Michael Caine says he’s “sort of” retired, meaning The Great Escaper could be his final film before stepping away from cameras.
Michael Caine knows he’s no spring chicken, and after decades in the film industry, the Muppet Christmas Carol and The Cider House Rules actor confirms he’s more or less retired. Speaking with The Telegraph, Caine says his upcoming film The Great Escaper could be his final bow.
“I am bloody 90 now, and I can’t walk properly and all that,” Caine said about getting up in years and his body no longer cooperating. Caine says he used a walking stick on the set of Oliver Parker’s new film, focusing on Bernard Jordan’s escapes from his care home to attend the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings in France. “They gave me a very good walking stick, and I was able to do scenes that needed that. I’d just do them once, and then fall over. But just one take, and that’s it. Forget it.”
Continuing his chin wag with The Telegraph, Caine said, “I sort of am retired now,” suggesting his days of getting in front of cameras have ended. Caine points out he no longer needs to work to pay rent and has contemplated retirement for the past 40 years. His original plan was to retire at 45, move to a farmhouse, fill it with kids, and grow old gracefully. While that plan is no longer in the cards, Caine seems content to call it a day at 90 after decades of giving audiences the gift of knock-out performances.
According to IMDB, Caine could reprise his role as Arthur Tressler in Now You See Me 3. However, with the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes and the project still being in pre-production, the threequel may need to make his character disappear.
What do you think about Caine finally making good on his plan to retire at 90 years old? What are your favorite Michael Caine performances? He’ll always be my Alfred Pennyworth, and I enjoy his roles in The Prestige, Children of Men, and at the top of the list, Scrooge in The Muppet Christmas Carol. No one dances alongside a Muppet as well as Michael Caine, dammit! Let us know your favorite movies starring Michael Caine in the comments below!
