He entered the film industry in 1959, and since then, Robert Redford, who passed away at the age of 89 on Wednesday, had played all kinds of roles. From romantic leads and charismatic heroes in his early years, like the gunslinger in the twilight western in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, to more complex characters committed to American history, including spies, fugitives, politicians, and public figures, his filmography covers almost all film genres and, almost, journalistic genres.
Just when it seemed like we had lost one of the most iconic figures of Hollywood's brightest era, after bidding farewell - at least verbally - in 2018 with The Old Man and the Gun, came what would be his actual last role. One that no one expected and that was an anomaly in his 60-year career.
But let's go back a bit to 2014. After much insistence, Marvel managed to have an octogenarian yet energetic Robert Redford portray Alexander Goodwin Pierce, the villain in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The character was the leader of HYDRA and had infiltrated the U.S. government to take control of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"One of the reasons I accepted the role was that I wanted to experience this new way of making films that has taken over animated characters coming to life through high technology," Redford explained at the premiere of Captain America: The Winter Soldier at the Sundance Festival. "The Avengers series is a high-tech product that plays a significant role in the new cinematic order, so I wanted to experience that. For me, it was like entering a new world just to see what it was like."
His grand entrance into the superhero blockbuster was, in itself, a significant event. But the truly surprising moment came in 2019. As a conclusion to a long, diverse, and undeniably award-winning career, Robert Redford did something he had never done before: he reprised a role. His return to the character of Pierce in Avengers: Endgame in 2019 was absolutely unexpected, as Redford had never participated in a sequel. All his roles had been entirely new until then.