In interviews, Hunter Hayes often tells the story of how he first met actor Robert Duvall while performing in a downtown Breaux Bridge restaurant. The year was 1996, and the Louisiana Grammy Award nominee was only days from his fifth birthday. He was performing with a local band on the night he met the legendary actor. Duvall was in town filming “The Apostle,” in which he not only acted and directed but also wrote. The actor was so impressed by Hayes’ performance that he invited the young musician to appear in a scene in the film and later presented Hayes with a guitar — his first. The meeting turned into a friendship that was pivotal for Hayes as a musician. But in light of the Oscar-winning actor’s Feb. 15 death at age 95, reader Cynthia Jardon wanted to know the name of the restaurant where the two met.
“I’ve heard Hunter Hayes tell the story in interviews, but the restaurant is never named,” the Alexandria resident said. “It was really a historical moment for them, so now I’m curious about the restaurant. Where did this moment happen? ” That question is easily answered by Hayes’ parents, Leo and Lynette Hayes — the restaurant was Mulate’s. Lynette Hayes remembers seeing Duvall and his wife, Luciana, dancing while local band, the Lee Benoit Band, played. Though Hunter Hayes was only 4, the band often invited him to bring his accordion on stage to join in a couple of tunes. The Hayes family lived in Breaux Bridge at the time. Hayes’ parents now live near him in the Nashville area.
As for the restaurant, Jardon said the Cafe Des Amis was the first restaurant that came to mind when reading about the Hayes-Duvall meeting. “I remember how famous people who ate there signed the poles in the Cafe Des Amis,” she said. “And I remember seeing an autograph by Robert Duvall on the door.” Duvall’s inscription? “I love the smell of napalm in the morning, Bobby Duvall.” The inscription offers proof that Duvall had visited the restaurant, which opened in 1992, but the autograph, like the restaurant, is no longer there. The eatery closed its doors in 2017, and it has since reopened as the Cafe Syndie Mae. “All of the autographs are gone,” said Tina Begnaud, executive director of the Breaux Bridge Area Chamber of Commerce. “But there were a lot of famous people who passed through there. The former owner, Dickie Breaux, even had the Beach Boys there one night.”
So, Mulate’s was the place, and Duvall and his wife, Luciana, were in town for the seven-week filming of “The Apostle.” Duvall was a movie legend with such roles as Don Corleone’s consigliere Tom Hagen in “The Godfather” movies, Major Frank Burns in “M*A*S*H,” former Texas Ranger Gus McCrae in “Lonesome Dove,” volatile Marine fighter pilot Lt. Col. Wilbur “Bull” Meechum in “The Great Santini” and his Oscar-winning role as Mac Sledge, the former country music singer who finds redemption, in “Tender Mercies.” And that’s not forgetting the role of Lt. Col. Kilgore in “Apocalypse Now,” where his famous “napalm” line became his most memorable catch phrase — the same phrase he inscribed on the Cafe Des Amis door.
But the character of a charismatic Pentecostal preacher named Euliss F. “Sonny” Dewey was his focus while filming “The Apostle” in Acadiana. The movie co-starred Walton Goggins, Billy Bob Thornton, June Carter Cash and Farrah Fawcett. And the cast included Hunter Hayes in a church scene among a group of churchgoers in the Acadiana area. After hearing the young musician play, Duvall approached his parents’ table and asked if their son could appear in his film. The Hayes family joined the Duvalls for dinner a couple of times afterward, then invited the Duvalls to Hunter’s fifth birthday party. That’s when Hunter Hayes’ music career forever changed. Duvall not only attended the birthday party but presented the young musician with a beginner guitar and amplifier.
But this wasn’t just any guitar — it was Hunter Hayes’ first. Hayes didn’t waste any time in learning to play it. Today, he plays guitar, accordion and piano in his repertoire of country pop music and has shared the stage with such artists as Taylor Swift, Hank Williams Jr., Merle Haggard, Carrie Underwood, Johnny Cash and Stevie Wonder. And through it all, Hunter Hayes and his parents maintained a friendship with Duvall, keeping in touch with the actor and exchanging annual Christmas cards. Lynette Hayes remembers the actor as the most down-to-earth, kindest and humble person. Now Duvall is a part of Hunter Hayes’ musical journey. Curious Louisiana is a community-driven reporting project that connects readers to our newsrooms’ resources to dig, research and find answers about the Pelican State. Bottom line: If you’ve got a question about something Louisiana-centric, click here to ask us or email us at curiouslouisiana@theadvocate.com.…Read more by Robin Miller