In a career of more than 50 years, two-time Oscar winner Robert Redford has proven to be an actor and director of immense worth, in an eclectic roll-call of movies. The golden boy of Tinseltown discusses with Susan Griffin his latest directorial offering, The Conspirator.

Robert Redford is an anomaly in the entertainment industry. Despite being one of the world’s most recognisable faces, having starred in movies as varied and entertaining as Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, The Way We Were, All The President’s Men, The Sting and Indecent Proposal, he remains an enigmatic figure.

In his 50-year career he’s produced 27 films, directed eight, earned four Academy Award nominations and walked off with two golden statuettes (for Best Director for Ordinary People in 1981 and an Honorary Award in 2002).

Yet he eschews Hollywood in favour of a ranch in Utah, where he hosts his independent movie showcase – the Sundance Film Festival.

Today, he’s granting a rare audience to promote his latest directorial offering, The Conspirator, which tells the story of Mary Surratt, the only female conspirator convicted of killing American president Abraham Lincoln.

Redford, known as 'Bob’ by colleagues and friends, was drawn to the project for two reasons.

“The most important is the story itself, which is a story very few really know. The trial of Mary Surratt. This sits inside the story everyone knows, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln,” he says.

The second is the parallel that exists between the present and the past.

“History is a series of loops. We keep repeating ourselves and right now we’re living in a condition of confusion, anxiety and fear and it was the same 150 years ago.”

Wearing jeans, a black sweatshirt and brown jacket, even at the age of 74 Redford exudes movie star charisma.

His blue eyes remain piercing, his hair is still auburn and the streamlined features that earned him heartthrob status appear free from cosmetic enhancement. Only his grey sideburns belie his age.

The late Sydney Pollack, a director who worked with Redford on numerous films, once said of him: “He’s a man very much not what he seems. He looks like a golden boy but is actually a very complex, dark personality.”

And in person Redford does seem so inclined, though there are glimpses of a lighter side.

Asked about Indecent Proposal, in which his moneyed character propositions Demi Moore with a million-dollar offer, and he flashes the movie star smile used to great effect as the charismatic but flawed Jay Gatsby in the 1974 adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby.

“It was fun,” he exclaims. “I loved the gimmick and I loved playing a character who was completely, pleasantly ruthless.”

Redford’s big break came in 1969 in Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid starring the late Paul Newman after which his career went into orbit .

“The studio had wanted a name to be with Paul but he said 'Let’s do it’ and I’ll be forever indebted to him,” says Redford.

Coincidentally, it was at this point that Redford was seeking more control over his career.

“I wanted to make films that dealt with certain themes of my life and experience,” he says.

He formed his own production company, Wildwood Enterprises, and produced films such as Downhill Racer and 1976’s All The President’s Men, which traced the Watergate scandal.

In 1980, he made his directorial debut with the Oscar-winning Ordinary People.

“For quite a while I’d found myself working on sets with directors, and even directors I admired, wanting to make suggestions or ask questions,” he says.

“It had gotten to the point where I had a real picture of what I wanted to do and the only thing that would really satisfy me would be to do it myself.”

While it wasn’t hard evolving from actor to director, he admits that directing himself was tough.

“I didn’t know what to say to myself. I’d look at the monitor and go, 'That sucks’,” he laughs.

Whether directing, acting or producing, he has a three-pronged approach to choosing projects: story, character and conflict.

“A good story, well told, with characters who drive the narrative will always last,” he says.

And few know no more about longevity in Hollywood than Redford.

Extra time

:: He was born Charles Robert Redford Junior on August 18, 1936.

:: He and his first wife Lola, with whom he has three children, divorced in 1985. He married Sibylle Szaggars in 2009.

:: Since the early 1970s, Redford has been a noted environmentalist and activist.

:: Butch Cassidy remains his favourite film. “I loved being an outlaw, which I’ve felt most of my life,” he says.