Robert Duvall Tribute
Plus: Save the date for #ProjectChilis, a DYLA event
After Redford, Keaton, Reiner, and now Robert Duvall, it feels like we are losing a Hollywood legend every other week at this point. For today’s newsletter, we pay tribute to one of the greats from the New Hollywood era and beyond. Duvall was a hugely revered actor and we try to get at why.
Also, DYLA is launching #ProjectChilis this weekend. What in the world is #ProjectChilis? Find out more below.
Drew Wendt: When people discuss the GOATs of screen acting – Brando, Streep, De Niro, Day-Lewis – Robert Duvall’s name doesn’t always come up, even though he appeared in many of the greatest American films of the 20th century. Perhaps that’s because he was often a supporting player, or maybe it’s because he wasn’t the flashiest performer. What remains evident, however, is the enduring high quality of the work.
It’s staggering to survey the list of classics he contributed to: The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, Network, The Conversation, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Natural, M*A*S*H, True Grit (1969), Bullitt. And that doesn’t even account for five other Oscar-nominated performances, including a win for 1983’s Tender Mercies. Put Duvall’s resume up against his peers like Gene Hackman or Dustin Hoffman and there’s an argument to be made that he was the best actor of the bunch.
In addition to being the most iconic mafia consigliere of all-time, he excelled at playing authority figures, like a broadcast TV boss in Network or a judge in The Judge (his final Oscar nomination). Despite a very short-lived stint in the Army, he played a military figure many times, most famously as the napalm-smelling Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore in Apocalypse Now. But his father was a Navy man, which undoubtedly gave him a model for those performances. The back end of Duvall’s career included a surprising amount of variety, from small roles in heavy films like The Road and Widows, as well as a lighter touch in Secondhand Lions and Hustle. For most of his illustrious career, when Robert Duvall showed up in a movie you sat up and paid attention. His mere presence gave the movies a certain significance they might not have had otherwise.
Billy Rock: Robert Duvall is an American icon and also has hardly been the lead in his most iconic movies. He perfectly fits in with an ensemble and has often been a surprise appearance when I threw on his movies for the first time. I think of movies like M*A*S*H, Network, and Apocalypse Now where other cultural touch points have taken a stronger hold than his performance. Even his line from Apocalypse Now, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning” remained in anonymity for me until I watched the whole movie for the first time. He is so present and natural as an actor that the wide lens used for that scene and the chaos in the background hid his identity when I would see the clip pop up online.
That is a rare strength that very few actors can possess, being iconic while constantly mysterious. He was in “the club” alongside Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, and Al Pacino, but unlike these four, he either purposefully stayed out of the limelight or unfortunately didn’t get the play that other icons were afforded. While listening to tributes throughout this week I was trying to figure out my favorite faces of cinema.
Not the most successful but most comforting to see on screen. The movie may not be great, but with their presence I know that I am in good hands. We could almost do a whole podcast or newsletter on that, but Duvall is right up there on the list. The last year has been such a hard year for American actor icons leaving us. Robert Duvall, Robert Redford, and Gene Hackman gave American actors a pedigree and legitimacy during the heights of Hollywood filmmaking. An era that I did not live in, but am constantly inspired by.
#ProjectChilis
Billy: If you follow us on Instagram you may have seen a cryptic tease about an event on Saturday, March 21st.
The video below will be posted tomorrow for everyone to see, but our lovely subscribers deserve an early look at what #ProjectChilis is all about and I hope you join the movement. 14 years ago I summoned my friends using Facebook to go to Chili’s with me because I found a free appetizer coupon. This was pre-Chili’s-renaissance and the brand was at a TGI Friday’s level low point and no one responded to my enticing offer. The fallout of being snubbed and the public embarrassment is a moment that has provided laughter for myself, friends, and family since. So now I need to redeem myself and the anniversary of the event happens to coincide with the release of Project Hail Mary.
Do You Like Apples is making it a goal to integrate into the community more this year and this is our first attempt at doing that. So what can you do?
Most importantly:
Save the date: March 21, 2026
Gather your people
Get your tickets for Project Hail Mary on March 21st
Secondarily, some social media tasks to grow the campaign:
Share the video on Instagram or TikTok
If you have Letterboxd:
Also, log the movie with the caption, “#ProjectChilis with Do You Like Apples on March 21st”
This is just the beginning of this campaign and we are so excited for you to join us for #ProjectChilis