The Hollywood legend Robert Redford, 88, shocked his fans on Sunday night by making his first acting appearance in six years.
Indeed, Redford made a cameo in the season 3 premiere of the AMC show Dark Winds. Joining him was George R. R. Martin, 76, who wrote the books that the hit HBO show Game of Thrones was based on.
Redford And Martin’s Scene
The brief scene that Redford and Martin took part in came about 23 minutes into the premiere, and it only lasted about 30 seconds. However, it left quite an impression on fans everywhere!
In the scene, Redford and Martin portrayed two incarcerated men in a jail playing a game of chess behind bars. Martin’s character ends up putting Redford’s in checkmate, thanks to a little help from Dark Winds star Zahn McClarnon, who plays Navajo tribal police officer Joe Leaphorn on the show.
Check out the scene for yourself in the video below.
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Dark Winds Cast And Crew Loved Having Redford On
Chris Eyre, who directed the episode, told Vulture that this scene had been “in the air since the first season.” However, it took until now for it to actually happen.
“I never thought I could get to a place in my life where I would actually know Robert Redford, let alone be in a scene with him,” McClarnan admitted.
“I was never really sure it was going to happen until it happened,” added show-runner John Wirth.
It was actually Martin himself who came to Wirth with the idea of making the scene a chess game.
“You have to ask yourself, What are two old white men doing in a Navajo tribal police jail cell? ” Wirth admitted. “But if you squint a little bit, you don’t think too much about that. You could probably get past it.”
Eyre ended up making a backstory for Redford and Martin’s characters, just in case they needed one.
“They were roustabouts that had gotten drunk and disorderly in a neighboring town like Flagstaff, Arizona, and then hitchhiked when they got released and sent to the Navajo Nation,” he explained. “They were picked up there by one of Leaphorn’s deputies.”
This backstory didn’t end up being necessary, however. Like the two seasoned pros they are, Redford and Martin didn’t need one to be told to them.
“They never asked me,” Eyre said with a smile, “but I was ready.”
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Redford’s One Request
Redford only had one request before doing the scene, and that was a closed set. He retired from acting in 2016, only reemerging to shoot a small cameo in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. Needless to say, the Dark Winds crew was happy to oblige his closed set request.
“I’ve known Bob for decades, and just to be sitting there going, Oh, I’m gonna direct Robert Redford, struck fear in me,” said Eyre. “Bob is so kind and he was so nice on the day, and so was George. But I remember Zahn turning to me when we were about to start shooting and he goes, ‘You’re doing a scene with Robert Redford, that’s incredible,’ and I said, ‘Zahn, will you be quiet? You’re making me nervous.’”
“I was giddy, but I was a nervous giddy,” added McClarnon. “My demeanor on set, and in real life, I guess — I don’t speak a lot. I’m a bit on the shy side. It looks like I’m brooding, but I’m really not. I’m just focusing on what I need to do. That day, I couldn’t take the smile off my face. Tina Elmo came up and said, ‘Oh my God, I’ve never seen you smile so much.’”
Redford is a true legend in the world of Hollywood. If he was willing to come out of retirement to do a cameo for Dark Winds, it must be one special show. Dark Winds airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET exclusively on AMC and AMC+. If you haven’t seen it, be sure to check it out!
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