James Spader in Lincoln - interview 文字集中贴

James Spader: Lincoln-era boxers or briefs?
Bryan Alexander, USA TODAYShare
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Spader was one of many actors who donned period garb in Steven Spielberg's 'Lincoln.' But how deep in character did he go?
James Spader looks like an old-time portrait in 'Lincoln.' (Photo: David James, SMPSP/DreamWorks) Story Highlights
James Spader plays political operative W.N. Bilbo in 'Lincoln'
Spader wore period clothes right down to the stuff under the period clothes
Actor enjoyed 'playing pretend,' but didn't go Method
12:28PM EST November 22. 2012 - Steven Spielberg's Lincoln has already wowed audiences with its attention to historical detail, from the correct wallpaper in the White House to Abraham Lincoln's high-register speaking voice (captured by Daniel Day-Lewis). It's no surprise that this kind of detail extended to the film's wardrobes — right down to the undergarments, says James Spader, who plays sleazy political operative W.N. Bilbo in the epic, which continues to command audiences during the Thanksgiving weekend. So the question had to be asked: Was he donning Lincoln-era boxer or briefs? "I don't think you could call it," Spader says. "The undergarments I have in that film really don't have a contemporary name. Today you could walk down the street with the undergarments they had on then and people would think you were fully clothed." As far as truly getting in character, Spader says he never took it too far on the very realistic Lincoln set in historic Richmond, Va. "I don't know if I am so schizophrenic enough to ever believe I am sitting in a room with the House of Representatives from 1865 or, for that matter, sitting in a small room talking to the 16th President of the United States Abraham Lincoln," says Spader. "I don't think I ever lose the sense of where I am actually at." "But it certainly makes pretend a lot easier," he says. "If everyone's playing pretend, it works better. And on this, everyone was playing pretend."

大意：
演员们从头到脚甚至内衣都是林肯时代的装束，Spader是其中之一，他陷入角色有多深呢？
问：你拍摄的时候连内衣裤穿的也是那个时代的吗？
spader：我不确定你可以称呼它们为内衣，我也不知道这些衣服在那个时代的确切名字。如果我们今天穿着这种东西出去走在街上，没人会认为我们没穿衣服。
为了保持表演的真实感，spader说他从来不去想那个时代有多远。
Spader： 我不知道我是否已经精神分裂到以为自己是在1865年和那个世纪的总统对话，我认为我始终没有迷失我到底是在那个时代生活。大家都在模拟那个时代的样子。

11/21/12 at 11:00 AM
Comment James Spader on His Eccentric Lincoln Character By Bilge Ebiri Hey, did you catch James Spader in Lincoln? He plays W.N. Bilbo, one of the trio of political operatives that President Abraham Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Secretary of State William Seward (David Strathairn) hire to do much of their dirty work as they attempt to get Congressmen to pass the Thirteenth Amendment. As such, Spader actually gets a lot of screen time, not to mention some of the film’s funniest, most slapstick moments. But he’s virtually unrecognizable, often dressed in bright but disheveled clothing. Spader gives one of the film’s most memorable performances, pretty much disappearing into his role in a way that almost matches Day-Lewis’s far more publicized transformation. Vulture spoke with him about how he came up with that character, and what Spielberg thought of it. How much research did you do for the part?
Well, there’s obviously an enormous amount of research available about that era, but there was relatively little research I could do into W.N. Bilbo, my specific character — much of which was frankly redundant given the enormous amount of research that Tony Kushner and Steven Spielberg had already done. That’s always where my devotion lies: Regardless of whether it’s based on fact or fancy, the most important part of my job description, besides showing up and staying in the light, is a real dedication to the intents of that screenplay. The script is the coloring book that you’re given, and your job is to figure out how to color it in. And also when and where to color outside the lines. So where and how did you color outside the lines?
The lines were blurry. W.N. Bilbo was one of the only characters in the film that they did not have any pictures of. There was a certain amount of correspondence between him and Seward, but not too much beyond that. That afforded us some freedom to expand on that. And from the first read, with every discussion with Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, and even with Daniel Day-Lewis, it was about how important the irreverent tone of that character was for the requirements of our melodrama. Whoever played Bilbo was always going to be responsible for shouldering that, which made it so much fun for me. And my take on the character was different from Steven’s take for it. How so?
When I read the screenplay and I saw these scenes with Bilbo out trying to hunt quail with people he was trying to convince, and in the backrooms of taverns and whatnot, I tried to reconcile that with this guy who is described — in the small amount of research we have — as someone who liked to dress very smartly and who liked expensive, colorful waistcoats. So, he was a bit of a dandy. But in the screenplay he was depicted as being very bawdy and colorful, and he certainly has the most irreverent language in the film. So, I thought it would be great to try and put all those pieces together — and I imagined him as a dandy in decay. So, he’d have all these expensive clothes but they’d be a little disheveled. Steven just loved this idea, and he urged me to go as far with that as possible. Bilbo’s demeanor and his appearance really do make him one of the most memorable characters in the film.
His appearance reflects a tremendous lust for life. He was a very colorful guy. He had been a very successful attorney prior to the war. And I love the dichotomy that he was a Southerner, from Nashville, Tennessee, who’d known Jefferson Davis. He was even arrested in New York State on suspicion of being a Confederate spy, and he had to prevail upon Lincoln and Seward to get him out and advocate on his behalf. So there were already these dichotomies within him. All we really did was add another, with him being a colorful dresser but with food stains and crazy hair and whatnot. I think he had more changes of costume in the film than anyone except maybe Mary Todd Lincoln! Was there ever concern you were taking it too far?
Steven said to me at one point, “I really want a strong delineation between Bilbo and the other two operatives, who are more team players. So whenever they go left, you go right.” And I said, “The only way I might change that is, I’ll go right before they even go left.” I thought it’d be great if Bilbo was very adept at getting the job done, and if he had a great knowledge of everything he had to do. And yet he did it with a certain amount of gusto. So in that scene where Lincoln shows up unannounced to talk to them, our costume designer asked, “What do you want him to be wearing?” And I said, “I want him in his stocking feet, and he should be in his undershirt. And I think he should be half-undressed.” So, I don’t even know if you can see it, but here’s this guy who takes pride in his clothing, and then he’s in real disarray when the president finally comes to visit.

大意：
JS表示：
剧本之外的关于这个人物的资料少之又少，差不多也就都被导演和编剧研究过了。关于这个人的资料非常少，也正因此，给了这个人物很多创作空间。有个别信息在JS看来是不符合事实的，比如BILBO认识林肯的时间，但是JS强调自己首先是个演员，演员要忠实于剧本，为整个艺术作品负责。资料显示这个人物是个没落的花花公子，喜欢昂贵的穿着和五颜六色的马甲。根据编剧的设计，这个人物在待人接物上是比较无礼的。
导演（斯皮尔伯格）只有一个要求，三个lobbist中，bilbo应该是非常另类的一位，别人往东，他肯定要往西。 JS对导演说，那么他希望bilbo是在别人往东之前就先往西了，因为他认为bilbo是个在自己被赋予的这份工作方面相当有经验和专长的人，这样塑造的话才能够表现出他的专业性和自信。
JS认为，bilbo的形象大致是：工作十分热情+功利+没落花花公子+无礼+值得林肯信任。根据这样的人物勾画，JS认为这个人物虽然重视穿着的名贵，但是因为没落和无礼，这些衣服最好是穿得皱皱巴巴乱七八糟的，头发也要设计的疯狂一点。
在林肯突然到访的一个镜头拍摄过程中，化妆师问JS：你打算让bilbo这个时候穿成什么样？”JS说：“我想，他此时应该是只穿着袜子、凌乱的内衣，可以说是只穿着一部分衣服。”（为了表现林肯突然到访导致的错愕和凌乱）