At the age of 90, Michael Caine has confirmed that he’s about to make his final film – and he’s playing Charles Darwin.
Last week we heard that Michael Caine was all but retired, when he told The Telegraph that “I am bloody 90 now, and I can’t walk properly.” The British acting legend seemed pretty sanguine about drawing his storied career to a close, adding, “I’ve had the best possible life I could have thought of … the best possible wife, and the best possible family.”
Caine has been on quite the farewell tour for these past few years. He made his final bow for long-time collaborator Christopher Nolan in 2020’s Tenet while 2021’s Best Sellers cast him as a grouchy writer who’d retired from public life before being coaxed back into the world by Aubrey Plaza. This month, he plays the lead in The Great Escaper, ‘the true story of superannuated war veteran Bernard Jordan who staged a daring escape attempt from his care home in order to attend the 70th anniversary commemoration of the Normandy Landings.’
We’ve certainly enjoyed Michael Caine playing out the idea of retirement on screen, although for his final film role he’ll be jumping into some pretty big shoes: those of scientist, Charles Darwin, one of the fathers of modern biology.
The film is as yet unnamed, but Caine confirmed his involvement in an interview with The Guardian, stating, “yeah. I play Charles Darwin. And that’ll be it. I won’t do another one after.”
When asked by the interviewer if he’s sure about retirement, Caine added, “No! But the point is, can you do it? Can you remember all the lines?” before detailing that he’s very much enjoying his well earned ‘semi-retirement’, adding “I’ve got used to not working and staying in bed till 11am and staying out late at night. I love it.”
The film is set to shoot in January, then hopefully it will be back to late nights and even later mornings for Sir Michael.
The Great Escaper is set to hit UK cinemas on October 6th.
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