Robert Redford to Retire From Acting: 'That's Enough'

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Robert Redford says he’s retiring from acting after teasing the end of his career in front of the camera two years ago.

“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, 81, told Entertainment Weekly. “I thought, Well, that’s enough. And why not go out with something that’s very upbeat and positive?”

In 2016, Redford said he would retire from acting after “The Old Man & the Gun,” which stars Casey Affleck and Donald Glover, and focus more on directing. “The Old Man & the Gun” will be screening at next month’s Toronto International Film Festival.

Also Read: Robert Redford To Retire From Acting: 'Goodbye To All That'

“I’m getting tired of acting,” Redford had said. “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.

“So, I’m thinking of moving in that direction and not acting so much. I’ve got two acting projects in the works: ‘Our Souls at Night,’ with Jane Fonda, a love story for older people who get a second chance in life, and ‘Old Man with a Gun’, a lighter piece with Casey Affleck and Sissy Spacek. Once they’re done then I’m going to say, ‘Okay, that’s goodbye to all that,’ and then just focus on directing.”

Also Read: Robert Redford Returns to His Outlaw Ways in 'The Old Man & the Gun' Trailer (Video)

Now, when asked whether he will focus more on directing projects, Redford said, “we’ll see about that.” In 1981, he won a Best Director Academy Award for 1980’s “Ordinary People.” He’s also directed eight other films. His other credits include “Truth,” “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “The Conspirator” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “The Way We Were,” “The Sting,” “The Great Gatsby,” “All the President’s Men,” “The Natural” and “Out of Africa.”

Redford is also responsible for starting the Sundance Film Festival, which has become a staple in Hollywood for launching filmmakers.

A spokesperson for Redford has not yet responded to TheWrap’s request for comment.

Robert Redford's 15 Most Memorable Movies, From 'Butch Cassidy' to 'All Is Lost'

Robert Redford announced he was retiring from acting -- but still had a brief cameo in 2019's "Avengers: Endgame." TheWrap honors the great actor by looking back at 15 of his most memorable movies as both actor and director.

Redford has played just about every character, from a Western outlaw to a talented American skier.
Getty Images
"Barefoot in the Park" (1967)

One of Redford's early films is an old fashioned romantic comedy starring Redford and Jane Fonda as two newlyweds who are complete opposites.
Paramount Pictures
"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969)

Redford plays the outlaw Sundance Kid opposite Paul Newman's Butch Cassidy in this critically acclaimed Western that won four Academy Awards and is ranked as the 50th greatest American film by the American Film Institute.

Also Read: ‘Hell or High Water’ Reaches High-Water Mark in Limited Debut
20th Century Fox
"Downhill Racer" (1969)

Redford plays an overly confident competitive skier who is incapable of understanding or being involved in anything but himself. Roger Ebert called it "the best movie ever made about sports -- without really being about sports at all."

Paramount
"The Candidate" (1972)

Redford plays a no-name Democratic senatorial candidate who is running in a race he can't possibly win, so he ends up saying whatever he wants during his campaign. This 1972 satirical film continues to be relevant.
Warner Bros
"The Way We Were" (1973)

A romantic drama about an activist Jew (Barbra Streisand) and a carefree WASP (Redford) who fall in love in the wake of World War II.

The film was a major box office success grossing just under $50 million domestically.

Also Read: Meryl Streep on Who Should Play Her on Film: ‘Amy Schumer, of Course’
Columbia Pictures
"The Sting" (1973)

Redford re-teamed with Paul Newman and received an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as a con man in the Best Picture-winning film.
Universal Pictures
"Three Days of the Condor" (1975)

The cultural impact of this film can still be seen as it continues to be referenced in modern-day television and movies. It's about a bookish CIA agent (Redford) who returns to the office to find all his colleagues have been murdered.
Paramount Pictures
"All the President’s Men" (1976)

Arguably one of the best films of all time, the fact-based drama helped create a generation of journalists. Redford played Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward who teamed with Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) to report on the Watergate scandal that brought down the Richard Nixon presidency.
Warner Bros
"Ordinary People" (1980)

Redford's directorial debut earned him the Academy Award for Best Director -- and the film both Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay. Mary Tyler Moore was nominated for Best Actress for her role as an overbearing suburban mom.

Also Read: ‘Mary Tyler Moore’ Cast to Reunite on ‘Hot in Cleveland’
Paramount Pictures
"The Natural" (1984)

Redford stars as a legendary baseball player in an adaptation of Bernard Malamud's novel that earned four Oscar nominations.
TriStar Pictures
"Out of Africa" (1985)

In the Oscar-winning romantic drama loosely based on Karen Blixen's autobiographical book, Meryl Streep stars as an aristocratic woman who settles in Africa with her husband (Klaus Maria Brandauer) and falls for an area hunter (Redford).
"A River Runs Through It" (1992)

Redford returns to the director's chair in this critically acclaimed coming-of-age film set during World War I and the Great Depression. It stars a young Brad Pitt and was nominated for three Academy Awards.
Allied Filmmakers
"Quiz Show" (1994)

Redford picked up an Oscar nomination as Best Director for this film about the 1950s quiz show scandals, with Ralph Fiennes as a telegenic and WASPy college professor who's fed answers to keep him on the show longer.

Also Read: TBS Orders James Corden’s ‘Drop the Mic’ to Series
Buena Vista Pictures
"All Is Lost" (2013)

The film literally stars one person -- Robert Redford. The actor doesn't disappoint in the film about a man on a fancy sailboat that becomes disabled in a sudden storm at sea. The survival drama received rave reviews and made the Top 10 list of multiple critics.
Lionsgate
"The Old Man & the Gun" (2018)

Redford earned a Golden Globe nomination playing a real-life modern-day version of Sundance Kid, a criminal named Forrest Tucker who escaped from San Quentin at age 70 and then staged a series of bank heists.

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The actor has played everything from a Western outlaw to a talented American skier

Robert Redford announced he was retiring from acting -- but still had a brief cameo in 2019's "Avengers: Endgame." TheWrap honors the great actor by looking back at 15 of his most memorable movies as both actor and director.

Redford has played just about every character, from a Western outlaw to a talented American skier.

View In Gallery

Robert Redford's 15 Most Memorable Movies, From 'Butch Cassidy' to 'All Is Lost'

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