Robert Redford wasn’t only a film star. He was a storyteller, a fact seeker and, to generations of followers, the very definition of cool. Redford didn’t simply act in iconic movies — Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Child, The Means We Had been, All of the President’s Males, The Pure — he elevated them. Redford, who died on Tuesday on the age of 89, had an onscreen presence that was typically understated however by no means forgettable.
Offscreen, Redford was simply as influential. He based the Sundance Institute and Sundance Movie Pageant, championing impartial filmmakers lengthy earlier than it was fashionable. He was a director and an activist. He used his platform to struggle for democracy, for artwork. He not often courted the highlight, however when he spoke, individuals listened.
And he stated some stunning issues. Listed below are a few of Redford’s finest quotes — about life, legacy and, sure, even attractiveness.
“Converse out for what you imagine and what you are feeling. Or do not. It’s important to dwell with your self.”
For Esquire’s “Which means of Life” situation in January 2011, Redford wrote his 24 life classes, reflecting on matters together with getting old and activism. This one captured his quiet defiance, a reminder that integrity isn’t about quantity — it’s about dwelling in alignment along with your values.
Redford typically spoke out for what he felt was vital, whether or not it was defending the setting or preserving the integrity of storytelling in a commercialized business.
Robert Redford in 2021. (Arnold Jerocki/Getty Photos)
Redford by no means hooked up himself to any form of “intercourse image” label. In a 1974 interview with the New York Instances, he stated, “I by no means considered myself as a glamorous man, a good-looking man, any of that stuff.”
“All of a sudden, there’s this picture. And it makes me very nervous, as a result of it retains individuals from judging you on efficiency. After I made The Candidate, individuals stated, ‘Yeah, certain, slick, good-looking man, the half’s good for him.’ After I made The Means We Had been, they stated, Yeah, Ivy League WASP jock. The half suits him like a glove.’ However I needed to struggle to get Jeremiah Johnson as a result of it did not match the picture,” he stated. “So this glamour picture could be a actual handicap.”
“Watch out of success, it has a darkish aspect.”
Redford by no means chased fame. In actual fact, he spent a lot of his life attempting to outrun it. When stardom discovered him within the ’60s, he purchased land in Utah to get away from the noise. When the Hollywood studio system shifted, he didn’t play alongside, constructing Sundance as an alternative. Success, he believed, may very well be seductive and distracting. On the top of his profession, Redford stepped again to elevate up different voices. He instructed the Washington Put up his mindset is to all the time start once more.
Robert Redford holds the Oscar he received for finest director for Extraordinary Folks on the 1981 Academy Awards. (AP)
“Let’s face it — when you’re a film star, you’re not more likely to be taken significantly. “
Redford spoke to Harvard Enterprise Assessment about entrepreneurship. In a 2002 dialogue, he mirrored on what it took to earn credibility, particularly when individuals noticed him solely as a flashy identify.
In 1969, he gave a passionate speech to a room stuffed with Utah bankers after he bought his Sundance property about company greed, solely to be met with silence and a single query: Did he actually leap off the cliff in Butch Cassidy? He shortly realized that keenness alone wasn’t sufficient — he needed to be strategic. Redford realized foyer, meet individuals the place they have been, and commerce on his fame to make riskier, extra significant movies. If the studio needed The Means We Had been, he’d make it — however provided that in addition they let him direct Extraordinary Folks.
“Anyone can put one thing up on the web. It is tougher and tougher to search out what the reality is.”
In a 2013 interview reflecting on All of the President’s Males, Redford spoke candidly concerning the state of journalism — and the way a lot had modified since Watergate. He lamented the rise of misinformation and the race to be first quite than proper. The democratization of knowledge, he stated, made it simpler to publish — however tougher to know what to belief.
Robert Redford in 1983. (Ralph Dominguez/MediaPunch /IPX by way of AP)
“Life is basically unhappy. Happiness is sporadic. It is available in moments and that is it. Extract the blood from each second.”
One other considered one of Redford’s quotes in Esquire’s “Which means of Life” profile. It speaks for itself.
“I attempt to keep away from giving recommendation. The one recommendation I’ll give is to concentrate. I don’t imply to the display screen in your hand.”
Redford was requested in 2017 if individuals got here to him for recommendation. His reply was easy however telling. He wasn’t taken with preaching, however he did imagine in presence. For Redford, that meant placing down the cellphone and tuning into the pure world, a worth he handed on to his kids. He noticed consideration as a type of reverence — for nature, for curiosity, for errors, for discovery.
Robert Redford in 1981. (Ralph Dominguez/MediaPunch /IPX by way of AP)
“I am simply taken with transferring ahead. Legacy means trying again, and I are likely to not try this.”
The New York Instances requested Redford in 2018 how he views his legacy after six a long time, and his reply was poignant. “One way or the other when someone says, ‘What about your legacy?’ it does not register in my mind,” he stated. “As a result of I assume I’m simply taken with transferring ahead.”
“You’ve obtained to take advantage of your life.”
He could not have needed to dole out recommendation, however he certain had a method with phrases. That is what Redford would inform himself when he was younger. Life, he instructed Esquire U.Okay., was about pushing your self past your consolation zone. As a result of generally, while you assume you’ve discovered your self, you’ve solely simply begun.
