The Sundance Kid: A Conversation With Robert Redford

MM: Do you have other “stories beneath stories” to tell?

RR: There are several that I have that are getting close to pre-production.

MM: Is there any truth to The Candidate being remade, with you directing and starring?

RR: That was a great story at the time, but the more I thought about it, there’s no new story to tell there, so no. There are certain films I think should be left alone, like The Candidate, Butch Cassidy and The Way We Were.

MM: As an ardent environmentalist, how do you stay “green” on set?

RR: We do whatever we can. Pretty much everyone I work with is on the same page. We use hybrid vehicles as much as possible, try to keep locations nearby so we don’t have to travel far. We always try to not take anything away or destroy anything. For The Conspirator, we constructed a set at an abandoned warehouse and then took that set down and left the materials there for recycling.

MM: Why do you love moviemaking?

RR: It’s the core of who I am. Commitment to life is art.

MM: When do you not like it?

RR: I guess, like with any artist, the real struggle is when the art faces corporate pressure. That’s one thing I don’t like, but I can’t do a whole lot about it, except go independently.

MM: Anything you’d change about your career?

RR: No, I have no regrets, including my mistakes. They’re part of the program.

MM: Will you ever hang up your cinematic shingle?

RR: I don’t think so. [Laughs] I think a lot of people wonder—I think probably my own agents wonder—if I’ve given up acting for Sundance and other things. No, those are only extensions of me. Fundamentally, I’m a person who acts. MM

This article appeared in MovieMaker‘s Winter 2011 issue.

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