Sir Michael Caine has been acting since the 1950s and has since been handed some amazing roles including The Italian Job, numerous Batman films, Kingsman and Now You See Me. At the age of 90, Sir Michael Caine has announced he is finally retiring after talking about it for a while.
Discover our latest podcast
The actor shared the news on BBC Radio 4 that The Great Escaper is going to be his last film. In The Great Escaper, Sir Caine plays Jordan Bernie, who is a real-life World War Two veteran. Bernie made headlines in 2014 when he broke out of his care home to attend D-Day anniversary celebrations in France.
When Michael Caine announced his retirement, he also revealed what finally prompted him to call it quits.
Sir Michael Caine is retiring at the age of 90
As reported by BBC News, Sir Michael Caine announced during an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he has finally decided to retire after talking about it for a while. He said:
I keep saying I'm going to retire. Well I am now.
Sir Caine explains that in his last film, he got to play the lead and the film had ‘incredible reviews’ and decided that was a good note to end his career on. He told Radio 4:
I've figured, I've had a picture where I've played the lead and had incredible reviews... What am I going to do that will beat this?
Indeed The Guardian’s review says that Sir Michael delivers ‘a gruffly heart-breaking performance’ in the film, while the Radio Times added he ‘plays his role with complete dignity’.
The real reason Sir Michael Caine is retiring
During the interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Sir Michael Caine revealed that the real reason he is retiring is because he is too old to get the lead roles in films. He told Martha Kearny, the radio presenter:
The only parts I'm liable to get now are 90-year-old men. Or maybe 85.
He added:
They're not going to be the lead. You don't have leading men at 90, you're going to have young handsome boys and girls. So I thought, I might as well leave with all this.
Michael Caine also explained that he had counted how many pages he had in the script and when he only had 15 out of 99, he decided that was it, he’s retiring.
I was sent a script actually, and I looked at it, and then I did something I've never done before. I counted how many pages I had, compared to the number of pages in the script.
And it was 15 [pages of dialogue] in a script which was 99 pages. And I thought, I think that counts as a small part, I'm not doing it. So I retired.
Caine then added that he was ‘ahead’ and didn’t want to end his career on a bad note, so he retired:
I thought, I'm ahead here, I may do a little part and get a bad review... so I thought, why not leave now? So I've left.
Read more:
⋙ Bruce Willis' rare disease has no cure: Here's what we know about frontotemporal dementia
⋙ Comedian Mark Steel reveals cancer diagnosis, here's what we know
⋙ Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville splits with wife Lulu Williams: What is the actor doing now?
Sources used:
BBC News: ‘Michael Caine confirms retirement from acting after The Great Escaper’
Express: ‘Michael Caine confirms retirement after The Great Escaper release’
