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Michael Caine says he's not retiring from acting, despite earlier remarks

UPDATE: Michael Caine has not yet taken his final bow.

The 88-year-old actor has seemingly disputed reports that he is retiring from acting, despite instigating those reports himself. During a Friday interview on the BBC radio show Kermode and Mayo's Film Review, Caine said that his performance in the 2021 film Best Sellers would be his final acting role.

"Funnily enough, it has turned out to be my last part, really," the actor said. "Because I haven't worked for two years, and I have a spine problem which affects my legs, so I can't walk very well. "

He continued, "And I also wrote a book, a couple of books, which were published and were successful. So, I'm now not an actor, I'm a writer, which is lovely because as an actor, you have to get up at half past 6 in the morning and go to the studio. As a writer, you can start writing without leaving the bed."

"There haven't been any offers, obviously, for two years, because nobody's been making any movies that I'd want to do," Caine added. "But also, I'm 88. There's not exactly scripts pouring out with a leading man who's 88."

On Saturday, however, after these remarks were reported by numerous outlets, Caine wrote in a tweet, "I haven't retired and not a lot of people know that." Sources close to the actor also told Variety that he is currently reviewing two scripts for upcoming projects.

EW has reached out to Caine's representatives for comment.

In Best Sellers, the two-time Oscar winner plays a cantankerous author named Harris Shaw, who reluctantly agrees to go on a tour to promote his first book in decades. The film also stars Aubrey Plaza, Cary Elwes, Scott Speedman, and Ellen Wong.

Caine's roles in recent years have included a brief appearance in Christopher Nolan's Tenet, playing Fagin in a contemporary adaptation of Oliver Twist, and one of a trio of senior citizens who decide to rob a bank in 2017's heist comedy Going in Style. He has well over 100 acting credits to his name, including Oscar-winning supporting performances in 1986's Hannah and Her Sisters and 1999's The Cider House Rules.

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