Sir Michael Caine recently indicated that he might be planning to retire, and the legendary British actor has now made it official.
During an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Caine announced that his latest film, The Great Escaper, will be his last.
“I keep saying I’m going to retire. Well, I am now,” he said. “I’ve figured, I’ve had a picture where I’ve played the lead and it’s got incredible reviews. The only parts I’m liable to get now are 90-year-old men. Or maybe 85. So I thought, I might as well leave with all this. I’ve got wonderful reviews. What am I going to do to beat this?”
“We had a great time on the movie," he added. "And I thought, why not leave now? You don’t have leading men at 90, you’re going to have young handsome boys and girls.”
Directed by Oliver Parker, The Great Escaper is based on true events and stars Caine as Bernie Jordan, a Second World War veteran who sneaks out of his care home and boards a ferry to attend the 70th-anniversary commemoration of the D-Day landings in Normandy.
Caine reveals that he had pretty much considered himself retired before accepting the role, but was ultimately convinced to take the part due to the quality of the script.
“The character of Bernie is an old cockney soldier, which, funnily enough, I am,” he explained. “He fought in the Second World War, I fought in the Korean war, so it’s an entirely different frame of mind, but the same really. I’d retired when was sent the script – I’d turned it down three times. But I kept falling in love with him every time I read it, and so I did it.”
Since beginning his career back in 1950, Michael Caine has appeared in over 160 films and has won two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in 1986 (Hannah and Her Sisters) and 1999 (The Cider House Rules). Out of the multitude of excellent performances, CBM fans will likely be most fond of his turn as Alfred Pennyworth in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy.
The Great Escaper is now in theaters. You can check out the trailer and a full synopsis below.
"In the summer of 2014 -- the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings -- octogenarian Bernie Jordan (Michael Caine) made global headlines. He'd staged a "great escape" from his care home to join fellow war veterans on a beach in Normandy, commemorating their fallen comrades. It was a story that captured the imagination of the world -- Bernie seemed to embody the defiant, "can-do" spirit of a generation that was fast disappearing. But of course, it wasn’t the whole story. It was the story we all tell ourselves to make war and old age bearable. The bitter-sweet script explores the reality with wit and a very big heart. Bernie's adventure, spanning a mere 48 hours, also marked the culmination of his 60-year marriage to Irene (Glenda Jackson) -- the story celebrates their love without sentimentality and with an eye to the lessons we can all learn from the Greatest Generation."