Whether he played soldiers, cowboys, lawyers or men coming apart at the seams, Duvall brought empathy to the roles not sentimentality
Illustration/Uday Mohite
I love the smell of napalm in the morning… smells like victory
— Robert Duvall as Major Bill Kilgore in Apocalypse Now
Robert Duvall, had the knack of “smelling” out great parts — he proudly embellished a six-decade-long career, because of this nose for smelling out parts that had great flavour, as well as the potential for great fable. Whether he was playing the orphaned consigliere Tom Hagen in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather, his coiled menace never reaching a proportion of open threat, making calm seem dangerous, a whispered warning often bearing the same significance as a deafening shout, or his internal patriotism yet brutal battalion leader in Apocalypse Now, the small but significant role of Major Bill Kilgore, a few words of critical dialogue securing him a place in the lexicon of greatness.
Duvall never chased celebrityhood, he chased truth, he made roles seem lived in, not performed — he didn’t dominate roles, he inhabited them.
Whether he played soldiers, cowboys, lawyers or men coming apart at the seams, Duvall brought empathy to the roles not sentimentality.
Robert Duvall passed away last week, aged 95. He was essentially a stage man, who grew into a screen icon - though the acting was always subtle, his performances were always authentic, understated and unapologetic. Duvall was uncompromising in his preparation for a role, the gaits, the accents, he worked on tirelessly and rigorously. He scoffed at the idea that someone should sing for him in “Tender Mercies”, as the washed-up country singer Mac Sledge. He learnt to sing and play guitar, for the role that won him an Oscar in 1984.
Robert Duvall was famously called Hollywood’s No. 1 No. 2 lead actor — he was the best supporting actor in the industry who often overshadowed the main stars.
Duvall, excelled in his silences, believing that his strength in delivering intense layered performances was derived from the early theatre training under Sanford Meisner, something he did with Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman when they were broke nobodies, sharing a New York apartment in 1955. The trio became friends, and in many ways they began to represent the tribe of Great American Actors.
Taking on parts that represented the very nation that nurtured them.
Robert Duvall, was unhurried in his acting style, his self- awareness never merged into self-indulgence, he strongly believed that “in a scene you can start with zero and end with zero. You let the process take you to the result rather than going for the result — you come in with nothing and see where it goes, like life, then if something good happens, because you didn’t push it, then you will be rewarded around the corner.”
According to actor/friend Billy Bob Thornton, “Bobby didn’t like to talk about acting, he enjoyed talking character, he was passionate about steaks, the more rare the better, he danced the Tango, he was a cowboy at heart, loved Westerns, believing he was the epitome of the Texan cowboy.”
Duvall, believed theatre training gave you a method to rely on, he said famously — “Meisner taught us about ‘form’, that the form you have created for your character cannot vary, but you can improvise within it, which I did all through my career, ‘improvise within the form’ it helped me get through night after night, show after show in the theatre and take after take in film”.
Robert Duvall could always be anyone, but was always himself. He was the master storyteller in his acting, giving audiences a sense of the era, the ethos, the experience. He always felt that you need to keep the emotions within your own temperament. Your anger, your vulnerability required for the role, needs to be within your temperament, without stepping out of it, or it becomes “acting”. He spoke of trusting audiences to lean in and listen, not be spoon fed. He believed in being in the present, The psychological backstory was not as important as “being in the present” emotionally.
Robert Duvall always played parts that were memorable without being showy. He had without a doubt one of the most quietly formidable careers in American Film. Rest in peace, sir.
Rahul daCunha is an adman, theatre director/playwright, filmmaker and traveller. Reach him at rahul.dacunha@mid-day.com
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