Robert Redford reveals he's to retire from acting

Redford... is to step out from in front of the camera - Credit: Esquire
Redford… is to step out from in front of the camera – Credit: Esquire

Robert Redford has revealed that he’s to retire from acting, in an interview with his grandson.

Dylan Redford quizzed the Hollywood legend about his life and career, and managed to pick up the scoop for the website of the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

In the wide ranging interview, in which Redford talks about his early career plans to be an artist, he explained that he was thinking more and more about returning to painting.

“Yeah, a lot – and a lot lately because I’m getting tired of acting. I’m an impatient person, so it’s hard for me to sit around and do take after take after take,” he said.

“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.”

(Credit: Rex Features)
(Credit: Rex Features)

From producing noticeably less work through the 2000s, Redford, if anything, seemed to be upping his output in recent years.

He appeared as the sole character in the acclaimed ‘All Is Lost’, and then chalked up roles in ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’, ‘A Walk In The Woods’, ‘Truth’, and ‘Pete’s Dragon’.

His last feature directing project, meanwhile, was political thriller ‘The Company You Keep’, in which he also starred, alongside Shia LaBeouf.

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