Robert Redford, 88, Makes Surprise Acting Return After 6-Year Hiatus

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Robert Redford made a surprising return to the screen after a break of six years.

At the age of 88, Redford made a brief appearance in the premiere episode of the third season of the Western thriller Dark Winds on Sunday, March 9. He shared the spotlight with author George R. R. Martin, who is associated with Game of Thrones. Both Redford and Martin are executive producers of Dark Winds and portrayed prisoners engaged in a tense chess game while incarcerated.

The sequence, filmed on a closed set at Redford’s request, included Navajo Tribal Police Officer Joe Leaphorn, played by Zahn McClarnon, stepping in to assist Martin’s character in putting Redford in checkmate.

As the chess match concluded, Redford’s character cast a frustrated look at Leaphorn and remarked, “Thanks a lot.”

Chris Eyre, the director of Dark Winds’ season 3 premiere, later shared with Vulture that the idea of a Redford cameo had been in consideration since the beginning of the first season. Although there were initially plans for Redford to feature in the finale of the second season, his appearance was ultimately saved for the opening of the third season.

“I never imagined I would reach a point in my life where I would know Robert Redford, much less share a scene with him,” said Zahn McClarnon, who stars in and executive produces Dark Winds.

Dark Winds showrunner John Wirth verified that there were hurdles up until the moment the cameo was filmed.

“I never really felt it would actually come to fruition until it did,” Wirth confessed.

Prior to his cameo on Sunday in Dark Winds, Redford's most recent role was in Avengers: Endgame released in 2019, where he reprised his character from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Alexander Pierce, who had transitioned from former S.H.I.E.L.D. director to a HYDRA traitor.

Redford had previously indicated that his role in The Old Man & The Gun from 2018 would likely mark his last appearance in film after a career spanning 60 years.

He had expressed to Entertainment Weekly, "I never imagined I would reach a place in my life where this would be it for my acting career, and I would move towards retirement. Starting at 21, I thought, 'That’s enough.' Why not conclude with something uplifting and positive?"

However, in a reversal just a month later in September 2018, he told Variety that it had been “a mistake” to declare his retirement.

“I should not have made that statement,” he acknowledged. “If I intend to retire, I ought to exit acting quietly, not draw unnecessary attention by speaking about it. My focus should be on this film and the cast.”

Since making that statement, Redford has continued to work behind the scenes, including producing the acclaimed 2019 Sundance Film Festival film The Mustang, which centers on the rehabilitation of wild horses. He also contributed his voice to the 2020 anthology movie Omniboat: A Fast Boat Fantasia and reprised his role as Watergate journalist Bob Woodward in an uncredited voice cameo in the HBO series White House Plumbers.

During his illustrious career, Redford garnered an Academy Award for Best Director for his work on Ordinary People in 1980 and was honored with the distinguished Cecil B. DeMille Award from the Golden Globe Awards in 1994. In 2005, he received a lifetime achievement recognition at the Kennedy Center Honors and, in 2016, was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former President Barack Obama.