Robert Redford thinks announcing his retirement was a "mistake".

Robert Redford

Robert Redford

The 82-year-old screen legend recently confirmed 'The Old Man and the Gun' - a comedy drama about "gentleman" bank robber Forrest Tucker, who escaped from prison 18 times and was still committing crimes in his seventies - will be his final work as an actor but he now wishes he had simply "slipped away" quietly.

He told 'Extra': "I think that was a mistake that I ever brought that up, that's something you can't talk about it, you just slip away from...You can slip away from that, it's been a long career, I am very proud of it, but I shouldn't have mentioned that."

But the 'Sting' actor isn't stepping away from Hollywood entirely as he's going to be producing and directing, and confirmed he'll next be getting behind the camera for a movie adaptation of '109 East Palace'.

The veteran actor recently admitted 'The Old Man and the Gun' was the "right" movie to end his career on because it's an uplifting story.

He said: "This feels like the right film to go out on as an actor because the film I had done before that - 'Our Souls At Night' - I was very proud of but it was very serious, kind of a heavy lift, a dramatic love story with Jane Fonda. It was a wonderful film to work on but it was very sad so I wanted the last film I act in to be uplifting.

"It's an incredible, bizarre story because it's true. This guy really did exist, he really did rob banks, he really had a good time, he never hurt anybody, he was always smiling, enjoying it, getting put in prison, escaping from prison, getting put back in prison, escaping again. Back and forth, back and forth."


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