After more than 80 years on the big screen and multiple reports that his time as a star was almost over, British actor Michael Caine has confirmed he’s retiring.
The star of “Zulu,” “Alfie,” “Interstellar,” and so many more beloved films shared the news on BBC Radio 4’s “Best of Today” podcast.
Caine added that at this point, there aren’t many more roles for him to play. He said: “I’ve played the lead and it’s got incredible reviews. The only parts I’m going to get now are old men – 90-year-old men, or maybe 85, you know – and I thought well I might as well leave with all this. I’ve got wonderful reviews. What am I going to do to beat this?”
The actor described working on “The Great Escaper” as a “great time” and said that he said, “I thought, you know, why not leave now?” He previously hinted at retirement in September.
Caine made his cinematic debut in 1956 when he earned his first credited role in “A Hill in Korea.” He was catapulted to fame after the first of five Harry Palmer spy movies was released in 1965. He starred in “Alfie” the following year.
In 2006, Caine told Uncut that Harry Palmer was designed to be the “antithesis” of James Bond. He said, “He was more like a real spy, an ordinary guy who you wouldn’t look at twice in the street.”
It took two more decades before he was awarded for his work. Caine won his first Academy Award in 1986 for “Hannah and Her Sisters” and repeated the feat for a second time in 1999 for “The Cider House Rules.” In 1993, Caine was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire and he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000.
Other notable roles included taking on the role of butler Alfred Pennyworth in “The Dark Knight” and Professor Brand in “Interstellar.” He also had a supporting role in the 2006 film “Children of Men.” While speaking with Vulture in 2017, the movie’s director Alfonso Cuaron said that Caine requested to play his character Jasper Palmer as John Lennon.
Cuaron explained, “When we met, I guess we connected because he met John Lennon, and he said, ‘Can I play as if I was John?’ I said, ‘That’s fantastic.’”
While Caine will no longer act, he does plan to continue to write. The author of nine books told the BBC, “The thing about movie-making is you have to get up at 6.30 in the morning, do a long ride learning your lines in the bloody car and then get there and work until 10 o’clock at night.” With writing, he said, “you don’t have to get out of bed.”
