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Robert Redford didn’t hold back on how he feels about the current state of politics in the U.S.
(Reuters)
Robert Redford didn’t hold back on how he feels about the current state of politics in the U.S.
In a statement posted on the Sundance Institute’s website, the 82-year-old revealed that “for the first time” in his life he felt “out of place” in his own country.
“Tonight, for the first time I can remember, I feel out of place in the country I was born into and the citizenship I’ve loved my whole life,” the veteran actor reflected in the post on Friday. “For weeks I’ve watched with sadness as our civil servants have failed us, turning toward bigotry, mean-spiritedness, and mockery as the now-normal tools of the trade.
“How can we expect the next generation to step up and serve, to be interested in public life, and to aspire to get involved when all we show them is how to spar, attack, and destroy each other,” questioned the Hollywood star. “It’s hard to blame young people for calling us out, and pointing to our conflicts between the values we declare, and those we stand behind only when it’s convenient to partisanship. Many people are rightfully calling it a damn mess.”
The Sundance Film Festival founder didn’t specifically point out any current events or politicians. However, the entry was published amid the battle over Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court after he was accused of sexual assault back in high school. The 53-year-old was confirmed by the Senate on Saturday.
“… I want to encourage you to dig deep for hope and civility right now — to try to make connections with people you disagree with, to be better than our politicians,” stressed Redford.
“We don’t have to share the same motivations to want the same outcomes. Let’s focus on each other, and strengthening our communities, and reflecting on what’s happening. Let’s live in justice and respect and let others fight it out now to the bitter ends. This is our country too. Every woman, man, and child in it, our American future. We’ve got work to do.”
Redford made headlines in September when he revealed it was a “mistake” to call his recent film, titled “The Old Man & the Gun,” his last.
“Well, I think it was a mistake to say that this was my last film,” Redford told Fox News while at the Paris Theater for the New York City premiere of the new feature film. “I think I could have just quietly slipped out of acting, to concentrate on my own category. But I think it was a mistake to talk about it because it draws attention away from the film and the rest of the cast and the story that we were involved in so, that was probably a mistake.”
In August, Redford famously revealed to Entertainment Weekly that he planned to retire after starring in Lowery’s movie. Though he did point out in the interview, “never say never.”
“Never say never, but I pretty well concluded that this would be it for me in terms of acting, and [I’ll] move towards retirement after this ’cause I’ve been doing it since I was 21,” he told EW at the time.
Fox News’ Morgan Evans contributed to this report.
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