Michael Caine Coming Back to Acting? Wait, but Isn’t He Retired?

Hollywood legend Sir Michael Caine’s acting career has been anything but short-lived or spotty since his breakout role in Alfie in 1966, which essentially put him on the global map. In fact, he might just have one of the most impressive track records in acting, appearing in a film or show almost every year since 1960, except for 1989, 1993, and 2019. Honestly, is there anyone who can even compare?

Having worked since before many of us were born and continuing well into our adulthood, we wouldn’t be surprised if he decided to retire.

Wait, but didn’t he retire in 2023? With news that Michael, now 92, is set to appear in The Last Witch Hunter 2, it’s a little unclear whether he’s truly retired, so we’re here to clear the air for anyone still wondering about his acting status.

Technically, Michael Caine is retired. He announced he was stepping away from his acting career for good in 2023, at the age of 90, per the BBC. He confirmed his retirement after the release of The Great Escaper, which came out that year and starred him alongside Glenda Jackson (who sadly passed away months after filming), John Standing, and Laura Marcus.

While Michael had hinted at retiring before, and honestly, who could blame him, he continued working until 2023. In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today, he said, “I keep saying I’m going to retire. Well now I am.” He explained further, “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?”

It seems Michael chose to retire not because he was ready to stop acting, but because the roles being offered were increasingly limited. At the time, he joked, “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,” referring to his last film, The Great Escaper.

In fact, he might have retired even before 2023 if he hadn’t been persuaded to take on the role of a real-life World War II veteran in The Great Escaper. He revealed he had turned down the role three times before finally saying yes the fourth time around.

But when he was presented with another role, he ultimately declined, sharing he did something he’d “never done before.” He said, “I was sent a script, actually, and I looked at it, and then… I counted how many pages I had, compared to the number of pages in the script.”

After realizing he only had 15 pages of dialogue out of 99, he decided, “I think that counts as a small part. I'm not doing it. So I retired.” He added, “I thought, I'm ahead here, I may do a little part and get a bad review... so I thought, why not leave now? So I've left.” But that wasn’t quite the end of Michael’s time in Hollywood, as many of us thought.

According to Variety, Michael is set to reprise his role from the 2015 film The Last Witch Hunter in The Last Witch Hunter 2, a project being produced through Lionsgate and Vin Diesel’s production company, One Race Films. While the outlet noted that a deal hasn’t been finalized for Michael, he’s expected to return for the sequel at the age of 92. Perhaps because this role isn’t a backseat part like the others he was being offered before retiring in 2023, he decided to put his retirement on hold.