Robert Redford talks politics, fracking and why he still loves making movies

Important people usually have underlings call up a reporter and then get on the line, so I nearly fell off my chair when I picked up the phone Wednesday afternoon and heard a familiar voice, "Hello, I'm Bob Redford."

You would think a longtime friend was calling — and in a way it was.

The world got to know Robert Redford in a string of classic movies, including Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, The Way We Were, All the President's Men and The Sting, where he filled the screen with humor, grace, an easygoing style and great story-telling.

At 76, Redford continues to tell important stories on the screen — he directs and stars in The Company You Keep, a political thriller about a fugitive member of the Weather Underground that will be released in theaters next spring. He also is the guiding force behind the Sundance Film Festival, which he started in Park City, Utah on a shoestring budget in the early 1980s and built into the premier showcase for independent films.

Seeking to replicate the moviegoing experience of his childhood, he founded the Sundance Cinemas theater chain, where no commercials are shown, the seats are comfortable, the popcorn is tasty and theatergoers are urged to hang around afterwards in the lobby and discuss the movie they just saw.

The chain operates in the Lone Star State, among others. But that's not Redford's only tie to Texas. On November 9, Redford received the Houston Cinema Arts Festival Levantine Award for his contributions to film.

"I have family history in Texas, even though it's a little bit north of you in Kyle, Texas, and San Marcos, just below Austin," he says. "On my mom's side of the family it goes back to the 1850s. We have a family gravesite there. I used to spend my summers as a kid growing up there. I have an affinity for Texas."

Undeterred by burglars
Even though it has been a trying day as burglars had broken into his Napa Valley home and were later apprehended, Redford is in no hurry to get our interview over with. He answers every question thoughtfully and is eager to talk about the things the loves — movies, the environment and politics.

Asked about the presidential election, Redford, like a lot of Americans, is glad that it's over.

"I was so sick of it. My wife and I took a drive (on election day) just to get away from the noise. No matter what you felt or whatever you hoped for, the whole thing took over a sick atmosphere where the public was bombarded by ads and the amount of money going into it and the sheer decadence of the process itself.

"Even though I'm a Democrat by voting standards, my hope for the future of the country is to get over this polarization so we go back to a time that existed in the late '60s and early '70s when you had enough moderates in each party to work together for the public good, and a lot of great bills were passed. It's become like a war zone. I'm just glad it's over."

An avid environmentalist through his adult life, Redford recently collaborated with the grassroots organization Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy and actress/activist Debra Winger to produce several anti-fracking ads in upstate New York. He's worried that not enough safeguards are in place during the extrication process to prevent groundwater contamination.

He also worries that too little has been been done to combat global warming. It's a subject he tackled 30 years ago, but no one wanted to talk about it back then, either.

"You have to be living in the 1950s to be a denier in my opinion. The evidence is too conclusive. But it's taken too long to sink in that we have a problem. We're almost at the point that it's too late to do anything about it," he says.

So is he at all hopeful that this issue will be addressed in his lifetime?

"I have to be hopeful," he says. "I guess you could say I'm a hopeful pessimist."

Favorite movies
Redford won't pick a favorite movie but says he had the most fun making Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

"I developed a very strong friendship with Paul Newman; it lasted up until his passing (in 2008). And I got to do things I love to do: I love to ride (horses), I love to do stunts and I love the West," he says.

He also enjoyed filming The Natural "because baseball was my sport," and A River Runs Through It, because "fly fishing I love."

I tell Redford that one of my favorite movies of his is The Candidate because it is as timely now as it was when he made it an amazing 40 years ago. (The movie spawned the catch phrase, "What do we do now?")