FCE Listening Test 3 Part 4 |
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Part 4 You will hear an interview with the film actor Mikey Standish. |
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24 Mikey feels it is unfair when people suggest that A some types of role are unsuitable for him. 25 How did Mikey feel while playing the character called Simon? A sorry that he had decided to accept it 26 What kind of role does Mikey now refuse to play? A weak people who become heroes 27 Why did Mikey decide to go to drama school? A It had been a long-held ambition. 28 Mikey recommends that young people interested in acting go to drama school because A it allows them to compare their skills with others. 29 What does Mikey say about his celebrity status? A It was hard to get used to at first. 30 What are Mikey's immediate plans for the future? A to take a break from film acting |
Test 3 Part 4
24 B
25 C
26 C
27 B
28 C
29 C
30 A
You will hear an interview with the film actor Mikey Standish. For questions 24-30, choose the best answer (A, B or C).
Interviewer: With us today is the actor Mikey Standish. Mikey, with your career on the up, do you want to be the next Leonardo DiCaprio?
Mikey Standish: I don't really try to be anyone else. I know that's what is said about me, and it upsets me, because I'm just trying to experience as many different types and styles of acting as I can. So it's not fair. I've managed to play a wide range of roles. The cinema industry usually wants to see you doing the same thing all the time, but I prefer to stretch myself.
Interviewer: In your latest film, The Waterfall, you play Simon, a young man very much like yourself.
Mikey Standish: Yeah, urn, I thought it was going to be easy, because it's closer to me. I'd been in full-time education for twenty years, like Simon has. Simon's middle class, I'm middle class, etc, etc. So I understood where the guy was coming from. But actually, that made it kind of frightening because if you're not careful there's no character to hide behind, if you know what I mean. But doing it has certainly made me into a better actor.
Interviewer: Are there any character types that you would prefer not to play?
Mikey Standish: Yeah. I once played this man who was a real waste of time. We've seen that so often, the unworthy, totally uninteresting person who then turns out to have the answer to everything, I want no part in that. I don't mind continuing to play the romantic lead, but the character must develop in a way that's believable.
Interviewer: How old were you when you decided that acting was something that you wanted to do?
Mikey Standish: I applied for drama college before I decided that acting was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I was offered a film when I was sixteen and I did it. I got that part just out of the blue, with a French director, and then I didn't act for two years. I worked in a bakery and tried to get on at school, but I wasn't doing too well. So it was either leave school and stay in the bakery, which was out of the question, really, or try drama school because I'd done this one film and I might get in.
Interviewer: And what would you tell the kids who are interested or thinking about acting as a career?
Mikey Standish: I think drama school is the best thing. It's the environment where you realise whether you want to do it or not. You're competitive all the time in the real world, and this competitive element can make you carry on, though the job might be something you're not suited to, or something that you maybe don't even like. But the competition can keep you going and that's not good, it's not healthy.
Interviewer: How do you cope with being a celebrity?
Mikey Standish: I'm lucky, I've been doing this work for seven years now, so it's not, like, happened overnight. Over the last few years, I've been getting recognised on the street more and more often as the press coverage has increased, but I can handle it OK. Had it been, like, bang! suddenly you're a star and your life's not your own any more, who knows, I might not have coped so well.
Interviewer: So what's your next movie?
Mikey Standish: I'll do something I have always wanted to do, which is a sci-fi movie. It's not starting till next year, and I've had some calls from a director asking if I could fit in another movie in the meantime. It was a very tempting offer, which would've involved me in actually producing the script as well. But the truth is that I've done five films without much of a break, so I'm definitely in need of a bit of time off. As from tomorrow actually.
Interviewer: Right. Mikey Standish, thank you and I hope you enjoy your break.