Dissecting the real friendship of Robert Redford and Paul Newman
Hollywood is a difficult place to strike up a friendship that perseveres for decades, especially when the two stars in question occupy the same space. Robert Redford and Paul Newman were virtual strangers when they first worked together, but they quickly struck up a bond that stretched for decades.
Every aspiring actor requires a competitive streak that’s obliged to veer into ruthless territory, and as a pair of the industry’s most handsome, charming, and popular figures, Redford and Newman were regularly part of the same conversations when studio heads were discussing their ideal casting contenders behind closed doors.
1969 classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ended up winning four Academy Awards and making history at the Baftas with a record-setting haul, but finding one half of the central pairing wasn’t easy. Newman was on board as Butch very early on, but securing a signature for his on-screen sparring partner was far from straightforward.
Jack Lemmon turned it down because he didn’t fancy spending so much time on horseback, Warren Beatty felt it was too similar to the outlaw spirit of Bonnie and Clyde, and Steve McQueen couldn’t put his feud with Newman to one side long enough for them to make a film together.
As Redford outlined to ABC, Newman was instrumental in his casting because he needed a worthy opponent who could work to his level, which didn’t mean they had to be an established star. “He said, ‘I want to work with an actor,'” Redford reflected. “And that was very complimentary to me, because that’s, I think, how we both saw our profession, that acting was about craft and we took it seriously.”
Beyond becoming a major hit that reaffirmed Newman’s A-list credential while giving Redford’s a massive boost, the duo quickly became thick as thieves away from the cameras, too, with the real-life Butch and Sundance becoming every bit as inseparable as the characters that brought them together in the first place.
“It was just that connection of playing those characters and the fun of it that really began the relationship,” Redford said. “And then once the film started, once we went forward, we then discovered other similarities that just multiplied over time, a common ground that we both had between us, interests and so forth, and differences.”
Even though they ended up living a mile away from each other for a time in Connecticut, and their families became fast friends during that period, they only worked together once more. When they did, The Sting was another runaway success, with Redford and Newman a gold dust pairing both in front of and away from the cameras.
Newman acknowledged how “we bounce off each other real well,” but despite being such a proven commodity when bundled together, that third movie never came together. Redford gave it a shot when he optioned the rights to Bill Bryson’s novel A Walk in the Woods, pitching it to Newman as the perfect vehicle for them to reunite in their current position of elder statesmen.
When Newman died in 2008, his long-time friend put it on the back burner for years, but the film was eventually released in 2015 with Nick Nolte taking the part Redford has envisioned for his Butch Cassidy and The Sting partner in crime. They didn’t get the chance to complete their spiritual trilogy, but they’ll forever be bonded in cinema history.
