Robert Redford admits it was a 'mistake' to say he may retire from acting

Robert Redford attends the "The Old Man & The Gun" premiere at Paris Theatre on September 20, 2018 in New York City. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

NEW YORK – Legendary actor Robert Redford has revealed that his most recent feature may not be his last despite saying he was ready to retire from acting.

The Hollywood iconic and star of the new David Lowery-directed film, “The Old Man & the Gun,” opened up about the possible end of his long-time acting career, saying that it was a “mistake” to call this film his last.

“Well, I think it was a mistake to say that this was my last film,” Redford told Fox News while at the Paris Theater for the New York City premiere of the new feature film. “I think I could have just quietly slipped out of acting, to concentrate on my own category. But I think it was a mistake to talk about it because it draws attention away from the film and the rest of the cast and the story that we were involved in so, that was probably a mistake.”

In August, Redford famously revealed to Entertainment Weekly that he planned to retire after starring in Lowery’s movie. Though he did point out in the interview, “never say never.”

“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 told EW at the time.

The famed actor said he was careful about choosing what could potentially be his last on-screen appearance and told us that he was inspired to do the “Old Man” movie after reading the 2003 New Yorker article the film was based on.

Redford explained that he wanted to do the film because he liked that “the story and the fact that it is true.”

In the film, Redford takes on the real-life character of Forrest Tucker, a "gentleman" who is famous for his escape from San Quentin State Prison and conducted a string of bank heists that baffled authorities. The Lowery-directed film follows Tucker as he sets multiple heists in motion, dodges detectives and falls in love with co-star, Sissy Spacek.

“I also wanted to work with David Lowery, and I thought this would be a great project for him to develop and direct. And that’s how it happened,” the actor added.

Redford with some the film's cast, Danny Glover, Sissy Spacek and Casey Affleck. (Getty Images)

Whether the “Old Man & the Gun” becomes star’s last film or not, the movie legend has successfully left his mark on Hollywood and the younger generation of A-lister actors, such as his co-star, Casey Affleck.

In the film, Affleck plays detective John Hunter, who is actively trying to hunt down Redford’s character. He told Fox News that working with an iconic star like Redford was a dream come true.

“The principal thing that drew me to this role was David Lowery the director, he always assembles a really good group of people, and he makes movies that I am proud to be a part of and [I] wanted to be a part of this,” he said. “Working with Redford was just [a] dream. I don’t know what there is to say about that. You just have to hope that you get to work with a few people that you admire in your career and then you get to work with a legend like that and you feel like your cup runneth over.”

"Old Man & the Gun” hits theaters on September 28.