A hilarious story surrounding Billy Bob Thornton’s mentor, the late, great Robert Duvall.
This past Sunday, the Academy Award-winning actor passed away at the age of 95. Duvall was known for the dozens of film and television shows he starred in during his career, which got started in 1960. Some might know him from classic movies like The Godfather, Days of Thunder, Apocalypse Now, and the country music film Tender Mercies. Others might remember him for his more comedic roles in Kicking and Screaming and Four Christmases.
He’s a name that will go down in the history books as one of the best actors of all time, and his wife, Luciana, shared this message letting the world know that Robert Duvall had passed on:
“Yesterday we said goodbye to my beloved husband, cherished friend, and one of the greatest actors of our time. Bob passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by love and comfort. To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything. His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love for characters, a great meal, and holding court.
For each of his many roles, Bob gave everything to his characters and to the truth of the human spirit they represented. In doing so, he leaves something lasting and unforgettable to us all. Thank you for the years of support you showed Bob and for giving us this time and privacy to celebrate the memories he leaves behind.”
Since his passing, there has been an outpouring of tributes from actors, musicians, and others who knew Duvall and worked with him, drawing on special memories they shared with the famed actor.
But no one has the stories that Billy Bob Thornton has. Thornton considered Duvall his mentor as the two spent over two decades working together and forging a friendship. The two worked together on various projects including A Family Thing, Sling Blade, The Apostle, The Judge and more. Recently, Thornton appeared on the Rich Eisen Show and touched on how Duvall guided him throughout his career and left a significant impact on his life. While most of the conversation is very moving, at one point Thornton admits that, while he wishes he could share some profound secrets about his acting methods, his knowledge of them is tiny.
” wish I had more to tell you about that stuff… I spent thousands of hours with this guy, and like I said, he’s my mentor. But I probably have acting information from him or things about his roles about as much as you could fit in a walnut shell.”
Instead, Thornton shared a hilarious bit he kept up throughout their friendship, which centered on Duvall’s love for red meat.
“He talked about meat and tango. See, for about 25 years, I haven’t eaten red meat in at least 25 years, probably 27 or 28. Bobby was obsessed with steak and BBQ, and so I’ve spent these last 27, 28 years pretending that I eat meat.
I mean, he was completely obsessed. Every other week, he had a new best BBQ in the world. It’s like, ‘Well, I thought this place over in Fort Worth was the best?’ He’d go, “No, no, this place in Virginia is the best BBQ in the world!'”
Pretty funny learning that the Landman actor is not a red meat guy. As Thornton goes on, he shares that Duvall’s wife, Luciana Pedraza, knew that he did not eat red meat and was in on the joke that her husband was steak-obsessed, frequently taking Thornton to dinner. Thornton joked that if Duvall had known he did not eat meat, he probably would have “hit the roof.”
“But he would go out, he loved to order for the table, so he would order these giant steaks that were for 3 or 4, 5 people. And he liked his where they would just touch it to the grill on each side. It was essentially raw. When I was around him, when he had one of his dogs with him, I’d just feed it to the dog under the table, when he wasn’t…”
Eisen asked Thornton how he kept up this ruse for so many years, which is a fair question. If they were frequently at dinners, how did Duvall not realize that Thornton was not eating the steaks he ordered for the table?
The answer: get Duvall on a different topic.
“If you get him in a conversation in something he’s passionate about it, it could be anything it could be soccer, it could be anything in the world. He wouldn’t think about it. So I’d always kind of tee him up to start talking to people about something. And then he did that, I’d give it to somebody, or I would not ever order anything.”
A smart and hilarious move on Thornton’s end, and he even shared how Luciana knew this about her husband, too, and the two would often laugh about how they got away with this bit for so many years. At the end of his story, Rich Eisen joked that his best acting gig of all might have been convincing Robert Duvall that he was a steak eater all of those years spent together. I think I’d have to agree with Eisen on that. What a great story to share about Robert Duvall.
Check out the entire conversation while you’re here:
