How Robert Redford kept his ego in check: “I learned about the value of humility”
It can’t be easy being a globally recognised movie star, with looks and money and influence and fame, and still somehow stay grounded.
Despite the fact we all come in and go out the same way, we all eat breakfast cereal and we all have to buy toilet paper, film stars at a certain point seem to become almost superhuman; the likes of Brad Pitt or Leonardo DiCaprio or Angelina Jolie being so famous you can’t imagine they ever sometimes sit and watch The Chase with a nice digestive biscuit. And the same was true of Robert Redford back in the day.
At one point between the late 1960s and ‘70s, Redford was probably the most famous man on the planet, let alone just a famous movie star. Ridiculously good-looking, well-dressed and an immense on-screen talent, he also produced and directed films in addition to being a social and political activist. Add to that he seemed like a pretty decent guy, and you’ve got a fairly attractive package to say the least.
Although he had been acting in TV shows like The Twilight Zone for almost a decade, and found fame thanks to the superb romantic comedy Barefoot in the Park opposite Jane Fonda, it was the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with Paul Newman that changed everything for Redford.
Newman was already a world-famous star thanks to the success of The Hustle and Cool Hand Luke, and the pairing of two such handsome talents in a western proved to be a winning formula. The movie went on to be regarded as one of the best movies ever made, and luckily for Redford, it was passed over by Steve McQueen, allowing him to step in. It featured a soundtrack by Burt Bacharach, including the debut of ‘Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head’ and finished out the year as Hollywood’s highest-grossing film.
But just in case any of that fame and fortune was starting to make Redford believe his own hype, he was quickly brought down to earth soon after Butch Cassidy was released.
Redford told film critic Amy Taubin: “Where I learned about the value of humility after Butch Cassidy, I was starting to get recognised, and it really felt good. And pretty soon, along the road, I began to think, ‘Hey, maybe I am kind of a big deal. Maybe I am somebody.’ And it started to get to my head.”
Adding, “I was getting ready to cross the street in Wilshire Boulevard, and I was about to step off the curb when this car came as the light was changing, and it was full of a lot of teenagers in the car. And he saw me, and they went like this, and I thought, Oh, these are fans. These are… And they roll down their window as they were coming by, and they said, ‘Robert Redford!’ I said, ‘Hey.’ They said, ‘You are such an asshole.’”
Anyone wanting to see just how good Redford continued to be well into his 80s, by the way, should seek out the brilliant 2018 movie The Old Man & The Gun, directed by David Lowery. Redford plays a career criminal on the run who can’t help but rob one more bank. It earned Redford a Golden Globe and also features a much-deserved outing for ‘Blues Run The Game’ by Jackson C Frank, which is one of the finest folk songs ever written.
