Robert Redford has confirmed that he will retire from acting following the release of his upcoming film, The Old Man & the Gun. The 81-year-old star told Entertainment Weekly that he has “pretty well concluded that this would be it for me in terms of acting”. He added: “Never say never, but I’ve been doing it since I was 21. I thought, ‘Well, that’s enough.’”
The film, a crime comedy directed by David Lowery, sees Redford playing career criminal Forrest Tucker. It is due for release in September after its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. Redford had previously suggested in 2016 that he would retire after two more roles, the first being Our Souls at Night, a romance opposite Jane Fonda released on Netflix in September 2017.
Redford began acting in 1960 with television roles and a small part in the basketball drama Tall Story. His profile rose through films such as The Chase and Barefoot in the Park, before he teamed with Paul Newman in 1969’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Their second collaboration, 1973’s The Sting, remains his biggest box-office success and earned him his only competitive Oscar nomination for acting. He received an honorary Oscar in 2001.
Redford has also built a successful career as a director, winning the best director Oscar for Ordinary People in 1980 and earning a nomination for Quiz Show in 1994. In 1978, he co-founded what became the Sundance Film Festival and currently serves as president of the Sundance Institute. When asked about continuing to direct, he said: “We’ll see about that.”
