Robert Redford is Retiring From Acting

In an interview with EW, the 81-year-old actor confirmed he was making good on his 2016 claim that he was retiring from acting. The Old Man & The Gun is the last film in which he’ll act.

“Never say never, but I pretty well concluded that this would be it for me in terms of acting, and [I’ll] move towards retirement after this ’cause I’ve been doing it since I was 21,” Redford told Entertainment Weekly in an interview published on Monday, August 6. “I thought, ‘Well, that’s enough.’ And why not go out with something that’s very upbeat and positive?”

He noted that the “framework” and the story in Old Man helped shepherd him to this conclusion. In the David Lowery-directed film, Redford plays Forrest Tucker, the real-life career criminal in love with his self-appointed job of robbing banks and breaking out of prison. “To me, that was a wonderful character to play at this point in my life,” the Oscar winner said of Tucker, whose stickups spanned over 60 years. “The thing that really got me about him — which I hope the film shows — is he robbed 17 banks and he got caught 17 times and went to prison 17 times. But he also escaped 17 times. So it made me wonder: I wonder if he was not averse to getting caught so he that could enjoy the real thrill of his life, which is to escape?”

This might not be the last time Redford steps foot on set, though. When asked whether he sees himself directing future projects, he responded, “We’ll see about that.”

The Sundance Film Festival founder, who hinted in 2016 that he planned to retire soon, has starred in blockbusters including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), The Sting (1973), All the President’s Men (1976) and Out of Africa (1985), among many others. He was honored with the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2002. He received a Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama in 2016.

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The Old Man & The Gun, which Redford also produced, co-stars Sissy Spacek, Danny Glover, Tom Waits, and Casey Affleck, and will be released via Fox Searchlight on Sept. 28. It will be playing at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

Redford kicked off his acting career in TV and film in 1960, nearly 60 years ago.

(Excerpts) Read More at: USMagazine.com and EW.com