Bobby Moresco grew up in New
York's Hell's Kitchen, a tough working-class neighborhood on Manhattan's West
Side. But Hell's Kitchen lies right next door to Broadway, and the bright
lights attracted Bobby from the time he was a teen. Being stage-struck was
hardly what a street kid could admit to his partners. Fearing their ridicule,
he told no one, not even his girlfriend, when he started taking acting lessons
at age 17. If you were a kid from the neighborhood, you became a cop,
construction worker, longshoreman or criminal. Not an actor.
Moresco struggled to
make that long walk a few blocks east. He studied acting, turned out for all
the cattle calls -- and during the decade of the 1970s made a total of $2,000.
"I wasn't a good actor, but I had a driving need to do something different
with my life," he says.
He moved to Hollywood, where he
drove a cab and worked as a bartender. "My father said, 'Stop this
craziness and get a job; you have a wife and daughter.' “But Moresco kept working at his chosen craft.
Then in 1983 his
younger brother Thomas was murdered in a mob-linked killing. Moresco moved back
to his old neighborhood and started writing as a way to explore the pain and
the patrimony of Hell's Kitchen. Half-Deserted Streets, based on his brother's
killing, opened at a small Off-Broadway theater in 1988. A Hollywood producer
saw it and asked him to work on a screenplay.
His reputation
grew, and he got enough assignments to move back to Hollywood. By 2003, he was
again out of work and out of cash when he got a call from Paul Haggis, a
director who had befriended him. Haggis wanted help writing a film about the
country after September 11. The two worked on the writing, but every studio in
town turned it down. They kept pitching it. Studio executives, however, thought
no one wanted to see a severe, honest vision of race and fear and lives in
collision in modern America.
Moresco believed so strongly in
the script that he borrowed money, sold his house. He and Haggis kept pushing.
At last the writers found an independent film producer who would take a chance,
but the upfront money was too little, Moresco delayed his salary.
Crash slipped into the theaters
in May 2005, and quietly became both a hit and a critical success. It was
nominated for six Academy Awards and won three -- Best Picture, Best Film
Editing and Best Writing (Original Screenplay) by Paul Haggis and the kid from
Hell's Kitchen.
At age 54, Bobby
Moresco became an overnight success. "If you have something you want to do
in life, don't think about the problems," he says, "think about other
ways to get it done."
1. Rearrange the following statements in terms
of time order:
a. His work Half-Deserted Streets
drew attention as it opened at a small Off-Broadway theater
b. Unexpectedly Crash became both
a hit and a huge success.
c. He moved to Hollywood to be a
taxi driver and a waiter.
d. He started learn acting in
spite of hardness with the belief of doing something diiferent.
e. His younger brother Thomas was
killed in conflict among bullies.
A. d; c; e; a;
b B. d; e; c; b; a C. c; d; e;
a; b D. c; e; d; b; a
2.Why Bobby Moresco did not tell anyone that
he started taking lessons at age 17?
A. He wnted to give his
girlfriend a surprise.
B. His girlfriend did not allow
him to do this.
C. He was afraid of being laughed
at.
D. He had no talent for acting.
3.Which of the following sentences is NOT
true?
A. His father did not support his
work as a bartender.
B. Before he became an overnight
success, his life experienced ups and downs.
C. His brother’s death inspired his writing Half-Deserted Streets.
D. Moresco grew up in New York's
Hell's Kitchen which is a few blocks east of Broadway.
4.The Studio executives turned the script
Crash down because ______________.
A. they thought the script would
not be popular.
B. the script was not well
written.
C. they had no money to make the
film based on the script.
D. they thought Moresco was not
famous.
5.What’s
the best title of the article?
A. The Road to Success B.
Try It a Different Way
C. A Talented man—Moresco D.
Moresco’s Perseverance
6.Which of the following can best describe
Bobby Moresco?
A. initiative (主动) and persistent B.
shy but hardworking
C.
caring and brave D.
aggressive and modest