In a 2016 interview with his grandson Dylan, Robert Redford revealed his plans to quit acting after wrapping up filming for his final two movies, Our Souls at Night with Jane Fonda and Old Man & The Gun, a true-story based on the life of Forrest Tucker, a career criminal and escape artist.
Two years later, while on a press tour for Old Man & The Gun, which hits theaters in September, Redford confirmed that he is not only pulling off one last job on screen, he is doing the same off screen.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, the Hollywood legend explained that he is ready to hang up his prop gun after a prolific career that spanned almost 60 years.
"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," he said. "I thought, 'Well, that's enough.' And why not go out with something that's very upbeat and positive?"
The 81-year-old first came on the scene in 1960, when he appeared in a number of television shows and the romantic comedy Tall Story. In 1969, he had is breakout role alongside Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Redford's character's name later became the inspiration for the name of the festival he co-founded in 1978, Sundance film festival.
Newman and Redford once again co-starred in The Sting (1973), which earned Redford his only Oscar nomination for acting. After decades of being snubbed, he was finally awarded an honorary Academy Award in 2002.
Hollywood's beloved golden boy isn't just a force to be reckoned with in front of the cameras, he's also had a successful career as a director. Redford even won a best director Oscar in 1980 for Ordinary People.
Although Redford is walking away from the silver screen, it doesn't mean that he is leaving the entertainment industry for good.
When asked about his return to the director's chair, Redford replied, "we'll see about that," leaving fans with a glimmer of hope.
In 2016, Redford, who hasn't directed a film since 2012's The Company You Keep, told Dylan that he might just "focus on directing" once all his acting projects are done. He also wanted to get back to painting and sketching, two things he is very passionate about.
"And a lot lately because I'm getting tired of acting," Redford said at the time. "I'm an impatient person, so it's hard for me to sit around and do take after take after take. At this point in my life, age 80, it'd give me more satisfaction because I'm not dependent on anybody. It's just me, just the way it used to be, and so going back to sketching"”that's sort of where my head is right now."
He continued, "I'm thinking of moving in that direction and not acting so much."
After 58 years, whatever Redford chooses to do, it's well deserved.
What's your favorite Robert Redford film? Let us know in the comments!
