Any actor or actress would admit that it’s tricky¹ to play roles based on real people.

扮演一个以真实人物为原型的角色十分棘手，任何一位演员都会认同这一点。

On one hand, they do mountains of research to make sure they’re staying as true to life as possible.

一方面，他们要做大量的调查研究，以确保尽可能地令角色栩栩如生。

On the other hand, they try to add their own touches to the performance so that their work can be called their own.

另一方面，他们也尝试在表演中加入自己的理解，从而让这些作品打上自己的标签。

American actor Andrew Garfield, 33, faced that *dilemma when playing Desmond Doss in recent Mel Gibson film Hacksaw Ridge².

33岁的美国演员安德鲁.加菲尔德在梅尔.吉布森执导的新片《血战钢锯岭》中扮演戴斯蒙德.道斯一角时，便遭遇了这样的两难境地。

Doss was a US army medic during World War II

道斯是二战时的一位美国军医。

who refused to carry a gun because of his *pacifist beliefs, but saved 75 lives without firing a single shot.

由于和平主义信仰而拒绝配枪，并且在没开一枪的情况下，成功拯救了75条生命。

His actions made him the first *conscientious objector–a person who objects to serving in the armed forces for moral or conscience reasons–to be presented with the Medal of Honor, the US’s highest military honor awarded for personal acts of *valor above and beyond the call of duty.

这些举动让他成了首位被授予荣誉勋章的拒绝服兵役者（出于道德和良心而拒绝服兵役的人），而该勋章是美国用以嘉奖超出职责范围的个人英勇行为的最高军事奖章。

This isn’t the first time that Garfield has endured the responsibility of playing a well-known figure.

加菲尔德并非首次挑战饰演名人。

He starred as the *titular character in two of the Spider-Man movies,

他曾在两部蜘蛛侠系列电影中出演了同名角色。

which according to him brought a different kind of pressure.

在他看来，这给他带来了完全不同的压力。

Spider-Man is so active in people’s imaginations that everyone has their own version of the character in their head.

蜘蛛侠在人们的想象中十分鲜活，每个人脑海中的版本都各不相同。

But there’s only one version of Desmond, he said.

而戴斯蒙德的版本只有一种，他说道。

His first stage of research was to study as many images and documentaries³ of Doss he could get his hands on.

加菲尔德展开调研的第一步是去研究所有他能拿到手的关于道斯的影像和纪录片。

But Garfield soon realized that he needed to learn not only the veteran’s external characteristics, but also his essence⁴, his insides, that deepest part of himself, he said.

但他很快便意识到，他不光需要了解这位老兵外在的性格特点，还需要了解他的精髓、他的内在、他最深层次的自己，他表示。

To help achieve his goal, Garfield traveled to Chattanooga in Tennessee to visit the last home Doss lived in before he died in 2006.

为了能达成这一目标，加菲尔德来到了田纳西州的查特怒加市，拜访了道斯2006年去世前的住所。

The actor wanted to walk where Doss walked, handle the tools Doss handled, while all the time keeping in mind how the research would affect his performance.

他想走道斯走过的路，用道斯用过的工具，并时刻牢记这些调查对他表演所产生的影响。

For me, with a man like Desmond, I don’t think I could have gone too far in terms of getting to know who he was, Garfield said.

于我而言，为了深入了解戴斯蒙德，我做什么都不为过，加菲尔德说道。

But it can’t be an impression of him.

但这并不是一味模仿他，

That doesn’t interest me。

我对此不感兴趣。

There are certain things that are wonderful as resources you get to mimic⁵.

的确有一些十分美妙的事物能让你去模仿。

But then there is the other part of the *alchemy process in making the character you.

但在这炼金术一般的过程中，你也可以将角色赋予自己的标签。

Garfield explains that it’s like the difference between slipping into someone’s clothes and stepping into their skin.

加菲尔德解释称，这就像是匆忙穿上别人的衣服和深入他人肌肤之间的区别。

Until he goes deep inside a role based on a real person, he doesn’t feel he’s done the work justice.

除非他深入了解了一个以真人为原型的角色，否则他觉得自己做得并不妥当。

And it’s not until he fully understands the character that Garfield feels confident he can do the things asked of the role in the script without hesitation⁶ or thought.

而直到他完全了解角色后，他才有自信毫不犹豫地要求出演剧本里的角色。