Robert Redford is bidding farewell to Hollywood. The 81-year-old actor announced that he plans to retire after his role in the upcoming movie The Old Man & The Gun.
“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?”
The Oscar winner said the “framework” of his forthcoming film helped him make the decision.
“To me, that was a wonderful character to play at this point in my life,” he said of his role as real-life career criminal Forrest Tucker. “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 that he 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.”
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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.
Redford shares four children with his ex-wife, Lola Van Wagenen: Scott, 58, Shauna, 57, James, 56, and Amy, 47. He is now married to Sibylle Szaggars.
The Old Man & The Gun — which also stars Sissy Spacek, Danny Glover, Tom Waits and Casey Affleck — hits theaters on September 28.
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