Appreciation: Never just the Sundance kid, Robert Redford chased complexity at every turn

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Robert Redford possessed a strikingly handsome, almost otherworldly quality that propelled him to Hollywood stardom. He was incredibly good-looking, with piercing blue eyes, sun-lightened hair, and a warm, approachable expression. Growing up in Santa Monica, the son of a milkman and a homemaker, one of his earliest memories is of causing a commotion at the Aero Theatre as a young child – he slipped off his mother’s lap and ran towards the screen, forcing the projectionist to pause the movie.

He quickly became a captivating presence on screen. While he was naturally good-looking, he also had genuine talent. However, back in the late 1950s, simply being attractive was often enough to launch a career in television and low-budget films. All a young male actor had to do was look good and play the romantic lead, and it was easy to get stuck repeating that same role for years. It’s easy to see why so many actors accepted that trade-off, not realizing it could lead to a surprisingly short career.

Even as a young child, Robert Redford showed early signs of wanting to be in front of a camera. However, by the time he reached his 20s, he was determined to pursue acting only when it aligned with his own vision. At 27, and largely unknown to the public, he shocked his agent by refusing a well-paying television role – earning $10,000 per week – in favor of appearing in a stage play directed by Mike Nichols for a mere $110. This decision to prioritize artistic fulfillment over financial gain was surprising, especially considering he was a father of two and struggling financially.

To truly understand Robert Redford’s impact, we need to recognize not just the roles he took, but also the easy, popular parts he turned down. He could have easily become a conventional star playing heroes, athletes, husbands, or cowboys – embodying the perfect American image. However, he uniquely chose to give audiences something deeper than what they expected, offering complex characters like flawed champions (“Downhill Racer”), troubled war veterans (“The Great Waldo Pepper”), and tragically flawed men who, despite their best efforts, still faced failure, as seen in his 2013 film, “All Is Lost.”

Movies

Films like ‘All the President’s Men,’ ‘The Natural,’ and ‘All Is Lost’ showcase the lasting impact of Academy Award winner Robert Redford, both as an actor and a filmmaker.

Robert Redford always maintained a rebellious streak, much like the teenager he once was – a kid who played hooky, experimented with alcohol, and enjoyed fast cars. He wholeheartedly embraced a non-traditional path, dropping football, his fraternity, and even college to pursue oil painting and political activism in Paris. He had the talent to play morally ambiguous characters, similar to the roles that made Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino well-known, but he felt those kinds of parts didn’t truly suit him.

Robert Redford occasionally turned down roles I thought he should have taken. For example, he passed on the chance to star opposite Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” He preferred working with Anne Bancroft in “The Graduate,” but the director, Mike Nichols, felt he was simply too good-looking to play the part. Nichols playfully told him, “Can you honestly picture someone like you struggling to attract a woman?”

What always struck me about Robert Redford was his ability to use that classic American handsomeness to make you *think*. Take his role as Gatsby in the 1974 film – he was perfect, because he truly got what Fitzgerald was saying about the illusion of the American Dream. He understood that Gatsby embodied everything we *thought* success looked like, all while knowing it was a complete facade. It felt like Redford made a deal with himself: he wouldn’t rely on silly disguises or over-the-top characters. Instead, he’d use his natural appeal as a way to sneak a more complex, critical message right past our defenses – a Trojan horse of a performance, really.

Throughout his career, from films like “The Chase” (1966) to “Lions for Lambs,” a consistent trait of his performances is his captivating presence. He readily draws the audience in, allowing us to focus on him throughout the entire movie, but only if we’re willing to look beneath the surface. Usually, what we find is a sense of hopeful ambition that’s beginning to fade.

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Robert Redford was always in pursuit of something more substantial

The films of the 1960s and ’70s that made Redford an icon mostly cleave into two categories: scamps and truth-seekers. (The latter can overlap with suckers and stooges.) His antihero crooks in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “The Sting” captured something in our national id, our not-so-secret belief that it’s OK to break a few rules to get ahead — that we can forgive a sin if we like the sinner. I like how those movies give you a guilty little tingle about rooting for Redford even when it means scratching off a couple of the Ten Commandments. (Thou shalt not steal unless you’re Robert Redford, who got away with it all the way through 2018’s “The Old Man and the Gun.”)

Recently, I’ve been reflecting on Robert Redford’s roles that use his classic American image to offer a broader commentary on the country, both its strengths and weaknesses. Two films immediately come to mind: “Three Days of the Condor,” where he’s a CIA operative fleeing his colleagues, and “All the President’s Men,” in which he relentlessly investigates the Watergate scandal. Both films highlight the importance of a free press in revealing the truth, but they also realistically acknowledge that simply exposing the truth isn’t always enough to solve problems.

As a movie buff, I always come back to “The Candidate.” It stars Robert Redford as Bill McKay, a bit of an inexperienced guy suddenly pushed to run for governor of California. His dad, played by Melvyn Douglas, basically admits he’s running on looks – “He’s not going to get his ass kicked – he’s cute!” What’s really striking is how the campaign team seems way more focused on his image – like the length of his sideburns! – than on any actual policies. Released in 1972, right when Ronald Reagan was governor himself, the film really hits you with the idea that focusing on superficial things could be seriously damaging to our democracy – and it’s about way more than just who’s the next big star.

Movies

Robert Redford fundamentally changed independent film by establishing the Sundance Institute and creating a major platform for showcasing it in America.

Vice President Dan Quayle once mentioned being inspired by the film “The Candidate,” which prompted the film’s screenwriter, Jeremy Larner, to write an opinion piece. In it, Larner playfully warned Quayle, saying the movie wasn’t meant to be a guide, but a cautionary tale – and that Quayle himself represented the kind of behavior the film warned against.

Later in his career, Robert Redford became a director, and it’s easy to imagine him advising a young Brad Pitt on the set of “A River Runs Through It” to embrace risk and not be limited by his good looks. Both as an actor and director, Redford consistently created characters who exposed the flaws beneath the surface of American life, whether through stories about baseball (“The Natural”) or television (“Quiz Show”). He’s still remembered for his role in “Indecent Proposal,” where he played a wealthy man who believed money could buy anything. It was fitting, then, that when he finally appeared in a superhero movie, he played the villain alongside the famously virtuous Captain America.

Quayle didn’t fully understand the point of the movie “The Candidate.” With Robert Redford films, things aren’t always what they seem on the surface. There’s usually a hidden layer of meaning, and a happy ending isn’t guaranteed-in fact, Redford’s movies often suggest that justice doesn’t prevail.

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2025-09-17 03:02