Unit 40: What were you doing?

1. Were you still asleep?

(Stephen works for The Weekly Echo as a reporter. He's often late for work.)

Helen	So there you are.
Stephen	Hello.
Helen	What were you doing when I rang an hour ago? Were you still asleep?
Stephen	No.
Helen	I thought you were—"This is Stephen Collins. Who's that?"
Stephen	I was having breakfast when the phone rang.
Helen	Having breakfast—at ten o'clock?
Stephen	I had a late night last night. I was working until midnight.
Helen	Working?
Stephen	Yes—well, most of the time.
Helen	Tom wanted to see you.
Stephen	Oh?
Helen	He said he always got up at six when he was a young newspaper reporter. And when he was your age, he started work at eight every day.
Stephen	Eight!
Helen	He wanted to know if you started work at eleven o'clock every day.
Stephen	Of course not. Er — where is he?
Helen	In his office. He said he was waiting for you.
Stephen	Oh, well. I'll go and see him. By the way, what's all this?
Helen	Paul Oldman is in town today. I'm going to talk to him for The Weekly Echo.
Stephen	That's strong.
Helen	I know.

2. Did you see the accident?

(George Miller, an old man, was there when the accident happened.)

Edith	George, this young man's from the newspaper, The Weekly Echo.
Stephen	Hello, Mr. Miller.
George	Edith.
Edith	Yes.
George	He smells.
Edith	Lots of young men smell. Anyway—it's nice. (To Stephen) He wanted to know if you worked for The Weekly Echo.
Stephen	Mr. Miller, you saw the accident, I believe, in South Street, yesterday.
George	I told the policeman. I was walking down South Street when the accident happened.
Edith	I'll make a cup of tea.
Stephen	Yes, go on, Mr. Miller.
George	Well, when I was walking down South Street, this accident happened.
Stephen	Yes. There were two cars, I believe.
George	Yes, that's right. Two cars had an accident— while I was walking down South Street.
Stephen	Could you tell me about it, Mr. Miller? What happened?
George	Well, I told the policeman. I said I always walk down South Street in the afternoon.
Stephen	Yes, but did you see the accident, Mr. Miller?
George	I walk down South Street every day, and I look in the shop windows. I was looking in a shop window when the accident happened.
Stephen	You were looking in a shop window? So you didn't see the accident?
George	No. That's what I told the policeman.
Edith	Here's the tea. Did you tell him, George?
Stephen	Yes, he told me. He was looking in a shop window when the accident happened.
Edith	Oh, good.
George	Edith?
Edith	Yes?
George	Why does he smell?
Edith	Sh! (To Stephen) He wanted to know if you take sugar in your tea.
Stephen	No, thanks.

3. A good actor can be anything.

(Paul Oldman is in town. Helen goes and interviews him.)

Helen	Can I ask you some questions, Mr. Oldman?
Paul	Paul.
Helen	Thanks, Paul. And I'm Helen. Can we talk about you?
Paul	About me? Isn't there a more interesting subject we can talk about? Well, if we must talk about me, my first film was Holiday Hotel.People told me I was quite good in that.
Helen	Oh, you were.
Paul	That was in 1968. And then there was October Night. I played a doctor in that film.
Helen	I remember.
Paul	In 1971,1 was the husband in Green Valley. In 1972,1 was in Bus Driver.
Helen	You were the bus driver.
Paul	Of course.
Helen	And you got married that year.
Paul	Did I? Oh, yes, to Pauline. Dear Pauline. Then in 1973 I was the king in Small Country. Some people said I was a big king in a small country.
Helen	" ... a big king in a small country."
Paul	Now, that's enough, Helen. You don't want to hear any more about me.
Helen	Oh, I do.
Paul	Well, there's very little to say, really. In 19741 played Charles West in West is West. I got my Oscar in 1975, of course. That was for Friday Night Flowers. Oh—and I got married again —to Barbara. That's right, in 1975. Then in 1976 there was that very good film, Peter's Problem. Very funny. And after that people knew I could be funny, as well as serious. People don't think you can be both, Helen, but a good actor can be anything. Then in 1977 I was "the other man" in The Only Man. And I got married to Jennifer. 1978 — I was in American Airport. 1979, well, you know what I did in 1979, I'm sure—The Beach.
Helen	Oh, yes. It was very good.
Paul	Helen!
Helen	Yes?
Paul	I am not going to say another word about me. Now we are going to talk about you.
Helen	What do you want to know, Paul?

4. I want to know about you.

Paul	I want to know about you, Helen. What do you think of my last film?