Did Michael Caine Reveal He’s Retired From Acting?

Sir Michael Caine referred to the part he plays in his latest movie Best Sellers as his “last part” on Friday, instantly sparking headlines about the 88-year-old living legend retiring. After the interview went viral, his representative confirmed that he is not really retiring for good. That’s good news for movie fans and Christopher Nolan, who has cast Caine in his last eight movies.

“Funnily enough, it has turned out to be my last part, really,” Caine said in a BBC Radio interview with Simon Mayo Friday. “Because I haven’t worked for two years and I have a spine problem which affects my legs so I can’t walk very well. And I also wrote a couple of books which were published and were successful, so I’m now not an actor I’m a writer.”

Although many took this to mean Caine was retiring for good, his representatives told TheWrap this is not the case. It’s possible Caine was joking or maybe just pointing out that his part in Best Sellers as the cranky author Harris Shaw might be the last time he has a lead role. “There’s not exactly scripts pouring out with a leading man who’s 88,” he told Mayo.

After Best Sellers, Caine will also be seen in Medieval, a big-budget Czech film also featuring Hell or High Water actor Ben Foster. Although he has not been officially cast in it yet, movie fans are hoping to see Caine get a role in Oppenheimer, Nolan’s upcoming movie about scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer starring Cillian Murphy. Caine has been a good luck charm for Nolan since starring as Alfred Pennyworth in Batman Begins. Even when Nolan couldn’t find an obvious part for him in Dunkirk (2017), Nolan still cast Caine in a voice cameo part. Caine also had a role in Nolan’s previous film, Tenet (2020).

Caine has had an astonishing career that began in the 1950s and includes over 170 credits. He won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor twice, first for Hannah and Her Sisters in 1987 and then for The Cider House Rules in 2000. He also has nominations for Alfie (1966), Sleuth (1972), Educating Rta (1983), and The Quiet American (2002). Caine was also seen in Come Away with David Oyelowo and Gugu Mbatha-Raw last year.