This Hollywood Legend Has Confirmed His Retirement

Even icons have to retire sometime. After nearly 60 years in Hollywood, legendary actor Robert Redford announced in an interview with Entertainment Weekly on Monday that he’s leaving the entertainment business after “one last job.” It will be bittersweet to see the actor in his final project, The Old Man & the Gun, but we’d bet anything that if anyone has earned their right to a much-deserved retirement, it’s Redford.

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Redford, 81, told EW that his upcoming film, The Old Man & The Gun, will be his last performance as an actor. “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 Old Man & The Gun follows Redford as Forrest Tucker, a real-life career criminal who, over the course of 60 years (the same amount of time Redford has been acting in Hollywood, funnily enough), robbed multiple banks, went to jail each time… and escaped each time.

“To me, that was a wonderful character to play at this point in my life,” Redford said. “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?”

Redford also produced the film in which he stars alongside Sissy Spacek, Danny Glover, Tom Waits and Casey Affleck. It will play at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival and will hit theaters Sept. 28.

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As to whether Redford thinks he’ll be back for any additional jobs once he retires from Hollywood, he told EW, “[W]e’ll see about that.” Honestly, we totally support his decision to leave the spotlight behind. Redford has had a long and lucrative career, and he deserves a little rest and relaxation.