The one movie Robert Redford refused to star in: “I very quickly decided against that”
One recurring problem faced by well-known actors who want to direct is that the studio often issues an ultimatum: if they want to step behind the camera, they need to appear in front of it, too, to weaponise their star power. That said, Robert Redford avoided the pitfall and reaped the rewards.
Already one of his generation’s foremost names and an icon of ‘New Hollywood’, Redford wasn’t interested or compelled by those above his paygrade to act in his feature-length debut. With his energies focused entirely on directing, the hard-hitting drama won four Academy Awards from six nominations, including ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’.
Somehow, he managed it again with his sophomore effort, The Milagro Beanfield War. As Denzel Washington can attest, it’s difficult for a celebrated actor to segue into filmmaking without being convinced that the picture is better off with their presence being featured in the marketing. And yet, Redford conspired to pull it off twice in a row.
In fact, Redford would also skip out on taking a role in A River Runs Through It and Quiz Show, with The Horse Whisperer marking the first time he’d played a character in a film he directed, a rarity for any actor-turned-director who also happened to be a major movie star.
The Oscar winner helmed nine features, all told, but only starred in three of them. That’s impressive, considering how so many big names had pulled double duty before and after he started dabbling in auteurism, but it didn’t come without a fight. Fortunately, in one case, Redford was confident that his ensemble had more than enough to lure in an audience, even without his handsome visage onscreen.
It may have been his first outing after the Wild Wild West debacle, but Will Smith was still the industry’s hottest ticket when he headlined Redford’s The Legend of Bagger Vance as the title character. Meanwhile, Matt Damon was one of the fastest-rising young talents in the business after Good Will Hunting, Saving Private Ryan and The Talented Mr Ripley, so butts were guaranteed in seats.
“Originally, when I first got involved in Bagger Vance, I thought of it as something I would be in,” Redford admitted to the Los Angeles Times. A combination of his ongoing reluctance to appear in his self-directed work and the fact there wasn’t a role in the script a star of his calibre could conceivably fill other than Bruce McGill’s Walter Hagen helped make up his mind.
“But very quickly, I decided against that,” he explained. “Because when I got into it and started to read the book, it had too many parallels to The Natural. I’ve sort of been there.” A studio executive or two might have had a word in his ear to try and convince him otherwise, but Redford wasn’t having it. Instead, he once again placed his status as a world-famous icon on the sidelines in favour of wearing his directing hat.
