Sir Michael Caine confirms his retirement from acting

'What am I going to do to beat this?'

In conversation with the BBC, Caine, who has had a career spanning over seven decades, said: "You don't have leading men at 90.

"I keep saying I’m going to retire. Well I am now. I’ve figured, I’ve had a picture where I’ve played the lead and had incredible reviews… What am I going to do that will beat this?”

Caine, who is now 90 himself, has just completed his final film, The Great Escaper, where he plays WW2 veteran Bernie Jordan who escaped from a care home to attend D-Day celebrations in France.

While known more recently for his roles in Interstellar, The Dark Knight franchise, and Paolo Sorrentino's Youth, the Oscar, Golden Globe, and Bafta winner is perhaps best remembered for his work in Zulu and The Italian Job.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Caine explained: “The only parts I’m liable to get now are 90-year-old men. Or maybe 85.

“They’re not going to be the lead. You don’t have leading men at 90, you’re going to have young handsome boys and girls. So I thought, I might as well leave with all this.”

Just last week Caine also made headlines when he declared that death is "right around the corner".

Speaking to the Telegraph, he said: “The worst thing about it is that so much disappears from your life. You can’t run around, you can’t play football, and you gradually realise you’re approaching death. [Death] could be just around the corner at 90.

“But I’m quite happy. I’m sitting here writing, doing my thing. I like it. I have two children, three grandchildren and a wife… Everyone’s going to join me eventually.

“No one’s going to say, ‘I’m so sorry you’re going to die — I wish you were like me and not going to die’.”

Caine added: “Everybody’s going to die. At least I’ve lived to f**king 90; I didn’t die at 9, or 19 or 29. I’m 90, and I’ve had the best possible life I could have thought of.”

A true legend of the screen.

Related links:

• Sir Michael Caine says death could be around the corner but he’s happy now
• Michael Caine, 90, says ‘younger wives’ are one of three ‘secrets’ to a long life