The Oscar-winning performance Marlon Brando would have loved, according to Robert Duvall
Thanks in large part to his eccentric antics both on and off-camera, not many people could guess what Marlon Brando was thinking. Robert Duvall had a better idea than most, though, which put him in the position to suggest an Academy Award-winning performance would have bowled over the late legend.
Brando certainly knew what it took to win the most prestigious performative accolade in the business after garnering two of his own for On the Waterfront and The Godfather, not to mention six additional nominations. Of course, his lasting contribution to acting is much greater than his trophy haul, with the definitive method man leaving behind an imprint that remains as indented in Hollywood as ever.
Duvall is no slouch as a thespian, either, and he became close friends with Brando when they worked on Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece. The latter may have become increasingly unruly as his career wore on, and it became clear he was falling out of love with the profession that gave him his livelihood, but he still knew a knockout turn when he saw one.
Unfortunately, Brando had been dead for almost a decade before the film in question was even released, so nobody really knows for sure whether or not it would have gotten his personal seal of approval. Still, Duvall was confident that it was such a showcase for the style he’d helped popularise that he wouldn’t have been left with any other choice but to applaud.
What makes it even more curious is that several years beforehand, Duvall probably would have been laughed out of the room were he to suggest that no less of an illustrious talent than Brando would be mesmerised by the work being delivered by Matthew McConaughey, who at the time of the icon’s passing was best known for parading around shirtless in a string of forgettable rom-coms.
Fortunately, the McConaissance nipped that era in the bud and reinvented the star as one of the foremost dramatic talents of his generation. The cherry on top of the icing on a cake that was already looking plenty delicious came with Dallas Buyers Club, a haunting performance that deservedly landed McConaughey a ‘Best Actor’ victory at the Oscars.
Duvall has never been one to pay much heed to awards season, but he’s been around the block more than a few times, so he’s nonetheless appreciative of acting’s modernisation and the next crop of top-tier talents who’ve been leading the way. “To me, young actors are better than ever,” he told The Guardian before singling out the aforementioned movie. “McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club; Brando would have taken his hat off if he was alive.”
Recognition doesn’t get any higher profile than winning an Oscar for ‘Best Actor’, but one of Brando’s old running buddies suggesting he’d have been tipping his hat towards McConaughey is definitely right up there alongside it.
