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ROBERT REDFORD COVERS PARADE – DISCUSSES NEW CIVIL WAR FILM, TAKE ON THE ENVIRONMENT AND MORE

Apr 092011

In this Sunday’s issue of PARADE, director Robert Redford talks about his new film The Conspirator, the story of Mary Surratt, the owner of a Washington boarding house who was implicated in the plot to kill Abraham Lincoln. “I’m always drawn to stories that people don’t know about, particularly when they’re inside of a story that everyone knows about,” Redford tells PARADE.

On how America is dealing with environmental issues…
“Sadly, not well. The attempts of the previous administration to do away with all the laws and regulations that were put into place over the last 30 years to protect the people of this country had a devastating effect. They attempted to cynically take out the EPA, to do away with the Bureau of Land Management, to open up everything to gas and oil exploration, which are non-renewable resources. I’ve been involved with the environment for years, and I always will be. People need to wake up. The climate’s changing. Water doesn’t reach its destination anymore. We need to realize that this planet is home to all of us. There’s not a lot one person can do alone, but I will sleep better at night knowing that I did whatever I could.”

On whether President Obama has addressed environmental issues the way Redford hoped he would…
“I’m sympathetic to everything the president has to deal with–the world around us is in chaos. It’s a tough job for anybody. Is he doing as much as he could [for the environment]? No. I think he has not used the political capital he has been given. I think he could do better if some of his advisers weren’t from some of the Old School places. So I’m disappointed, but I think he’s doing okay, better than anybody else would have. What worries me is that our political system is so degenerated that there’s nothing but a war zone. There’s no cooperation, there’s no moderation, there’s no compromise. There is no middle, there’s just a demarcation line. Somebody just doesn’t see the bigger picture, and we’re going to pay.”

For more, click here:
http://www.parade.com/news/2011/04/10-table-of-contents.html

Robert Redford Is Happy To See This Year’s Sundance Come To A Close

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Jan 312011

Founder Robert Redford is glad this year’s Sundance Film Festival is coming to a close.

The 74-year-old actor says it’s “always a relief” when the 10-day event wraps because “it’s really exhausting.”

He’s happy, though, about the success of this year’s festival, with about 45 films being sold – up about 220 percent from 2010, when only 14 films were sold.

Redford believes the studios are taking an interest in the movies at Sundance because they’re realizing “there are audiences” for independent films.

PHOTOS: Robert Redford, Forest Whitaker, Mayor Cory Booker and Rosie O’Donnell at Bing Bar Yesterday

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Jan 242011

Yesterday, Bing hosted a private screening of Sundance Channel’s “Brick City” Season 2 and then The Bing Decision Maker Series with the cast and filmmakers at Bing Bar. Mayor Cory Booker, Forest Whitaker (the film’s EP), and Producer/Director Mark Benjamin all participated in the panel discussion, moderated by Producer/Director Marc Levin. Robert Redford, Rosie O’Donnell and Isabella Rossellini stopped by to support the documentary.

Robert Redford makes remarks during The Bing Decision Maker Series for Sundance Channel’s “Brick City” Season 2

Robert Redford stops by Bing Bar to support Forest Whitaker and Mayor Cory Booker’s Sundance Channel Documentary “Brick City” Season 2

Rosie O’ Donnell with Forest Whitaker and Mayor Cory Booker at Bing Bar to support Sundance Channel’s “Brick City” Season 2

Photos courtesy of Bing Bar

Redford and Streisand, Together Again Onscreen?

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Jan 222011

“Extra’s” Jerry Penacoli caught up with actor Robert Redford, as he readied for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, to talk about a possible onscreen reunion with his “The Way We Were” co-star, Barbra Streisand.

While Redford said he isn’t into doing sequels, per se, he did like the idea of having “The Way We Were” characters Hubbell and Katie come together after living separate lives. “Yes, to me that would be an interesting love story. To see these people — who had this sexual passion, tremendous heat that led them into marriage — grow apart and mature, going through separate life journeys and then coming back together again. That appeals to me a lot.”

The veteran actor said he’s talked with Streisand about it, and she had a good idea about the story. “We would come back together again over a situation with our daughter, who’s now grown. That sort of gets in that territory that I’m talking about. That would be interesting to me, that kind of love story.”

Redford admitted he didn’t realize how beloved the film was until he and Streisand were on “Oprah” in October.

“You don’t pay attention to that so much,” the actor explained. “First of all, I haven’t seen the film for a while. I saw a rough cut of it and then never saw it again, so I wasn’t even sure what was in the film. And because I have a habit of not wanting to look back on things that have been done, I wasn’t aware of the reaction to it so much. I knew it was considered a good love story, but didn’t know how much.”

As for his labor of love, the Sundance Film Festival started 30 years ago on a shoe string budget, and now the festival generates more than $60 million for the state of Utah. “I guess what sits at the heart of it is the power of film,” Redford said. “It was independent when we started it. They said it’s not going to work, you can’t promote it when you’re not going to have trailers for the films. That’s not the point, we’re not in this for the commercial aspects. We’re in it for the diversity. When we go through our selection process, we focus on what’s the real independence, what are the fresh ideas.”

New Robert Redford book says Scarlett Johansson frustrated director on ‘Whisperer’

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Jul 312009

Scarlett Johansson may be beautiful, but Robert Redford thinks she’s less than lovely to direct.

In “Robert Redford: The Biography,” due out in early November from Knopf Publishing, author Michael Feeney Callan says that the then-13-year-old starlet had Redford pulling his hair out in frustration on the set of their 1998 film, “The Horse Whisperer.” Although the director acknowledges Johansson’s talent, her paint-by-numbers approach to acting and overbearing stage manager mom proved to be a lethal combination.

A crew member from the flick tells Callan that Johansson put her own personal spin — or, rather, her mother’s interpretation — on her scenes, which conflicted with Redford’s vision. In addition, the actress’ constant back talk caused “friction” between the two on the set.

But while Johansson and Redford had their differences, Redford perhaps got along a little too well with Barbra Streisand, his co-star in 1973’s “The Way We Were.”

According to what Wayne Van Wagenen, brother of Redford’s first wife, Lola, told Callan, Streisand was more than hot for the Sundance Film Festival founder.

“It was obvious that Barbra was just too, too crazy about Bob. She had a hard time controlling her emotions, and when she played scenes with him — like the fireside courtship scene at Malibu — she was drooling. Lola just turned the other way,” said Van Wagenen. “Bob was very tactful.”

Redford also showed tact when it came to working with Streisand’s “good side” (the Oscar winner is famous for favoring her left side). When director Sydney Pollack pulled him aside during a dance scene and mentioned Streisand’s discomfort regarding the camera angle, the affable star simply said that whatever Streisand needed to boost her confidence was fine by him.
If only more men could be like Robert Redford …

(source)