Throughout his career, Robert Redford has played a lot of bright-faced, principled, and stalwart characters. It’s rare that you’ll find him playing someone villainous, wicked, or slovenly. Even if he is playing a character of dubious morals, he tends to present them as being deeply principled, or at least relatively harmless (his con man in “The Sting” and his gun-slinging robber in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” for example, are incredibly charismatic). When Redford appears, one can rest assured that he will be trustworthy, or at least likable. 

This trustworthiness extends from Redford’s natural on-screen charm, of course — he is, after all, notoriously handsome — but also from a long-held personal belief toward authenticity and cooperation. In the Collider interview, Redford was asked if he had ever had to make any notable compromises in his career. Redford, rather than find regrets, touted the open-mindedness required to make compromises, saying: 

“I’m sure I have at times. I’ve been very rigid about not compromising, but at some point you realize that if you refuse to compromise that means you’re getting more and more narrow-minded. So maybe there are times when I should keep myself open.”

When it came to giving guidance to future directors, Redford’s answer was to-the-point and extended directly from his words on compromise. His advice to young filmmakers was: 

To pay attention to the world around you and to avoid having a narrow point of view.

In order to be a good filmmaker, you must be observant — of the world, of people, of the way the world operates — and also open to other perspectives. It seems simple, but it is indeed quite profound. After 50 years and countless credits, he seems to be on to something.