Robert Redford is retiring after The Old Man and The Gun

Acting legend Robert Redford announces that he will be leaving the screen after the release of his final movie The Old Man & The Gun.

We already lost Daniel Day-Lewis, and now we’re losing Robert Redford. The news of his retirement came during an interview with Entertainment Weekly, where he stated that he’ll be retiring after his most recent movie; like an outlaw, he’s leaving after “one last job.” Redford promised two years ago that he’d retire after two more films during a published interview between him and his grandson, and he’s keeping good on that promise.

The 81-year-old is tired of acting and wants to return to his first love of art, and now that he and his family are set for life, and he’s given all he can back to the world, why not start painting full-time? The actor and director has been an activist for numerous groups and has done his very best to make the world a better place.

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He’s fought for Native Americans, the environment, global warming awareness, education and for the LBGTQ community alike. In 2014, he fought for the release of AIM (American Indian Movement) activist Leonard Peltier and directed a documentary on the man’s imprisonment, Incident at Oglala. The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah, a 1.7-million-acre expanse of land is still in place thanks to the star, who among others, fought to keep the land out of commercial hands from 1975 until 1996 when President Clinton officially made it untouchable.

Redford also made a huge contribution to Independent films through the Sundance Institute, a non-profit organization that is committed to the growth of independent films. A branch of the Institute is the Sundance Film Festival, a festival held every year in Park City, Utah where independent filmmakers can showcase their films.

Our Souls at Night and The Old Man & The Gun

The last two films on Redford’s resume are last year’s Netflix movie, Our Souls at Night, and the upcoming crime flick, The Old Man & The Gun. Both pay tribute to the two things Redford is most associated with from his acting career, free-spirited criminals and Jane Fonda.

Redford and Fonda were one of the many “will they or won’t they” pairs in Hollywood. Their   onscreen debut together was also their personal onscreen debuts; 1960’s Tall Story was the very first time either actor appeared on the big screen. They went on to star in four more movies together, becoming close friends in the process. Seems fitting that one of his last two movies involves her. Our Souls at Night received critical acclaim and was a fitting end to Redford and Fonda’s continued on-screen romance.

Redford’s final film, written and directed by David Lowery, is a crime comedy based on the real life story of Forrest Tucker, a career criminal and escape artist who claimd that he was better at escaping than Harrry Houdini. The screenplay is adapted from David Grann’s 2003 article published in The New Yorker , “The Old Man and the Gun”, which was later collected as one of the 12 essays in Grann’s book, “The Devil and Sherlock Holmes.”

Redford’s most famous role to date is probably The Sundance Kid from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, a role that inspired the name for The Sundance Institute and made Redford a western cowboy icon for years. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was one of the movies that started the trend of outlaws being the heroes, right there beside The Dirty Dozen.

As a tribute to his biggest role, Forrest Tucker is the perfect character to close his acting career with. USA Today reports Redford told Entertainment Weekly:

"“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?”"

Casey Afflack, Donald Glover, Elizabeth Moss, Sissy Spacek, Tika Sumpter, and Tom Waits will also star in the film and it’s scheduled for a September 28, 2018 release date.

Keep in mind though that while Redford claimed that he is done with acting, he said nothing about directing. When asked about his career as a director, he seemed on the fence, indicating a “we’ll see about that” type of message. Maybe he’ll pull a Joe Pesci and reappear in cameos for a couple of years before coming back for one more “one last job.”

What do you think about Robert Redford retiring from acting? What about Forrest Tucker being his last role? Share your thoughts in the comments below.