Michael Caine is ‘not retiring’ from acting – but people made the same Christopher Nolan joke anyway

When veteran actor Michael Caine – known for appearances in classic films such as The Italian Job and The Dark Knight trilogy – referred to his role in the recent comedy-drama Best Sellers as “his last part”, rumours began circulating that the star is retiring from his craft.

He told Simon Mayo that it’s “because I haven’t worked for two years” and he has a “spine problem” which affects his legs and his walking.

“I also wrote a couple of books which were published and were successful, so I’m now not an actor, I’m a writer,” he said.

Some wonder whether Caine was joking, or only referring to main character roles, as he went on to add: “There’s not exactly scripts pouring out with a leading man who’s 88.”

However, representatives of the film star have since told The Wrap that he is not retiring – not least because many people believe he will star in Oppenheimer, a new film from long-term collaborator and director Christopher Nolan about the American theoretical physicist considered by many as the ‘father of the atomic bomb’.

His Inception and Batman co-star Cillian Murphy will star in the title role, with filming set to start next year.

Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Speaking of Nolan, although the rumours have since - reportedly - been debunked, Twitter users all made the same comment following the claims, as Caine frequently appears in his films.

On Saturday, the south London actor returned to his fairly inactive Twitter account to put the rumours to bed for good, writing: “I haven’t retired and not a lot of people know that.”

So thankfully, it looks like it won’t be the last we’ll see of Caine on the big screen, so Christopher Nolan can rest easy.