Willie Robertson Explores His Storytelling Legacy with Andy Erwin

Willie Robertson Explores His Storytelling Legacy with Andy Erwin

By Movieguide® Contributor

Willie Robertson recently sat down with Kingdom Story Company’s Andy Erwin on “The Storytellers” podcast to share his tale-spinning roots and quirks that make his stories stand out.

As a TV show creator, speaker and podcast host, Robertson possesses ample experience in storytelling. He learned the art early in life.

“So growing up, we were really poor, but we weren’t like angry poor; we just didn’t have anything, but we were happy,” the DUCK DYNASTY star explained on the podcast’s April 16 episode. “So kind of the dynamics, which kind of is where DUCK COMMANDER, that table scene came from, was that it was a smaller table at that point. But we would have meals together, you know, like especially dinner or supper.”

“So mom would cook or dad would cook, you know, they’d cook something together, and then we’d all sit down, and we would eat, and that’s where these stories came from. And my dad was just such a great storyteller,” he said about his dad, Phil Robertson. “I mean, he just was over the top, and so we had all these stories.”

As a family who hunted for their livelihood, their backdrops for stories were usually about game and food.

“So it’d be like, let’s say we were eating, you know, let’s say ducks, it would be like, when we’re eating the ducks, we’re talking about how many we got… and then there’s arguments [where] you try to one-up each other,” Robertson explained. “So as a kid, you just listened, and what was interesting…it’s such a different dynamic now than how I grew up ‘cause, the kids, we didn’t say much, you know, we just kind of sat down there.”

“Because my grandparents at the time were alive, my dad’s parents, and so they were there, and so you just kind of listened, and then you’d laugh, and so I think that’s where I just kind of learned how to tell these stories and get to the point—if you ever had something to say as a kid, you know, it was a big moment, you know, and it was like don’t screw this up. It’s like, ‘Well, yeah, I got something.’ Everybody looks at you, and you’re like, ‘Oh, I’m nervous,’ you know. I’m like, I hope this comes out good.”

The stories didn’t always come “out good,” but Robertson learned from his mistakes as he developed his tale-telling skills.

“You can tell when it fell flat,” he said. “It’s a hard audience. Dad [would] be like, okay, all right.”

“So that’s where we kind of learned. There wasn’t a whole lot of TV, you know, we had three channels, and since it was one TV, it was, you know, pretty much whatever dad watched when he was there or Mom,” he said. “And then, so you know, we would get home, we would watch the DUKES OF HAZZARD, but we always had to work, so we were so we had to fold boxes for the duck calls while we watched DUKES OF HAZZARD.”

Robertson also honed his skills with observation and imitation.

“I used to always do imitations of people, and so I really watch the nuances of people, and I’ll pick up on a quirk pretty soon, drop it in there. That’s something I notice and love doing it with my wife,” he said about Korie Robertson. “Just the little things she does, you know, little words she’ll say.”

Robertson surrounds himself with good storytellers outside of his family, too. Country star Luke Bryan is a favorite of his.

“I mean, he makes everything funny. It’s just entertaining,” he said. “So, and that’s so funny, we do BUCK COMMANDER together, so we filmed a lot together, and yeah, sometimes he’ll come up with these ideas, and it’s like, Luke, there’s no way, but he, as far as an audience, like one of the best entertainers, which is why he’s such a good entertainer just on the stage.”

“He’s so captivating, and so I think being around people like that, people who are great storytellers, you kind of pick up, and so there’s probably a version of imitating there. And then yeah, and I think, you know, and again…I think dealing with heart issues through laughter and through being able to tell a story has been helpful,” he told Erwin.

Robertson’s relationship with Bryan goes back over a decade. In 2013, Robertson shared, “I met Luke and Jason actually through Adam LaRoche, who came up playing for the Atlanta Braves and so, the Georgia guys, and they had met, and Adam had really connected and stayed with these guys. We used to bring them to deer camp.”

At the time, Bryan hadn’t yet honed his hunting skills. But he was still good for something.

“Really, honestly, the only value they brought to us at the time was just to sing and entertain us. So, they would sit around, and we had a lot of fun,” Robertson said.

In 2013, the duo made audiences chuckle at the Country Music Award Christmas Special with their song parody, “Hairy Christmas.”

Recently, Robertson helped tell his dad Phil’s story in THE BLIND biopic. The movie depicts Phil and his wife, ‘Miss Kay’ Robertson’s, redemptive love story and his struggle with addiction.

Movieguide@ reported:

“This movie shows me at my worst moments. It wasn’t easy for me to watch, especially at first,” [Phil] said. “But The Blind is also a movie about love and hope. If a scoundrel like me can be redeemed, then believe me, so can you. There’s nothing you’ve done that’s beyond God’s grace.”

“It was important to us that the film be real,” said Willie Robertson, Robertson’s son. “The transformation of Phil proves that anyone can change and that there is always hope.”

A man of many trades, Robertson also acted in an episode of THE LAST MAN STANDING series. In 2014, he won a Movieguide® Grace Prize® and a Teddy Bear Award® for his performance.

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