【杨紫琼致哈佛2023毕业生（part 2)】我也可以成为荧幕上的功夫英雄

Keynote speech by Michelle Yeoh to Harvard Law School Class of 2023

 (part 2: Know Your Limits.)

BGM: The Campfire --Peter B. Helland

歌曲推荐：Dancing With Your Ghost --Sasha Alex Sloan

Although understanding what you can do is essential, understanding what you can’t do is pretty important, too. This works on two levels – both internally and externally. Internally, knowing your limits keep you humble, motivated, and focused on a goal to point your finger toward. Externally, knowing the limits that are set for you by others give you a place to point a different finger. I am talking about the middle one. In other words, limitations set by yourself gives you boundaries to respect, but limitations set by others gives you boundaries to bust through.

虽然了解自己能做什么很重要，但了解自己不能做什么也很重要。这会在内外两个层面起作用。由内看，知道自己的极限会让你保持谦逊、充满动力，并专注于自己的目标；从外看，知道别人给你设定的极限会让你有机会突破自我，对别人竖起手指（中间那个）。换句话说，自己设定的极限让你学会尊重，别人设定的极限则为让你打破。

As a young woman trying to break into a film in Hong Kong, I was confronted with limitations at every turn. Initially, cast in stereotypical roles, the demure, docile, damsel in distress, I soon realized that what I wanted to play were the action roles: The Heroes. Of course, these were then reserved exclusively for men, but I could see that the outfight sequences were highly choreographed, and I knew in my bones that my dance training would allow me to excel at them if only I were given the chance. So I went to my producer and said, I did say, “please, I want an action role.” I was prepared to do everything the men were doing, the choreography, the son’s checking the blows, the wire work, all of it. What, like it’s hard? But when the chance finally came, I knew it was make-or-break. I had a one-shot to prove my bankability as an action star and if I failed, I would not get that opportunity again. So I seized the moment with everything I had and as it turned out, thankfully, audiences were more than ready for a female star in action comedies. The film, “Yes Madam,” was well received and launched my career.

作为试图在香港电影圈发展的年轻女性，我时刻面临各种限制。最初，让我演的角色都很刻板，一色温顺端庄、等待被救的落难少女，但我很快意识到，我想演的是动作角色：各式英雄。当然，那些是为男演员专设的，但我看得出，这些打斗场面是经过精心编排的，我打骨子里知道，我有舞蹈训练的基础，只要给我机会，动作表演我可以轻松驾驭。于是，我找到制片人说，我就是这么说的：“拜托，我想演个武打角色。” 我准备好了做男演员要做的一切——动作编排、特技、挨打、吊威亚，所有的一切。但当机会终于来临时，我知道成败在此一举。我只有一次机会证明，作为动作明星我也能很卖座，如果失败，我不会再有这样的机会了。所以，我竭尽所能抓住了这个机会，结果，谢天谢地，观众们比预想中更能接受女演员出演动作喜剧。那部电影就是《皇家师姐》，影片大获成功，也正式开启了我的演艺生涯。

I knew I had it made it then, when I, soon after, I joined Jet Li and Jackie Chan as the three people who Hong Kong insurers refused to cover. They took one look at the scenes we were shooting and ran for the hills. I wore that as a badge of honor. Eventually, things progressed, and before I knew it, I was regularly running on rooftops, riding motorcycles onto moving trains, and rolling off vans onto oncoming traffic. Don’t try that at home, OK? There were injuries, as you can imagine, but with every nick and scratch, and bruise, and fractured vertebrae, I came back better and braver.

没过多久，我就成了除李连杰和成龙外香港保险公司拒绝承保的第三个人，那个时候我知道自己成功了。保险公司往往看一眼我们正在拍摄的场景就跑了。我把这视作一种荣誉。我终于渐渐接触到各种武打角色，之前从没想到过的——我经常在屋顶上奔跑，骑摩托车冲上行驶的火车，从货车翻滚到迎面而来的车辆上。千万别在家里尝试，好吗？可以想象，受伤是难免的，但每一次划伤和擦伤、每一块淤青、每一场椎骨骨折，都让我变得更强大、更勇敢。

Learning how to fall teaches you how to land, and learning to land gives you the courage to jump higher. So when the James Bond producers knocked on my door about a film called “Tomorrow Never Dies,” I thought: “Yes, they want me to play James Bond!” I was fortunate that the producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson had a substantial role in mind in the character of Whalen, a formidable agent who was always one step of her adversaries and equal to Bond. Many regard that character as instrumental in modernizing the franchise and its retro-grade portrayals of women. So thank you, Barbara and Michael.

学会跌倒会教你如何平稳落地，学会平稳落地会给你勇气跳得更高。所以，当詹姆斯·邦德系列影片的制片人来找我，邀请我出演一部叫《明日帝国》的电影时，我想：“嘿，他们想让我演詹姆斯·邦德！”我很幸运，制片人芭芭拉·布洛克利和迈克尔·G.威尔逊对林慧这个角色有重要的构想：她是一个极难对付的特工，总比对手领先一步，与邦德不相上下。许多人认为，这个角色非常重要，让邦德系列变得更现代，也打破了人们对邦女郎就是个花瓶角色的刻板印象。芭芭拉和迈克尔，谢谢你们。

Although offers came in after the Bond movie, I waited two years for the proper role, rejecting scripts that lacked nuance or depth in their character. Honestly, there were times I had doubts as to whether I was doing the right thing in waiting. After all, actors want to act. However, I knew I would not be happy unless I continue to seek out roles that allowed me and like-minded creatives to dig deeper and reflect three-dimensional humanity on stage. And that was “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”. So I must have done something right because I am busier than ever.

虽然拍完那部邦德片后收到不少片约，但我为出演合适的角色等了两年，拒绝了那些角色缺乏细节或深度的剧本。老实说，很多次我都怀疑自己决定等待是否正确。毕竟，演员都想有戏演。但是，我知道，我要继续寻找能让我和志同道合的创作者深入挖掘并在银幕上呈现立体人性的角色，否则我不会快乐。终于，我等到了《卧虎藏龙》。所以，我一定做对了什么，因为我从没这么忙过。

These examples illustrate the importance of limitations. Because our limitations become our challenges and there is nothing like a challenge to keep you working, striving, and pushing for more. Every demeaning role I was offered, every rejection I was handed, and every time someone underestimated me, I found energy and renewed motivation. This brings me to the third and final tip: find your people. 

这些例子说明了极限的重要性。因为我们的极限会成为我们的挑战，没有什么比挑战更能让你奋斗、努力和进步。每一个有损尊严的角色、每一份收到的拒绝、每一次遭受的轻视……都让我找到了能量和新的动力。这就引出了第三个也是我的最后一个建议：找到与你同行的伙伴。