Is Robert Redford Really Retiring from Acting? His ‘Old Man & the Gun’ Director Weighs In

By Joe Reid @joereid
Published Sep. 21, 2018, 2:56 p.m. ET

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The scuttlebutt on the upcoming Robert Redford movie The Old Man & the Gun has focused on how this could be Redford’s final film as an actor, capping a 58-year career. In the film, Redford plays a career bank robber and serial prison escapee who can’t resist pulling off one more job … and the job after that. Sissy Spacek co-stars as a woman he meets later in life who’s in the dark about his criminal life.

Then, last night (September 20) on the red carpet at the film’s premiere, Redford spoke to Variety and walked back this retirement talk, saying he spoke too soon.

“That was a mistake,” Redford said. “I should never have said that. If I’m going to retire, I should just slip quietly away from acting, but I shouldn’t be talking about it because I think it draws too much attention in the wrong way. I want to be focused on this film and the cast.”

Speaking with Decider, The Old Man & the Gun director David Lowery explained a bit more about Redford’s about-face, at least from his perspective.

“As a fan, I hope he doesn’t retire because I’d love to keep seeing him in films,” Lowery said. “But I also know that he’s serious about it. I don’t think he anticipated becoming the focal point of the story. At this point I think he’s like ‘Let’s talk about the movie, not my career.’ He loves the movie and would much rather talk about that. But I can certainly imagine him choosing not to act again. He has so many other things he wants to do and time is important to him.”

Lowery even sees some parallels between Redford and his Old Man & the Gun character. “I can’t imagine him not making movies,”he said. “I just know that like the character in the film, he likes what he does but at the same time I know that he is serious about it, so we’ll see. But I do know he regrets letting that be the story of the movie … even though it is a good story.”

For more with Lowery, check back with Decider next week. The Old Man & the Gun opens in theaters on September 28th.