‘A Few Good Men’ is back for the Trump era. Did Aaron Sorkin help get us here?

The arc of Bradley Whitford’s career makes for a grim report card on the state of the country. Whitford first became internationally famous as Josh Lyman, the pinup boy for competent and courageous liberalism over seven seasons of “ The West Wing ,” Aaron Sorkin’s paragon of institutional optimism. But in recent years, the actor has drifted towards roles that paint a much darker picture of the US government: a Christofascist leader in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a snarky grump of a senator in “Death by Lightning” and the curmudgeonly first gentleman helping to cover up deadly government secrets in “The Diplomat.”

None of this is intentional, Whitford said in an interview, although he jokingly conceded there appears to be a theme in his career choices: “You’re sort of tracing the fall of democracy.”

Whitford’s latest role feels just as dire a diagnostic point. Appearing in the first Broadway revival of Sorkin’s 1989 breakout play “A Few Good Men” (which became the 1992 movie), the 67-year-old actor is starring as Col. Nathan R. Jessep, the pugilistic, villainous Marine Corps leader overseeing a unit where one young member has been killed by two others during a punishing ritual. Whitford’s casting is especially symbolic given he made his Broadway debut in the original production, first as an understudy and then eventually as Lt. Daniel A. Kaffee, the principled defense attorney, played in this production by British actor Tom Blyth.

Whitford’s transformation from hero to villain in this new production, which runs at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater until Jan. 10, comes at an especially potent time given that the Pentagon under the leadership of Sec. Pete Hegseth has been marred by a series of scandals that feel almost drawn from “A Few Good Men,” including accusations of sexism , excessive focus on the so-called culture wars and concerns that troops were being given illegal orders. “It’s even more relevant than it ever was,” Whitford said. “It’s not only relevant in that sort of ripped-from-the-headlines way, but I really feel like there is a fundamental dangerous argument going on in this world. It’s tilting to a dangerous side that I hope it pulls back from.”

The reunion of Sorkin and Whitford here is an ironic one, though, given some have argued “The West Wing” bears some responsibility for how we got to a moment where this new play is suddenly imbued with such renewed meaning. The show has frequently been derided as a liberal fantasy wherein entrenched problems and political footballs can be resolved via soaring speeches and attitude of “When they go low, Democrats still go high-minded.” The show’s Republicans feel like relics compared to leaders like President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement. Writing for the New York Times in 2024, Gawker founding editor Elizabeth Spiers expressly pinned blame on Sorkin for infecting “a whole generation of political professionals” with “Terminal ‘West Wing’ Brain,” a liberal fantasy that Spiers argued favors rhetoric over ruthlessness and “is preventing Democrats from functioning effectively” in the Trump era. The socialist provocateur podcasters on “Chapo Trap House” in 2022 similarly accused the show of being the “Rosetta Stone for everything stupid about what contemporary liberals currently believe” and accused Sorkin of doing more damage to America’s political imagination than anyone since “The Birth of a Nation” director D. W. Griffith.

David Burnett/NBC/Courtesy Everett Collection

Whitford conceded the show was always “aspirational storytelling,” but he insisted that there were elements of realism in it, too. “People would always say it was a fantasy, and it would always confuse me a little bit because if you look back at the Bartlet administration, which of course was fake, we didn’t get much done,” he said. “That show was about the difficult fight to move an inch forward without disappearing in the mud.”

For Whitford, cynicism is far more dangerous to democracy than corniness. “I’m proud of being part of the show,” he added. “Public service is very, very important, and we need a functioning government, we need a functioning diplomatic corps, and when we become cynical about it, we’re jeopardizing our children’s future.”

“A Few Good Men” is itself an aspirational quest for justice. The play, scribbled in early drafts on cocktail napkins when Sorkin was working as a bartender, follows Kaffee and Lt. Cmdr. JoAnne Galloway (Krysta Rodriguez) as they represent two Marines charged in the death of a struggling member of their unit. Were they ordered by Jessep to assault the young Marine? And if so, what legal and ethical responsibility should they shoulder for his death? (In the movie, which Sorkin also wrote, the three leads were played by Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, and Jack Nicholson.)

Dressed in fatigues on the play’s cavernous, military hangar-like set and sporting a slight Southern accent, Whitford’s Jessep feels a world away from Josh Lyman. It’s also a notably different portrayal to Nicholson’s, whose white-hot rage bubbled under each scene of the movie, creating a more menacing character. Whitford’s turn is smarmier and more irksome, in line with some of his past films, from 2017’s “Get Out” to 1995’s “Billy Madison.” It’s also hard not to see flashes of Hegseth in this Jessep’s smugness and cockiness.

“There is a lot of fun in this,” Whitford told reporters, recalling a conversation he said he had with “The Handmaid’s Tale” author Margaret Atwood. “She said a very disturbing thing: ‘It’s very hard for us to accept the fact that it was fun to be a fascist.’”

It was Michael Arden, the Tony-winning director helming the new production of “A Few Good Men,” who suggested to Sorkin that they cast Whitford as Jessup. “I don’t think he got to the second name before I said yes,” Sorkin told reporters. “When you’re a writer and you find an actor like Brad, you just handcuff them to the radiator. You want to work with them always.”

Arden said in an interview that his intention in casting Whitford as the villain was not to weaponize the audience’s memories of the actor as a one-time liberal icon. The director also defended “The West Wing,” crediting the show with making many people interested in government and its players to begin with.

As for whether the triumph of justice in the play would play out in the America of today, Arden demurred. “I don’t know the answer to that,” he said. “I think that’s the question we want the audience to ask.”

Why Sen. Thom Tillis wishes he voted against confirming Pete Hegseth

布拉德利·惠特福德的演艺生涯轨迹，恰恰反映了美国现状的严峻现状。惠特福德最初因在《白宫风云》中饰演乔什·莱曼一角而享誉国际，在七季的剧集中，他扮演的莱曼是能力出众、勇敢无畏的自由主义者的典范，也是艾伦·索金笔下制度乐观主义的化身。但近年来，这位演员的角色却逐渐转向描绘美国政府阴暗面的作品：例如在《使女的故事》中饰演基督教法西斯主义领袖，在《雷击》中饰演尖酸刻薄的参议员，以及在《外交官》中饰演帮助掩盖致命政府秘密的脾气古怪的第一先生。

惠特福德在一次采访中表示，这一切都不是有意为之，尽管他开玩笑地承认，他的职业选择似乎有一个主题：“你某种程度上是在追溯民主的衰落。”

惠特福德的最新角色似乎同样具有诊断意义。这位67岁的演员出演了索尔金1989年成名作《好人寥寥》（后于1992年改编成电影）的百老汇复排版，饰演好斗残暴的海军陆战队上校内森·R·杰塞普，他指挥的部队中一名年轻成员在一次惩罚仪式中被另外两名成员杀害。惠特福德的选角尤其具有象征意义，因为他正是在百老汇首演中担任该剧的替补演员，最终出演了正直的辩护律师丹尼尔·A·卡菲中尉，而卡菲中尉在本版中由英国演员汤姆·布莱斯饰演。

在林肯中心薇薇安·博蒙特剧院上演至1月10日的这部新剧中，惠特福德从英雄到反派的转变显得尤为引人注目，因为在国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯的领导下，五角大楼丑闻缠身，几乎就像是从电影《义海雄风》中走出来的一样，包括性别歧视指控、过度关注所谓的文化战争以及士兵被下达非法命令的担忧。“这部剧比以往任何时候都更具现实意义，”惠特福德说。“它不仅因为这些事件与时事新闻紧密相关，而且我真的觉得这个世界正在发生一场根本性的危险争论。它正朝着危险的一边倾斜，我希望它能回正。”

索尔金和惠特福德的重聚颇具讽刺意味，因为有人认为，正是《白宫风云》促成了这部新剧如今焕发出如此新的意义。该剧经常被嘲讽为自由派的幻想，认为根深蒂固的问题和政治难题可以通过慷慨激昂的演讲和“即便他们卑鄙无耻，民主党人依然高尚”的态度来解决。与唐纳德·特朗普总统和“让美国再次伟大”（MAGA）运动等领导人相比，剧中的共和党人显得格格不入。2024年，《纽约时报》刊登了Gawker网站创始编辑伊丽莎白·斯皮尔斯的文章，她明确指责索尔金让“整整一代政治专业人士”染上了“白宫风云”式的思维模式。斯皮尔斯认为，这种自由派幻想模式崇尚华丽的辞藻而非冷酷无情，并且“阻碍了民主党人在特朗普时代有效运作”。 2022 年，“Chapo Trap House”播客上的社会主义挑衅者们也同样指责该节目是“当代自由派目前所有愚蠢想法的罗塞塔石碑”，并指责索尔金对美国政治想象力造成的损害比《一个国家的诞生》导演 DW Griffith 以来的任何人都大。

大卫·伯内特/NBC/埃弗雷特收藏公司供图

惠特福德承认这部剧一直都是“励志故事”，但他坚持认为其中也包含现实主义元素。“人们总是说它是虚构的，这总是让我有点困惑，因为如果你回顾巴特利特政府时期（当然，那是虚构的），我们并没有取得多少成就，”他说。“这部剧讲述的是在泥潭中艰​​难前行、寸步难行的故事。”

惠特福德认为，犬儒主义对民主的危害远大于老套。“我很荣幸能参与这个节目，”他补充道。“公共服务非常非常重要，我们需要一个运转良好的政府，我们需要一个运转良好的外交机构，如果我们对这一切抱持犬儒主义的态度，我们就是在拿我们孩子的未来冒险。”

《义海雄风》本身就是一部追求正义的励志剧。该剧的早期草稿是索尔金在酒吧当调酒师时写在餐巾纸上的，讲述了卡菲和海军中校乔安妮·加洛韦（克丽丝塔·罗德里格斯饰）为两名海军陆战队员辩护，这两名队员被控杀害了一名正在与困境抗争的战友。他们是否奉杰塞普之命殴打了这名年轻的海军陆战队员？如果是，他们应该为他的死承担怎样的法律和道德责任？（在索尔金也参与编剧的电影版中，三位主角分别由汤姆·克鲁斯、黛米·摩尔和杰克·尼科尔森饰演。）

在舞台上，惠特福德身着迷彩服，站在如同军用机库般空旷的布景中，操着一口略带南方口音的腔调，他饰演的杰塞普与乔什·莱曼的版本截然不同。这与尼科尔森的演绎也大相径庭，尼科尔森在电影中将杰塞普的怒火演绎得淋漓尽致，令这个角色更具威胁性。惠特福德的表演则更加油滑，也更加令人厌烦，这与他之前的一些作品，例如2017年的《逃出绝命镇》和1995年的《比利·麦迪逊》中的杰塞普风格一脉相承。此外，杰塞普的自鸣得意和傲慢自大，也让人不禁联想到赫格塞斯的影子。

“这其中有很多乐趣，”惠特福德告诉记者，他回忆起自己与《使女的故事》作者玛格丽特·阿特伍德的一次谈话。“她说了一句非常令人不安的话：‘我们很难接受当法西斯分子很有趣这个事实。’”

是托尼奖得主、执导新版《义海雄风》的导演迈克尔·阿登向索尔金建议让惠特福德饰演杰瑟普。“我估计他还没说完第二个名字我就答应了，”索尔金告诉记者。“当你身为编剧，发现像布拉德这样的演员时，你恨不得把他绑在暖气片上。你只想一直和他合作。”

阿登在一次采访中表示，他选择惠特福德饰演反派并非意在利用观众对这位演员昔日自由派偶像的记忆。这位导演还为《白宫风云》辩护，认为正是这部剧让许多人开始关注政府及其成员。

至于剧中正义的胜利是否会在当今的美国上演，阿登不愿置评。“我不知道答案，”他说，“我想这正是我们希望观众思考的问题。”

为什么参议员汤姆·蒂利斯后悔当初投票反对确认皮特·赫格塞斯的任命