Redford: 'I'd like to play Donald Trump'

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Only a day after word got out that Robert Redford was looking to retire from acting, the actor/director/producer told an audience in Minneapolis that there is one role he might fancy: The president-elect.

"I'd like to play Donald Trump," Redford said at an appearance at the Walker Art Center on Saturday, according to the StarTribune. His only explanation for that acting choice: "Films usually do deal with issues of their time."

With film critic Amy Taubin as a moderator, Redford talked about his 40-plus years as a Hollywood icon, founder of the Sundance Institute and champion of environmental and social causes.

When discussing his star-making film, the 1969 Western "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," Redford noted that much of the movie was shot in national parks in the West. "I can't believe how important a role the environment made in it," Redford said. "It was terrific to film there amid these incredible geological formations."

He said he gravitated to movies about politics — such as "The Candidate" (1972) and "All the President's Men" (1976) — because they dealt with the ways that "politics can shift integrity," he said. "The powers inside are so powerful; you can't believe how powerful they are until you try to change them."