Tim Robbins thinks the future of cinema is in “big trouble” due to streaming platforms like Netflix.
Tim Robbins in The Shawshank Redemption
‘The Shawshank Redemption’ actor, 66, has moved over to the streaming world for the second series of Apple TV+’s show ‘Silo’, though has now stressed the movie industry may not thrive forever due to the quality of projects that platforms like Netflix release.
During an interview with The Guardian newspaper, Robbins said: “You go on Netflix right now, you see what films are coming out and you tell me that that’s the future of cinema? We’re in big trouble.”
As well as the consequences of streaming, Robbins reflected on the “inhumane” working practices going on in Hollywood, and took pride in the fact that no one in the crew worked more than 10 hours a day on ‘Silo’.
He said: “Actors have it easy, they don’t work every day.
“When they finish their job they go to have some time off, do a different job. It is crews really that you’re talking about. What winds up happening is that you have people on these crews that are overworked, exhausted, and don’t have the emotional input that one needs to live a rounded life.”
Robbins has become more careful with his projects, having last been seen on the silver screen in the 2019 mystery-thriller ‘Dark Waters’, in which he starred opposite Mark Ruffalo and Anne Hathaway.
Looking to the future, the actor said he wouldn’t make anything that he deemed “frivolous”.
He explained: “The main thing for me, at this stage of my life, is that I don’t want to waste my time on a set doing something frivolous.
“I don’t want to be there for the sake of being there.”
Robbins’ best-known role is Andy Dufresne in 1994’s ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, where in he starred opposite Morgan Freeman and Clancy Brown as a prisoner who finds solace for his wrongdoings with a fellow inmate.
While the film went on to get nominated for seven Academy Awards - including Best Picture - ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ was deemed a failure at its release after it only pulled in $73 million on a $25 million budget.
Even so, the movie went on to become regarded as one of the best pictures ever made, and Robbins credits its success on VHS and re-runs on Ted Turner’s TV show ‘Turner Classic Movies’ that gave ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ the reputation it has today.
Reflecting on the film, the actor said: “We’re at 30 years now [on from] ‘Shawshank Redemption’. When it came out it got good reviews, it got nominated for Academy awards, but nobody saw it.
“It was VHS and Turner playing it on his television channel that changed that. That is a beloved movie.
“It remains on top of IMDb as the most favoured movie of all time. So I know that a quality movie, a quality television show, will last.
“Whether it’s a hit or not is irrelevant compared to what people are going to think about it in 10, 15, 20 years.”
Tagged in Anne Hathaway Tim Robbins Mark Ruffalo