# In 1994, Robert Duvall turned down one of the decade’s best movies. 16 years later, he admitted he’d have hated the director anyway

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/in-1994-robert-duvall-turned-down-one-of-the-decades-best-movies-16-years-later-he-admitted-hed-have-hated-the-director-anyway/
- Published: 2026-10-29T21:15:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-29T22:28:39+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/robert-duvall-turned-down-movie-hed-have-hated-director-anyway/
- Topics: Business, Entertainment, Film, Markets

## Key points

- Robert Duvall declined the role of Somerset in *Seven*.
- He objected to David Fincher’s high number of takes.
- Duvall had earlier passed on *The Silence of the Lambs*.

## Summary

Robert Duvall turned down the role of Detective William Somerset in David Fincher’s 1995 thriller *Seven*, a film that later became widely regarded as a modern classic. Years afterwards, Duvall said he might have made the right choice because he disliked Fincher’s demanding approach to filming.

At a 2010 roundtable, Duvall reacted with dismay to accounts of Fincher shooting dozens of takes on *The Social Network* and *Zodiac*. The article says Duvall had also passed on playing Hannibal Lecter in *The Silence of the Lambs*, choosing *Days of Thunder* instead; Gene Hackman and Al Pacino had also declined the Somerset role.

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