No way! Robert Redford is one of the most well-known actors in Hollywood, but so it turns out, he sort of got into acting by accident. 

After the 1955 death of his mother, Martha, at age 40 (he was only 18 years old at the time), Robert went on a long getaway to Europe. “He was a young man struggling with his existence,” Jack Brendlinger, who roomed with Robert for seven months when he lived in Florence, Italy, and Paris, exclusively told Closer Weekly in the magazine’s latest issue, on newsstands now. 

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During that time abroad, Robert spent time sketching strangers at local cafes, which peaked his interest in acting. However, it wasn’t until he moved home and his stepmother suggested he study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts that Robert embraced it. “I didn’t start out to be an actor,” Robert said. “It took me a while to accept.”

At first, he was extremely hesistant about it. “When I started to get noticed after [1969’s] Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, I thought, There’s danger here,” he recalled. “I made three notes to myself: ‘If you’re treated like an object, you’ll begin to behave like an object, and if you’re not careful, you’ll become an object.”

But just because Robert has announced he’s officially retiring doesn’t mean he’s going to stop being creative. “[He’s going to] spend some time on personal issues, family issues and certainly art is a big thing,” biographer Michael Feeney Callan told Closer.

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And if one thing’s for sure, the 81-year-old won’t let his age slow him down! “When times are tough and survival looks impossible, some just quit; they give up because it’s obvious they can’t go any further,” he shared. “Others keep going. They don’t know anything more than to just continue. And I guess that goes for me, too. I will just keep going.”

For more on Robert Redford, pick up the new issue of Closer Weekly, on newsstands now — and sign up for our newsletter!

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