--- description: A legend in both Hollywood and Independent film, two-time Academy Award winner Robert Redford offers insights on what helped him get there. title: Learn What Drives Robert Redford's Continued Success? image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [TIME 100](/tag/time-100/) ## TIME 100 Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Robert Redford Almost Gave Up Acting by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 24, 2014 10:55 AM CUT by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 24, 2014 10:55 AM CUT When considering who most influenced his life, Robert Redford, who has performed with Hollywood’s finest and mentored independent cinema’s rising stars, cites a “mixed bag” of people who helped him along the way. “There is power in an idea that you will stay with, against the odds,” he tells TIME Managing Editor Nancy Gibbs in this short interview. Whether it’s called ego or drive or stubbornness or vision, Redford endorses the impulse to “keep pushing through” in spite of the obstacles. Even failure, he notes, can be valuable, even “fun.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/74876/robert-redford-almost-gave-up-acting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/74876/robert-redford-almost-gave-up-acting/"},"headline":"Robert Redford Almost Gave Up Acting","datePublished":"2014-04-24T10:55:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:15:13.852Z","description":"A legend in both Hollywood and Independent film, two-time Academy Award winner Robert Redford offers insights on what helped him get there.","url":"https://time.com/74876/robert-redford-almost-gave-up-acting/","keywords":["TIME 100","School","Influence","Creativity","Acting","TIME 100","Robert Redford","failure"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-100/","name":"TIME 100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/74876/robert-redford-almost-gave-up-acting/","name":"Robert Redford Almost Gave Up Acting"}}]}] ```