海角大神

From 鈥楾he Godfather鈥� to 鈥楾ender Mercies,鈥� Robert Duvall made each role his own

If there is one word that characterizes what Robert Duvall stood for as an actor, it鈥檚 鈥渁uthenticity.鈥� He spent more than seven decades as an actor in movies and television and on the stage, and I鈥檇 be hard pressed to recall a single performance where he did not fully inhabit the person he was playing.

And he played an extraordinary range of characters, not all of them as famous as his roles in 鈥淭he Godfather,鈥� 鈥淎pocalypse Now,鈥� and 鈥淭ender Mercies,鈥� the latter perhaps his most lauded and best-known work. Duvall, who died Feb. 15, was an actor鈥檚 actor, meaning he always put the part first and shunned histrionics. He didn鈥檛 want us to see him acting, which, of course, is the most difficult kind of acting of all.

I first became aware of Duvall in 1962 in his brief cameo as the strangely sympathetic, hermit-like Boo Radley in 鈥淭o Kill A Mockingbird,鈥澛爐hough he had been appearing for years on stage and on television. Has there ever been a more memorable five-minute appearance in a movie? The held-in force, the air of quiet supplication, was altogether remarkable.

Duvall was not a traditional Hollywood leading man, and so much 鈥� though certainly not all 鈥� of his best work was in supporting parts. As Tom Hagen, the German Irish American consigliere in the first two 鈥淕odfather鈥� films, he epitomized the staunch bearing of a man for whom service to the king is all. His rectitude, seemingly so matter-of-fact, is chilling.聽

As Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore in 鈥淎pocalypse Now,鈥� who orders his men to wipe out a village held by the Viet Cong so his men can go surfing, he utters the egregiously immortal line: 鈥淚 love the smell of napalm in the morning.鈥� He says the words with such relish that you can practically inhale the toxicity.聽

His Academy Award-winning performance in 鈥淭ender Mercies鈥� as Mac Sledge, an alcoholic former country-western star, is perhaps his most quintessential. Duvall was big on researching his roles right down to the accuracy of regional accents. But his performance here transcends mere documentary-style realism. He summons up a complete character utilizing the sparest of means. Everything about Sledge is right there in his gait, the slope of his weary shoulders, the faint twang of heartbreak in his songs (which of course Duvall performed, and wrote some of, himself).聽

There is much else to remember Duvall by. His favorite performance, and one of his best, is as the womanizing, philosophical, retired Texas Ranger trail boss in the TV miniseries 鈥淟onesome Dove.鈥� It is one of many Western roles Duvall took on in his long career. Another of my favorites is his turn as the grizzled cattleman in 鈥淥pen Range,鈥� opposite Kevin Costner. His performance is so lived-in that he even seems to be chewing his food in character. Duvall once summed up his affinity for Westerns this way: 鈥淭he English have Shakespeare, the French Moli猫re, and the Russians Chekhov. The Western is ours.鈥�

But it didn鈥檛 really matter what era Duvall鈥檚 characters inhabited. He was not only at home on the range. He was a marvelous Dr. Watson teaming with Nicol Williamson鈥檚 Sherlock Holmes in 鈥淭he Seven-Per-Cent Solution.鈥� His TV executive in 鈥淣etwork鈥� is the archetype of corporate steeliness. He was brutally effective as the Marine fighter pilot in 鈥淭he Great Santini鈥� who cruelly challenges his son after a basketball game by bouncing a ball off the boy鈥檚 head.聽

One of Duvall鈥檚 very best films was 鈥淭he Apostle,鈥� which he wrote, directed, and starred in (and largely self-financed). He鈥檚 a Pentecostal preacher on the run who inherits a small rural church in Louisiana given him by a retired Black minister. It鈥檚 typical of Duvall that he cast the film using many real-life congregants and townspeople. It鈥檚 one of the best redemption sagas ever made.

Duvall鈥檚 secret as an actor was an open one: He respected the characters he played, their truth, and by doing so, he respected his audience by never playing down to us. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just talking and listening,鈥� he once said about acting. 鈥淣othing鈥檚 precious. Just let it sit there and find its own way.鈥澛犅犅�