Robert Duvall Once Revealed the Role He Wanted Most — and Why It Never Happened
For most of his 60-plus-year career, Robert Duvall let the work come to him. The roles that defined his legacy — sprawling epics, quiet character studies, unforgettable men — arrived without much chasing. But in an under-the-radar interview from 1992, Duvall admitted there were a handful of characters he actively wanted to play. One, in particular, stayed with him for years, and never came to pass.
In his candid conversation with writer Bill DeYoung, Duvall revealed his fascination with a morally complex historical figure: the real-life industrialist at the center of Schindler’s List.
Robert Duvall Said 'Schnidler's List' Was One of the Most Moving Books He Ever Read
When DeYoung asked him if there were any roles he'd like to play that weren't offered to him, Duvall replied, “Oh yeah! I’d love to play Schindler’s List. Ah, what a character! Man. It’s one of the most moving books you’ll ever read. And it’s great — a true story!”
Duvall was drawn not to heroism in its simplest form, but to contradiction. He described the man as “a strange, complex guy,” noting that even historians couldn’t fully explain why he chose to save so many lives while still courting favor with the SS. That ambiguity, Duvall suggested, was exactly what made the role so compelling.
At the time, the project was already orbiting major directors — including Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Peter Weir — and Duvall seemed realistic, if wry, about his own chances. He joked that he may have already burned a few bridges with Australian directors along the way.
Duvall Described Going After Passion Projects as 'Tough'
In the same conversation, Duvall went on to describe another project he was trying to get off the ground — this time centered on Adolf Eichmann. Not as provocation or spectacle, but as a way to grapple with history through character.
“We’re trying to get the rights,” he explained. “Sometimes it’s slow, especially when you have personal projects. It’s very hard to raise money.”
While many of his most famous roles arrived organically, the projects that mattered most to him on a personal level rarely came easily. “Most of the things that I do have come to me,” he said. “When I’ve tried to generate something, it’s tough. I’m not good at it.”
Unlike the role he longed to play in Schindler’s List, this one eventually came to fruition. Duvall went on to star in the 2007 film Eichmann in My Hands, bringing another unsettling historical figure to the screen on his own terms.
There's no question that Duvall’s filmography is filled with iconic, fully realized performances, but as it turns out, some of the roles that intrigued him most — the ones rooted in moral tension rather than easy admiration — required persistence, patience, and personal investment.