Barbra Streisand couldn’t imagine anyone but Robert Redford in their 1973 romantic drama “The Way We Were.”
But in her 2023 memoir “My Name is Barbra,” the stage and screen icon detailed the challenges she and director Sydney Pollack faced in landing the actor, who died Sept. 16 at 89.
Although many people first noticed Redford in 1967’s “Barefoot in the Park,” “it was a light comedy and he was perfectly passable,” Streisand writes. “It was only when I watched him in ‘This Property Is Condemned,’ which Sydney directed, that I saw there was a lot going on behind those crystal blue eyes.”
Streisand was “drawn to him not because of his appearance … guys with blond hair and blue eyes were never my type,” she writes. “I did think he was very handsome … a wonderful jawline … great teeth. But what intrigued me most about Bob was his complexity. You never quite know what he’s thinking, and that makes him fascinating to watch on screen.
“Like the greatest movie stars, Bob understands the power of restraint. You’re never going to get it all … and that’s the mystery … that’s what makes you want to keep looking at him.”
