Listen and choose the correct options Interviewer Francesca I'm pleased to welcome Francesca North to the programme today. Francesca is currently playing the role of Maggie in the popular TV series Prison Blues. It's lovely to have you with us today, Francesca. Thank you. Tell us how you got into acting. Well, my mother is Japanese and my father is English, so we spoke two languages at home. My mother wanted me to have a good English accent, so she sent me to speech lessons. I did very well in this. The teacher also gave acting lessons, and one thing led to another. She suggested I try some acting, and the next thing I knew I was winning drama awards and seriously considering acting as a career. My mother wasn't sure she wanted me to do this, though. She didn't think it was a very secure job. And your father? Oh, all he ever wanted for me was to be happy and if that's what I wanted, at the end of the day, I could always teach English or Drama if life on the stage proved to be too precarious! So you did go to Drama school ... Yes, and had a wonderful time. The great thing is that you make so many friends and contacts. Then, I happened to be in the right place at the right time one day and was offered a very small part in a TV soap. That was fantastic because, although it was a small part, the thing with soaps is that the story is on-going. Gradually, my character became more involved in the story line, and they wrote bigger and bigger parts for me. Obviously you must research a part. You played a young mother, didn't you? Yes, that's right. I did talk to young mums and try to get an insight into the kinds of highs and lows they experienced. Young mothers have to have a lot of energy for their kids, but they also often feel they want more fun and less responsibility. Later, when I had my own children, I used to look back on the role and think of all the things I thought that being a mother was about then – the reality wasn't quite the same! When you left the soap, it must have felt as if part of your life fell away. I had been very involved in the role, yes, but the offer of playing Maggie in this new series was too good to miss. The part you are playing now as Maggie in Prison Blues is very different. How do you manage to be so convincingly bad? Thank you (laughing). I will take that as a compliment. Actually, Maggie is almost everything I am not. I'm not saying I'm perfect, but she is a very bad woman. In order to play the role, I have to consider how I would think and what I would do in the given situation and try to find the complete opposite thoughts and actions! There are times when I'm really not keen on acting out what Maggie does – for example, when she is so unkind to some of the others. Did you actually go to a women's prison and meet prisoners? Yes, absolutely, and I learnt a lot about life in prison. I guess there must be a punishment for crime, but there are a lot of women in there who have had a really hard life with many problems. It's very sad. Many of them have had little education and were involved in petty crime as children and haven't had the love and care of family relationships. Others found themselves in difficult financial situations and resorted to crime as a means of survival. Is life in jail really like the TV series? Well, the producers have tried to make it as realistic as possible, and that is why we spent quite a bit of time ourselves researching what it is like and talking to staff and prisoners. I don't think there are many real prisoners quite like Maggie, but sometimes the frustration of being in prison brings out the worst in people. I have to say that every time I left there, I was so relieved that I didn't have to face years inside. Freedom is a very precious thing, and what I have done has helped me to appreciate the fact. I consider myself to be a law-abiding person, and I sincerely hope I never end up in prison for real. You know, sometimes innocent people do, and that must be an absolute nightmare. Indeed. (pause) ... Coming back to you and your career, do you have plans for the next role yet? Well, this series is still being completed, and after that, we'll see. But after playing such a nasty violent character, I would like a role that is completely different next time. It's hard to play a baddie all the time, and I wouldn't want to be typecast. In fact, if any directors out there are listening, I wouldn't mind a little role in the theatre for a change. That would be fun! According to Francesca, her interest in acting began as a result of A. her mother's encouragement. B. her success with drama lessons at school. C. the speech lessons she took. In relation to her career choice, Francesca's father A. would have preferred her to be a teacher. B. totally supported her in her aims. C. felt she had made a risky choice. When Francesca got her first role playing a young mother, A. she was already a mother herself. B. she knew she could play it well. C. she took advice from real mothers. With regard to her role as Maggie, she says A. she is similar to herself in some ways. B. her character is very difficult to portray. C. she sometimes dislikes playing it. When discussing real prisoners she has met, Francesca says A. some were being too harshly punished. B. many are victims of circumstance. C. she feels particularly sorry for their children. Playing the role of Maggie has made Francesca realise A. how valuable our freedom is. B. how many problems there are in prisons. C. how many people there are like Maggie. In the future, Francesca would like to A. play another character similar to Maggie. B. continue playing her present role. C. take part in a play.

Задание

Listen and choose the correct options
InterviewerFrancescaI'm pleased to welcome Francesca North to the programme today. Francesca is currently playing the role of Maggie in the popular TV series Prison Blues. It's lovely to have you with us today, Francesca.
Thank you.Tell us how you got into acting.
Well, my mother is Japanese and my father is English, so we spoke two languages at home. My mother wanted me to have a good English accent, so she sent me to speech lessons. I did very well in this. The teacher also gave acting lessons, and one thing led to another. She suggested I try some acting, and the next thing I knew I was winning drama awards and seriously considering acting as a career. My mother wasn't sure she wanted me to do this, though. She didn't think it was a very secure job.And your father?
Oh, all he ever wanted for me was to be happy and if that's what I wanted, at the end of the day, I could always teach English or Drama if life on the stage proved to be too precarious!
So you did go to Drama school ... Yes, and had a wonderful time. The great thing is that you make so many friends and contacts. Then, I happened to be in the right place at the right time one day and was offered a very small part in a TV soap. That was fantastic because, although it was a small part, the thing with soaps is that the story is on-going. Gradually, my character became more involved in the story line, and they wrote bigger and bigger parts for me.Obviously you must research a part. You played a young mother, didn't you?
Yes, that's right. I did talk to young mums and try to get an insight into the kinds of highs and lows they experienced. Young mothers have to have a lot of energy for their kids, but they also often feel they want more fun and less responsibility. Later, when I had my own children, I used to look back on the role and think of all the things I thought that being a mother was about then – the reality wasn't quite the same!
When you left the soap, it must have felt as if part of your life fell away.I had been very involved in the role, yes, but the offer of playing Maggie in this new series was too good to miss.
The part you are playing now as Maggie in Prison Blues is very different. How do you manage to be so convincingly bad?
Thank you (laughing). I will take that as a compliment. Actually, Maggie is almost everything I am not. I'm not saying I'm perfect, but she is a very bad woman. In order to play the role, I have to consider how I would think and what I would do in the given situation and try to find the complete opposite thoughts and actions! There are times when I'm really not keen on acting out what Maggie does – for example, when she is so unkind to some of the others.
Did you actually go to a women's prison and meet prisoners?
Yes, absolutely, and I learnt a lot about life in prison. I guess there must be a punishment for crime, but there are a lot of women in there who have had a really hard life with many problems. It's very sad. Many of them have had little education and were involved in petty crime as children and haven't had the love and care of family relationships. Others found themselves in difficult financial situations and resorted to crime as a means of survival.
Is life in jail really like the TV series?
Well, the producers have tried to make it as realistic as possible, and that is why we spent quite a bit of time ourselves researching what it is like and talking to staff and prisoners. I don't think there are many real prisoners quite like Maggie, but sometimes the frustration of being in prison brings out the worst in people. I have to say that every time I left there, I was so relieved that I didn't have to face years inside. Freedom is a very precious thing, and what I have done has helped me to appreciate the fact. I consider myself to be a law-abiding person, and I sincerely hope I never end up in prison for real. You know, sometimes innocent people do, and that must be an absolute nightmare.Indeed. (pause) ... Coming back to you and your career, do you have plans for the next role yet? Well, this series is still being completed, and after that, we'll see. But after playing such a nasty violent character, I would like a role that is completely different next time. It's hard to play a baddie all the time, and I wouldn't want to be typecast. In fact, if any directors out there are listening, I wouldn't mind a little role in the theatre for a change. That would be fun!

According to Francesca, her interest in acting began as a result of

A. her mother's encouragement.
B. her success with drama lessons at school.
C. the speech lessons she took.

In relation to her career choice, Francesca's father

A. would have preferred her to be a teacher.
B. totally supported her in her aims.
C. felt she had made a risky choice.

When Francesca got her first role playing a young mother,

A. she was already a mother herself.
B. she knew she could play it well.
C. she took advice from real mothers.

With regard to her role as Maggie, she says

A. she is similar to herself in some ways.
B. her character is very difficult to portray.
C. she sometimes dislikes playing it.

When discussing real prisoners she has met, Francesca says

A. some were being too harshly punished.
B. many are victims of circumstance.
C. she feels particularly sorry for their children.

Playing the role of Maggie has made Francesca realise

A. how valuable our freedom is.
B. how many problems there are in prisons.
C. how many people there are like Maggie.

In the future, Francesca would like to

A. play another character similar to Maggie.
B. continue playing her present role.
C. take part in a play.

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