Do you know the following stars? Add a correct proper name to each photograph. What are they famous for?
 |  |  |
| _______________ | _______________ | ______________ |
If you don’t recognize them, return to this task after listening to Audio 1, Audio 2, Audio 3.
AUDIO 1
(interview by Joe McCabe, “FEARnet”)
12. Read the following information before listening to Audio 1:
- ‘Archie’ – an American comic book about teenage life;
- Chris (= Christopher Nolan) – a British film director.
13. Listen to Audio 1. Choose whether the following statements are true or false, explain your choice:
| 1) The speaker wasn’t fond of comic books in his childhood. | T / F |
| 2) The speaker’s sisters enjoyed reading ‘Batman’. | T / F |
| 3) For a certain period of time the actor had a thought of turning down the role of the Joker. | T / F |
| 4) Tim Burton asked the star to act in his film. | T / F |
| 5) Chris was open for the actor’s interpretations. | T / F |
| 6) The speaker cared to explain the difference from Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of the character. | T / F |
14. Listen to Audio 1 one more time. Check your answers to ex. 12. Guess who the speaker is.
AUDIO 2
(interview by Peter Travers, “Rolling Stone Movies”)
15.Read the following information before listening to Audio 2:
- Martin Freeman – a famous actor;
- Mark (= Mark Gatiss) – an English screenwriter;
- Steven (= Steven Moffat) – a famous series producer;
- Limelight – the focus of public attention;
- Asperger’s (= Asperger’s syndrome) – a rare and relatively mild autistic disorder characterized by awkwardness in social interaction, pedantry in speech, and preoccupation with very narrow interests.
16. Listen to Part 1 of Audio 2. Fill in the gaps.
Peter Travers:Alright, people, you have just seen a scene from “Sherlock”, which is in (1) ________________________ on PBS’s masterpiece mystery. And Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Sherlock, brilliantly, I have to say, is here to prove that he’s just as brilliant when he’s not playing Sherlock…
The speaker: Oh, God, no, Peter…
Peter Travers:Yes, do it…
The speaker: I can’t…
Peter Travers:Did you have any moment of hesitation when you
(2) ________________________?
The speaker: Oh, huge, I mean, not when I was offered it, because by then I’ve read the script. And when I first heard of the idea, I think both Martin Freeman and I, both kinda flinched at the idea of
(3) ________________________ which is so iconic and so untouchably brilliant in its original form was sort of distasteful. It smacked of a cash cow, some kind of horrible cultural kind of cannibalism, pop-eating itself, if you will. And I just, I really (4) ________________________. I was also a little bit nervous about the idea of stepping into the limelight. Realizing by playing an iconic figure, I think it’s the 75th or 76th incarnation line. So, you know, well, (5) ________________________, yeah, I had a lot of actors have done this before…
Peter Travers:Really? I only knew of Basil Rathbone…
The speaker: And Jeremy Brett, you must know…
Peter Travers: Jeremy Brett…
The speaker: Robert Stephens, and it just goes on and on…
Peter Travers:And this guy, Robert Downey Junior…
The speaker: That little, yeah, that kinda, yeah…
Peter Travers:What?
The speaker: Yeah, I hope he does well, he’s got a lot of promise. Ehm…I, you know, I kinda went into lots of trepidation, but then
(6) ________________________ and just completely fell in love with it.
Peter Travers:There’s something about the voice, the tenor of it.
The speaker: I think, well, I mean I went back to the original books, it was so: how do you prepare for the role. I’ve read the book, ‘cause I knew that was exactly what had driven Mark and Steven for this
(7) ________________________. And we had a lot to establish that was our own to a tailor and an author and yet at the same time I had to bring, in my mind, I had to bring an element of
(8) ________________________, or at least other timeliness to him. And coming from the posh boarding-school, looking the way I do, I mean, I’ve done some period dramas, you know, I think, I think
(9) ________________________ and I think that’s what Mark and Steven wanted to use me for initially. And then I read for them, and they were like: “Good, our instincts were very right”. And it’s been a marriage of bliss ever since, especially…
Peter Travers:How did you want to put yourself forward as this character?
The speaker: I would say, well, I have a first rule that
(10) ________________________ are as big kind of walls, so I go up, ok. That’s good for two and a half pages of
(11) ________________________, but you know, sharpened and polished into this entire narrative, and so I said about working on them a lot and I look at the action scenes as well, I also think about even the interaction and growth of the character, and where the relationships are developing. And I just can’t, I get itchy to do it, to be honest, I mean, this… it’s just very, they’re just really (12) ________________________…you just wanna get on and get playing really…
17. Listen to Part 1 of Audio 2 one more time. Check your answers to ex. 15. Guess who the speaker is.
18. Listen to Part 2 of Audio 2 and choose the correct answers to the following questions:
1) The speaker believes that Sherlock used to be an outsider at school because he:
a) was hurt by the classmates;
b) tried to hone some skills;
c) was a brilliant prodigy.
2) According to the speaker the friendship with Watson:
a) gives Sherlock a God complex;
b) humanizes Sherlock;
c) lets Sherlock’s guard down.
3) The character of Sherlock influenced the actor because he started:
a) to use the train from Cardiff to London;
b) to build imaginative pictures about the people around;
c) started to get into terrible troubles;
4) The actor’s aim in the first series was:
a) to become an icon for kids;
b) to make the books in demand;
c) to acquire a wonderful skill.
19. Listen to Part 2 of Audio 2 one more time. Check your answers to ex. 17.
AUDIO 3
(interview for “Backstage”)
20. Read the following information before listening to Audio 3:
- Aldo– the name of the character from the film “InglouriousBasterds”[1];
- Martial-arts– various sports, which originated chiefly in Japan, Korea, and China as forms of self-defense or attack, such as judo, karate, and kendo;
- Franchise– a general title or concept used for creating or marketing a series of products, typically films or television shows.
21. Listen to Audio 3 and answer the following questions:
1) What’s the speaker’s attitude towards casting? What is his job as a writer-director?
2) Does the speaker display a desire to drag as many movie stars into his films as possible or does he have a different approach?
3) What does the speaker mean when he says that he’s worked with genres that are “virgin territory” for him? Which films and genres does he mention?
4) On what condition is the speaker eager to take over an existing franchise? Which one did he want to take?
22. Listen to Audio 3 one more time. Check your answers to ex. 20. Guess who the speaker is.
Tongue-twisters
What makes a good actor/actress? That’s his/her pronunciation and clear diction. The same goes to a would-be teacher. Try and repeat the tongue-twisters below to find out how good you are at it!
TONGUE-TWISTER 1
(from‘Singin’ in the Rain’, 1952)