(Credits: Far Out / Josh Jensen)
Sat 18 October 2025 10:57, UK
Robert Duvall, the venerable actor whose career has spanned over six decades, has graced the screen in many roles that have earned him critical acclaim and cinephiles’ adoration. To be even a part of the Hollywood industry for so long is impressive, but to be such a critical figure for so long is almost unheard of.
From his iconic portrayal of Tom Hagen in The Godfather to the grating yet endearing Mac Sledge in Tender Mercies, Duvall has proven his versatility time and again. However, one might wonder, what is Duvall’s favourite role?
There aren’t many actors who can come and stand toe-to-toe with the resume of Robert Duvall. Over his long career, Duvall has starred alongside John Wayne and Steve McQueen and worked with directors like Francis Ford Coppola and Robert Altman.
His filmography is so extensive it covers the age of New Hollywood and beyond, with consistent supporting roles that continue to feature on the big screen. In 2015, he wrote, directed and starred in Wild Horses, a western crime thriller, and his last performance was in Netflix’s 2022 thriller, The Pale Blue Eye, where Duvall stood his ground next to Christian Bale. His convictions on cinema are so strong that he even confidently denounced Stanley Kubrick.
Yet, his personal favourite remains a somewhat unusual choice. It turns out that the actor’s most cherished part was as Joseph Stalin in the 1992 HBO television film Stalin. To try and put the epic roles previously mentioned aside and focus on this TV special is to forget everything we love about movies. But Duvall’s pick comes straight from an actor’s heart.
John Wayne and Robert Duvall on the set of ‘True Grit’. (Credits: Far Out / Paramount Pictures)
“One of my favourite parts I ever played was Joseph Stalin. That was a very difficult part to play. Very difficult,” Duvall revealed in an interview with the HuffPost Show. To prepare for the role, the actor had to delve into the complexities of a man synonymous with totalitarian rule and terror. “I had to find some sense of vulnerability, y’know what I’m saying?”
Stalin was particularly well-received in certain unexpected quarters. “I don’t read reviews, but the best review I ever read was from Nikita Mikhalkov’s father, who worked eight times for Stalin. And he said I did it OK,” Duvall elaborated. Nikita Mikhalkov, a renowned Russian filmmaker whose work includes the Oscar-winning Burnt by the Sun, comes from a family intimately familiar with Stalin’s life.
Outside of the Soviet circles, the film was highly praised, with a focus on the extraordinary access director Ivan Passer had to genuine historic Soviet sites. Thanks to Mikhail Gorbachev’s policies of openness and restructuring, the filmmakers were given previously unimaginable access to the notoriously private country. As such, Stalin could give audiences an authentic depiction of the leader’s rise and fall from 1917 to 1953.
In recent years, Armando Iannuci’s 2017 comedy, The Death of Stalin, brought the notorious Soviet leader back into popular discourse. Unlike Duvall’s sombre portrayal, this film adopts a satirical approach to the chaos following Stalin’s death, providing a hilariously contrasting lens through which to explore the man and his legacy.
As Duvall reflected on his career, it’s clear that his performance as Stalin was a milestone for him, especially in earning approval from someone so closely connected to the historical figure, with Mikhalkov stating that Duvall “touched the soul of Stalin”.
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