Michael Caine Denies Retirement, Admits Back Problems and Age May Limit His Future Acting Roles

JB Augustine |

Oct 19, 2021

Source: The Dark Knight (2018), Warner Bros.

Though Michael Caine gave a statement to TheWrap denying that he was fully retiring from acting, the Tenet and The Dark Knight Trilogy actor did recently hint that if his new film Best Sellers is not his last, his health and age could slow down his future acting schedule.

“I’ve got this alcoholic part [in Best Sellers], and funnily enough, it has turned out to be what is my last part, really. Because I haven’t worked for two years,” Caine said to BBC Radio hosts Mark Kermod and Simon May during an interview for their aptly titled Kermode and Mayo’s Film Review radio show.

“I have a spine problem which affects my legs, so I can’t walk very well,” he added. “And I also wrote a book, a couple of books which were published and were successful, so I’m now not an actor — I’m a writer.”

Caine called this career change “lovely,” explaining “because as an actor, you have to get up at six in the morning and go to the studio. The writer can start writing without leaving the bed.”

In his statement to TheWrap, Caine stressed that he wasn’t staying in bed to work and “I’m not getting rid of my alarm clock!” – which he’s set for 6:00 AM for the past 50 years.

The offers could still get slimmer, however, as he told Kermode and Mayo, “there haven’t been any offers, obviously, for two years, because nobody’s been making any movies I’d want to do. But also, I’m 88. There’s not exactly scripts pouring out with a leading man who’s 88, you know?”

Caine made his film acting debut in 1956, appearing as Private Lockyer in the war movie A Hill in Korea. His star rose a decade later in Alfie, which earned him his first Best Actor nomination from the Academy.

Eventually, after being nominated time and time again, Caine would win two Oscars, one each for his roles in Hannah and Her Sisters and the pro-abortion drama Cider House Rules

Today, Caine may be best known for his frequent collaborations with Christopher Nolan, playing Alfred Pennyworth through the director’s Batman trilogy before being offered small roles in Tenet, Inception, and Drunkirk.nd Dunkirk.

We have to see what the world looks like in a post-COVID era, but Caine’s career is not likely to be over just yet – unless he himself wants it to end.