Hey folks... Entertainment Weekly brings news that Robert Redford's next film, THE OLD MAN & THE GUN, will be Redford's last role as an actor.
In the EW article, Redford doesn't swear off acting completely but indicates he is ready to stop on a good note:
"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. I thought, Well, that’s enough. And why not go out with something that’s very upbeat and positive?"
He's had a great career as an actor. Redford got his start in theater and television, with a headlining run in Neil Simon's "Barefoot in the Park" and a memorable appearance as a kindly angel of death in an episode of "The Twilight Zone". He began to grace the silver screen in the mid-sixties. When "Barefoot in the Park" was adapted for the screen, he was the natural choice to play uptight lawyer Paul Bratter to Fonda's free-spirited new wife Corie. Redford has always picked his roles carefully. Just when you think you have a handle on where his interests lie, he does a sharp, surprising turn. Like turning up as the surprise Nazi villain in a Marvel film, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER.
His turn as Jay Gatsby will likely always be my favorite take on the character, but easily, my favorite Redford performance is Roy Hobbs in THE NATURAL. His delivery of the line, "We have met before", is one of my favorite moments in all of cinema.
Redford may continue to direct-- his response to EW was, "we'll see about that". His work on ORDINARY PEOPLE was literally life-changing to me; that remains the best adaptation of a novel I have ever experienced... and that was Redford's first time out as a director.
From AICN, thanks for some truly great performances over the years.
-- Precious Roy
