Film star reveals in interview with his grandson that he will complete the projects he is working on and then focus on directing

Robert Redford says he will retire from acting once he completes the two projects he is working on.

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The actor made the announcement in an interview with his grandson Dylan for the Walker Art Center, where he will appear at an event on 12 November.

“I’ve got two acting projects in the works,” Redford said. “Once they’re done then I’m going to say, “OK, that’s goodbye to all that,” and then just focus on directing.”

Redford’s two remaining performances will be opposite Jane Fonda in Our Souls at Night, which he described as “a love story for older people who get a second chance in life”, and Old Man With a Gun, which Redford said would be “a lighter piece with Casey Affleck and Sissy Spacek”.

Redford was asked by Dylan whether he would consider returning to painting, something he had been passionate about as a young man.

“Yeah, a lot—and a lot lately because I’m getting tired of acting,” Redford said. “I’m an impatient person, so it’s hard for me to sit around and do take after take after take. At this point in my life, age 80, it’d give me more satisfaction because I’m not dependent on anybody. It’s just me, just the way it used to be, and so going back to sketching – that’s sort of where my head is right now. So, I’m thinking of moving in that direction and not acting as much.”

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Redford rose to fame in the late 1960s with films such as Inside Daisy Clover, Barefoot in the Park and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. He became one of the biggest stars in the world in the 70s thanks to the success of The Sting, The Candidate, The Great Gatsby and All the President’s Men.

He moved into directing in 1980 with Ordinary People, which won him the best director Oscar – his only Academy award – and picked up the award for best picture. Other successes behind the camera have included A River Runs Through It and Quiz Show.

He also founded the Sundance Institute and is the chairman of the annual Sundance film festival, held in Utah.