Caine went on to tell host Martha Kearney: “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. I was sent a script actually, and I looked at it, and then I did something I’ve never done before. I counted how many pages I had, compared to the number of pages in the script…and I thought, I think that counts as a small part, I’m not doing it. So I retired. 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.”

Caine’s last movie is The Great Escaper which also stars Glenda Jackson, who finished filming prior to her death in the early summer. The film centers on World War II veteran Bernie Jordan, who captured the world’s attention in 2014 when he slipped out of his care home facility to attend a D-Day anniversary party.