Like many boys growing up in Hong Kong, Tony Leung was a fan of Bruce Lee from a young age.

与在香港长大的很多男孩子一样，梁朝伟(Tony Leung)从小就是李小龙(Bruce Lee)的影迷。

But it wasn't until he played the kung fu master's teacher that he understood the man -- or kung fu, for that matter.

但直到他饰演了这位功夫大师的师傅，他才对李小龙或者说“功夫”有了真正的了解。

In 'The Grandmaster,' opening in New York on Friday, Mr. Leung plays Ip Man, the martial-arts master who taught a core group of disciples, including Lee. Ip Man, who was raised in Southern China but later moved to Hong Kong, isn't as well-known as Lee stateside, but he too has been immortalized in film, most notably by Donnie Yen in 2008's 'Ip Man.'

在将于周五在纽约上映的影片《一代宗师》(The Grandmaster)中，梁朝伟饰演叶问。这位功夫大师曾教授包括李小龙在内的一小群徒弟功夫。叶问在中国南方长大，但后来搬到了香港，他在美国知名度不及李小龙，但也成了电影中的一个不朽形象，其中最知名的影片是2008年上映的、由甄子丹(Donnie Yen)主演的《叶问》(Ip Man)。

To create an original interpretation, Mr. Leung took a tip from 'Grandmaster' director and longtime collaborator Wong Kar-wai (this is their seventh film together): Blend the master teacher with the master student.

为实现具有独创性的演绎，梁朝伟接受了《一代宗师》的导演、与之长期合作的王家卫的建议：将师傅叶问与后来成为大师的徒弟李小龙融合起来。《一代宗师》是梁朝伟与王家卫合作的第七部影片。

'When you look at the books of Bruce Lee or his letters and interviews, a lot of his inspiration came from Ip Man,' Mr. Wong said. 'I think it's a very good approach to show the audience where the inspiration came from. Who made Bruce Lee who he was?'

王家卫说，当你看有关李小龙的书或是他的信函和采访时，会发现他有很多灵感来自叶问。我认为向观众展示这种灵感的来源是一个很好的方法。是谁使李小龙成为了李小龙？

As a result, Mr. Leung studied not only Ip Man's martial-arts technique --suffering a broken arm twice during training -- he also read Lee's extensive writings. 'It helped me not to just have the look of a grandmaster, but have the state of mind and the soul of the grandmaster,' he said.

因此，梁朝伟不仅学习叶问的功夫技艺（在训练中手臂骨折了两次），他还阅读了李小龙的大量书信。他说，它帮助我不仅拥有了一代宗师的外貌，还有了他的心态和灵魂。

Though no stranger to demanding roles (he played a cuckolded man drawn toward a neighbor in 'In the Mood for Love,' then a political agent entangled with a spy in Ang Lee's NC-17-rated 'Lust, Caution'), Mr. Leung had plenty of time to prepare for 'Grandmaster.' He began kung fu training over a year before production, and shooting stretched out over three years.

梁朝伟曾在《花样年华》(In the Mood for Love)中饰演一位妻子出轨、自己被邻居吸引的男人，还曾在李安(Ang Lee)执导的限制级影片《色戒》(Lust, Caution)中饰演一名与间谍纠缠不清的政治特工。尽管梁朝伟对高要求的角色并不陌生，但他仍花了大量时间为《一代宗师》做准备。在影片摄制前一年多，他就开始了功夫训练，而影片的拍摄持续了三年多。

He spoke with the Journal about staying in character over that period, nonviolent action scenes and how a sickly-looking Mr. Wong helped him press on. Excerpts from the conversation:

他最近接受了本报采访，讲述了那段时间他如何与角色融为一体、影片中的非暴力动作戏，以及看起来身体很差的王家卫如何帮助他坚持了下来。以下为编辑过的采访内容。

WSJ: You were familiar with Bruce Lee before filming, but how much did you know about kung fu?

《华尔街日报》：在影片开拍前，你对李小龙已经很熟悉，但你对功夫有多少了解？

A: I thought kung fu was just a fighting technique, but after I finished this movie, I know it's not just a self-defense method but also a lot of philosophy. A mind-cultivation practice. You can apply it to life. During the transformation of kung fu, it was greatly influenced by Taoism and Zen. What attracts me at the end is not the techniques. I was attracted by the mind training. It's very much like meditation.

梁朝伟：我过去认为功夫只是一种格斗术，但拍完这部影片后，我明白功夫不止是一种防身手段，还包含有很多哲理。功夫是一种修身养性的方法。你可以把它应用于生活。在功夫的发展过程中，受到了道教和禅宗的极大影响。最后吸引我的不是功夫这门技艺，而是心灵训练。跟冥想很像。

WSJ: Were you spiritual before this?

《华尔街日报》：在此之前，你有进行什么灵修活动吗？

A: I'm Buddhist, so I meditate sometimes. I find there's a lot of similarity between Taoism and Buddhism. But the spiritual side of kung fu cannot be learned just by reading books. You cannot learn it by fact-finding and instruction.

梁朝伟：我信佛，有时会冥想。我发现道教和佛教之间有很多相似之处。但功夫的灵修作用仅通过读书是学不来的。你不能通过调查和教授学得。

WSJ: You were in character as Ip Man for about four years. How was it?

《华尔街日报》：你沉浸在叶问这个角色里大约有四年。感觉怎么样？

A: I started almost 1.5 years before shooting. This was the most enjoyable work with Wong Kar-wai, because before, I never had any information about my character. This time, it's based on a real character, and Kar-wai did a lot of research.

梁朝伟：我在影片开拍前近一年半就开始熟悉角色了。这是我与王家卫合作中最享受的一次，过去拍片我从来没有有关角色的任何信息。这次是取材于一个真实的人物，家卫做了很多研究。

WSJ: You have a few epic battle scenes, but other times it looks like we're watching you execute choreography.

《华尔街日报》：片中有几场武打重头戏，但其他时间我们就像是在看你编舞一样。

A: I didn't feel any violence in the movie after I did all the action scenes. This guy is not trying to kill people [laughs]. He just enjoys the art.

梁朝伟：在拍完了全部的动作戏后，我没有感觉影片中有任何暴力。这个人不是要杀人（笑），他只是在享受功夫这种艺术。

WSJ: So Ip Man is different.

《华尔街日报》：所以，叶问是不同的。

A: He didn't look like a kung fu man. He looked like a scholar -- very refined, very erudite and graceful. I know he lived a very difficult life, but you can still see the dignity in his eyes. I was wondering, how can a guy live life like that? I think kung fu really inspired him.

梁朝伟：他看起来不像是一个会功夫的人，而是像一个学者，非常文质彬彬、博学、优雅。我知道他生活得很艰难，但你仍可以在他的眼睛中看到尊严。我曾经想，一个人怎么能像这样生活呢？我想功夫确实给了他启发。

WSJ: Was it difficult to leave the character after playing him for four years?

《华尔街日报》：在与角色融为一体四年后，再从角色中走出来难不难？

A: At the end I really wanted to stop, physically and emotionally. Almost a month before the end, I used to say to Kar-wai on the set, 'I cannot do it anymore. I have no more energy.' But he looked worse than me. He looked so pale and so sick! I had to go on.

梁朝伟：最后我确实想停下来了，无论是身体上还是心理上。在影片杀青前近一个月，我常常在片场对家卫说，我不能再做下去了。我没有精力了。但他看上去比我还糟糕。他脸色非常苍白，身体很不好。我必须坚持下去。

WSJ: After all this, are you still a Bruce Lee fan?

《华尔街日报》：经过这一切后，你仍是李小龙的粉丝吗？

A: Now I admire him more, not just as a kung fu great but as a thinker. He's still inspiring me.

梁朝伟：现在我对他更加钦佩了，他不止是一位功夫大师，还是一个思想家。他仍在给我灵感。

WSJ: How so?

《华尔街日报》：为什么？

A: I learned all my knowledge from him, to think like a grandmaster. Learning kung fu was always my dream, and I never had a chance because I was not allowed to learn kung fu when I was a kid. My parents thought was there are only two kinds of people who practiced kung fu: policemen and gangsters. Sometimes in life, if you miss that chance, you will never want to learn kung fu again. I never thought I would learn it after 40-something years.

梁朝伟：我从他那里学会了要像一代宗师一样思考。学习功夫曾一直是我的梦想，但我从没有机会，因为我小时候家里不让学。我的父母认为只有两种人才会练功夫，一种是警察，一种是流氓。有时在生活中，如果你错失了这个机会，你永远都不会再想学功夫了。我从未想过自己能在40多年后再来学功夫。