“Sometimes directors will hire you and say, 'Oh, we love your work.' And then they start to tell you how to do it. I say, 'Hey, man, back off. You hired me to do it. Let me do it.'”

American actor and filmmaker

Robert Duvall is an American actor and filmmaker, active from the 1950s onward. Born in 1931, he is best known for his work in film and television, especially in the later 20th century. He began his professional acting career on stage in 1952, spent several summers at the Gateway Playhouse in Bellport on Long Island, and paused for a year to serve in the U.S. Army. Those early theater connections led to television work in the 1960s, including appearances on The Defenders, Playhouse 90, and Armstrong Circle Theatre. He made his Broadway debut in Wait Until Dark in 1966 and returned to the stage in 1977 with David Mamet’s American Buffalo, for which he received a Drama Desk Award nomination.