Robert Redford is one of those classic movie stars who disarmed you with his incredible looks, and then mesmerized you with his on-screen talent. He’s not an actor’s actor like Robert De Niro, but he’s shown for decades what type of performer he is. Redford’s charm and natural charisma have made him compelling in a wide variety of roles, and they’ve also occasionally been weaponized against his audience.
Not every role in Redford’s decades-long career has been a roaring success. For every All the President’s Men there’s a stinker like Havana. In general, though, Redford has built a remarkable body of work, and if he never acts in front of a camera again, he can be proud of what he’s accomplished.
The Sting (1973)
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All the President's Men (1976)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
It takes a lot of courage for a classic movie star like Robert Redford to realize the gravity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and audiences are certainly glad he did. Redford portrays a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with villainous intentions in this Captain America film. He serves as a secondary antagonist alongside the Winter Soldier. Redford would appear in several other future Marvel projects, such as Avengers: Endgame.
The Old Man & the Gun (2018)
All Is Lost (2013)
Three Days of the Condor (1975)
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Pete's Dragon (2016)
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Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
The Candidate (1972)
The Natural (1984)
The Natural is a pretty hokey, but not in a bad way. The movie follows an aging baseball player of incredible skill who didn’t get a chance to play in the majors because he was violently attacked at a young age. As he approaches the end of his career, he finally gets his shot at the big show and is forced to confront the money and politics that govern the game at that level. The Natural is one of Redford’s most earnest performances. He’s playing a man in love with a game who’s trying to save that game from the business that it has transformed into.
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