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Actor Robert Duvall became known for his role as Tom Hagen, the consigliere of the Corleone crime family in Francis Ford Coppola’sThe Godfather. The actor featured in the film along with prominent artists such as Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, James Caan, and Diane Keaton. Duvall also earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for the film.
Duvall has worked with many acclaimed actors in his seventy-year career. He reunited withThe Godfatherdirector in more films and has worked with directors such as Sidney Lumet, Ron Howard, and Tony Scott. However, the legendary actor seemed to disregard the work of noted auteur Stanley Kubrick, calling him an ‘actor’s enemy’.
Also read:Stanley Kubrick Burned Down an Entire Studio While Filming The Shining Only To Have Steven Spielberg Fill It With Snakes Later
Robert Duvall Considered Stanley Kubrick An Actor’s Enemy
Robert Duvall made his film debut in the iconic Gregory Peck starrerTo Kill A Mockingbird. His illustrious seven-decade-long career has been a mix of the stage, TV, and film. The actor has worked with many legendary filmmakers and is known for his collaboration with Francis Ford Coppola, starting withThe Godfather.
Duvall made an appearance on the 2010 Awards Watch Actor’s Roundtable hosted byThe Hollywood Reporteralong with younger actors such as Ryan Gosling, Collin Firth, Mark Ruffalo, Jesse Eisenberg, and James Franco. The legendary actor amused the rest of the gang with his old-timey stories of classic films and directors.
Also read:“I could control everything… like Stanley Kubrick”: John Woo Claimed Most of His Films Were Shot Without a Script For an Insane Reason
During the talk, Eisenberg spoke about hisThe Social Networkdirector David Fincher and his penchant for more number of takes. This seemed to have irked Robert Duvall as he went on a rant about another legendary director notorious for filming many takes of the same shot. Taking a dig atStanley Kubrick, Duvall said,
“To me, the great Stanley Kubrick was an actor’s enemy…I can point to movies he’s done, the worst performances I’ve ever seen in movies: ‘The Shining,’ ‘A Clockwork Orange,’…maybe great movies but they’re terrible performances. How does he know the difference between the first take and the seventieth take?”
The hot take by Duvall on the legendary director seemingly amused the rest of the actors at the roundtable, especially Ryan Gosling who was seen snickering at the entire rant.
Also read:“I don’t do a lot of takes when it’s good”: Stanley Kubrick Blamed “Undisciplined” Actors For Fabricating Lies About His Extreme Work Process
The GodfatherStar Had Complaints About Doing Multiple Takes
In the roundtable talk, actor Robert Duvall continued his crusade against directors who demanded multiple takes by going after director David Fincher. Two of Fincher’s alumni were on the table, namely, Jesse Eisenberg and Mark Ruffalo, andThe Godfatherstar seemed to be extremely curious about Fincher’s working style.
Asking about Fincher to the rest of the group, the actor said,
“He’s always been like that, David Fincher? How about when he did ‘Se7en’? He got good results from that… I turned down a part in ‘Se7en’ maybe [his methodology is] the reason I did. Subconsciously I knew.”
Duvall, who has also directed, mentioned that his process would be more actor-centric instead of technical precision as he would be putting the actor’s performance first and then go for other shots. When asked if hisThe Godfatherdirector Francis Ford Coppola took that many takes, he quipped,
“[Coppola] did many takes. He was trying to get us to be serious while working with Jimmy Caan’s jokes…he is the greatest guy in the world. Brando is still trying to remember a joke Jimmy said twenty-five years ago.”
The actor would go on to work with hisThe Godfatherdirector on multiple films such asApocalypse Now, The Conversation,andThe Godfather Part II.
Also read:Stephen King Didn’t Want Stanley Kubrick To Cast Jack Nicholson in The Shining, Didn’t Like the Actor’s Looks Enough
Nishanth A
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2415
Nishanth A is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on TV shows with over 2,000 articles published. He has been an entertainment journalist for the past two years and a scriptwriter at various corporations before that, working on educational content. With a Communications, English Literature, and Psychology triple major, Nishanth usually covers news and analyses on Star Trek, particularly Strange New Worlds and The Next Generation; Doctor Who, the DCU, and more.A Nolan fan, Nishanth spends his time exploring the filmographies of various directors with an auteurial style or can be found making short movies of his own. He has also contributed as a feature writer for Film Companion, focusing on the South division.
