The Oscar-winning movie Robert Redford said “no one gave a shit” about
Even those with a remote interest in the history of cinema would certainly give a damn about the work of Robert Redford. A true legend of Hollywood, the Santa Monica-born actor is a hero of American cinema, has won countless awards during his career and also possesses a filmography of genuine excellence.
After making his first forays into acting via television with Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone and Broadway with Barefoot in the Park, Redford soon made the successful transition to the big screen and went on to give some of the most memorable acting performances of the 20th century.
For instance, the likes of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Jeremiah Johnson, The Candidate, The Sting and All The President’s Men all profited from having Redford at the top of the casting list, showing the kind of talent that he had possessed ever since taking acting classics at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City in the late 1950s.
Of course, we know Redford best by his acting efforts, but he also serves as one of the rare instances of an actor making a successful move to directing, joining the likes of Clint Eastwood, Orson Welles and Mel Gibson. It was in 1980 that Redford made his directorial debut with the drama film Ordinary People, written by Alvin Sargent, based on the 1976 novel of the same name by Judith Guest.
Ordinary People, which stars Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch and Timothy Hutton, focuses on the complexities of a seemingly everyday suburban American family after they suffer the accidental death of one of their two sons and the attempted suicide of the other, with Redford earning acclaim for his directorial effort.
Discussing his impression of what the film is really about, Redford once told Rolling Stone, “The movie was about a character who could not get in touch with her feelings and the consequences of that to her family. I had never seen that character on film, but I’d seen that character in life a lot — the person who shuts down rather than ride the emotional roller coaster that needs to be ridden.”
Indeed, there is a real emotional complexity to Ordinary People that did not shy away from delving into some of the most harrowing experiences of human life, including suicide and accidental death. The film ended up winning four Academy Awards, including ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’ for Redford. However, Redford felt that even with the eventual success (also including a massive box office taking), nobody seemed to care about the film before it had been released.
“Ordinary People was turned down by a lot of people,” Redford explained. “Then, Barry Diller, who was at Paramount, said, ‘Do it.’ He was very stand-up about it. So I was left alone. It was a little movie, only $6 million. No one gave a shit. And then it was out.” Indeed, Ordinary People was made on a relatively small budget, so it did not have the most attention surrounding it.
Still, Redford was the person who had the last laugh when it came to Ordinary People, showing the people who turned it down so many times that they had made a huge mistake. Redford went on to become an acclaimed director, but the rejecting producers were left to cry into their morning cups of coffee.
