得了奖，走到舞台上，然后说：“噢，非常感谢，伙计。”
他们是扮演美国人的英国演员，或澳大利亚演员。
自从莱斯利·霍华德和费雯·丽在《乱世佳人》中扮演阿什利和斯佳丽以后，这种情况就一直存在。但当你不得不聘请英国演员去演美国总统或美国大兵时，你可能会想，难道所有美国演员都到西藏度假或者进戒毒所了吗？
一位好莱坞导演曾经对我说，英国演员在这里可以得到这么多工作，是因为他们更趋专业。他们熟悉对白，也很少像美国明星那样要求在片场享有特别待遇才肯开拍。
美国演员会说：“我来自（美国）代顿，我可以演纽约人。”英国和澳大利亚演员则会练好他们的美国口音，配合角色要求。事实上，一些英国演员说，学习口音可以帮他们更好地投入角色。
《迷失》的导演卡尔顿·库思向《美国电视指南》杂志透露：“美国演员和澳大利亚及英国演员之间有很大差距。美国演员似乎不像后两者那么训练有素，也缺乏他们的深度和复杂性。”
我认为，美国导演喜欢用英国演员，是想突显自己的品位。他们会说：“你知道那个演毒贩的人吗？他曾在英国皇家艺术学院学习。”
也有美国人扮演著名英国角色的例子：小罗伯特·唐尼演过夏洛克·福尔摩斯，吉莲·安德森是伦敦舞台的常客，当然还有梅丽尔·斯特里普（她转换口音和我们某些人换袜子一样平常），她演过撒切尔夫人。但是好莱坞和英国演员之间在人才方面的不平衡还是非常明显。
在碧昂斯还没演维多利亚女王之前，我是不会开心的。
注1：科丽塔·斯科特·金（1927—2006），美国作家、民权运动家，也是马丁·路德·金的妻子。
注2：即Royal Academy of Arts，英国皇家艺术学院。