Michael Caine Announces Retirement From Acting

The veteran actor (90) confirmed his retirement in an interview after the release of his film ‘The Great Escaper’

Sir Michael Caine retires from acting.

The 90-year-old actor has confirmed his retirement – which comes after the release of his latest, now final, film on October 6 The great fugitive — in a new radio interview on Saturday.

“I keep saying I’m going to retire. Well, now I am,” Caine told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“I realized I had a picture where I played the lead and it got incredible reviews. The only roles I’m likely to get now are old men,” the acting legend explained. “…And I thought, well, I might as well walk away with all this—what do I have to do to beat this?”

Caine retires from acting at the age of 90. Gisela Schober/Getty Michael Caine says new film could be his last as he’s ‘sort of retired already’: ‘I Am Bloody 90’

Caine’s representatives did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for additional comment.

Caine’s retirement announcement comes after he hinted at retirement in an interview with The Telegraph last month, where he discussed his new role The great fugitive, his age and said that he was “sort of” retired. In his latest film role, the actor plays World War II veteran Bernard Jordan who flees his home to attend the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in France.

Caine said during his last interview with BBC Radio 4 that he believed it was important for age to be portrayed in films, offering it as part of the reason he had continued to act until now.

“With me, it’s not as declining as you think,” he said. “I remember when I was young I talked to 90-year-old men and they were nothing like me. They were little tiny old men with hunchbacks… And I thought, I’m not like that and that changed.”

The veteran actor released his latest film ‘The Great Escaper’ this month.

Mike Marsland/WireImage

Sir Michael Caine clarifies he is not retiring after saying ‘Best Sellers’ will be his ‘last part’

Elsewhere in the interview, the two-time Oscar winner talked about focusing on writing now that he’s retired from films while discussing his debut thriller Deadly Gamewhich will be published in November.

“I got COVID and I was sitting there and I had nothing to do, I couldn’t do any movies, nothing,” Caine recalled of starting the book. “I’ve always wanted to be a writer and I’ve written a couple of biographies. Then I wrote fiction…I’m pretty amazed (it got published).”

When asked if he would ever return to acting, Caine replied: “No. There will be writing. One day I will write another book because I enjoyed writing so much.”

Caine said he is “very happy” in his life with his wife Shakira and his grandchildren. Dave M. Bennett/Getty

“The thing about making movies is you have to get up at 6.30 in the morning, learn your lines in the damn car and then get there and work until 10 at night,” the actor explained. “You don’t have to get out of bed to write — all you need is a pen and paper and you’re good to go!”

Caine added that he is “very happy” in his life with his wife Shakira (76) and his grandchildren, whom he “adores”.

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Caine has hinted that he will soon retire in 2021 after the release of his film The best seller. “I have problems with my spine, which affects my legs. So I can’t walk very well,” he told the BBC radio show Kermode and May’s film review in that time. “I think it would be [my last role].”

“There were no offers, obviously, for two years, because no one was making the movies that I wanted to do,” Caine added. “But also, there aren’t really any scripts that come out with an 88-year-old leading man.”

In September, Caine appeared on the red carpet at the premiere of the film The great fugitive at the BFI Southbank in London where he posed for photos with the cast and director Oliver Parker.

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Source: HIS Education