‘Dark Winds’ Executive Producers Pay Tribute to Robert Redford and His Last Onscreen Role: “His Rebellious Spirit and Leadership Has Opened Doors”

Screen legend Robert Redford died on Sept. 16, leaving behind a staggering body of work as an actor, ranging from All the President’s Men (1976) to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), The Natural (1984) and Three Days of the Condor (1975), just to name a few. That’s before you even get to his wider legacy as a director, producer and founder of the Sundance Film Festival.

One of the veteran producer’s more recent projects to make it to the screen was the AMC series Dark Winds, based on the books of Tony Hillerman, to which Redford first acquired the rights in 1986. After a decade in development, the detective drama set on the Navajo reservation premiered in 2022, and earlier this year, Redford made a surprise cameo in season three, alongside his fellow executive producer George R.R. Martin. That cameo was Redford’s last onscreen appearance, according to IMDb.

The scene features Redford and Martin playing chess inside a jail cell in the Navajo Tribal Police station, just before protagonist Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) comes in and meets an FBI agent (Jenna Elfman) who’s investigating a murder on the reservation.

“George, the whole world’s waiting, make a move!” Redford says in the scene, making a meta reference to the author’s famously unfinished book series that spawned Game of Thrones. Leaphorn suggests a move, which gives Martin a checkmate, and Redford replies sardonically, “Thanks a lot.”

After Redford’s death, the executive producers paid tribute to Redford and their more-than-a-decade working relationship together on Dark Winds.

“Today we remember a visionary artist, mentor and friend. Our producing team is humbled and honored to have worked with Robert Redford for over a decade developing Dark Winds. His mission has always been to give back,” said the executive producers in a collective statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “His passion, rebellious spirit and leadership has opened doors for many Native and Indigenous voices. We’re inspired to continue Bob’s legacy, and as we look ahead, we’re encouraged for a bright future and the powerful stories Dark Winds has yet to tell. Robert Redford’s creative inspiration is woven into the fabric of Dark Winds, and we’re eternally grateful for his stewardship. We’re especially grateful to AMC Networks for their unwavering support from the beginning.”  

A separate statement from AMC Networks added, “Robert Redford was an immense talent and extraordinarily meaningful figure in our industry as an actor, director, producer and champion of story, character and independent film. We have been inspired and entertained, like so many, by his work over a remarkable career. For the last two decades, we have been proud to work and partner with him through his Sundance Film Festival as well Sundance TV, Sundance Now and, most recently, Dark Winds, a series he had been developing for almost 40 years. He was an American icon whose work will live on forever.”

At the time of the episode’s airing, showrunner and EP John Wirth explained in an interview with THR that he had long wanted Dark Winds’ two famous EPs to appear on the show, and the specific idea for the scene originated with author Martin. “I thought this was never really going to happen,” Wirth said, not wanting to get his hopes up, “even though we were prepared for it and we scheduled it.”

When the day of filming arrived, Wirth added, “Bob is, like me, a little bit older, and I was afraid he was going to get tired and we were taking too much time, but in the process of shooting it I saw him just take a deep breath and become Robert Redford right before my eyes. He’s really fun in the scene. He’s everything he ever was and that you would want him to be, and it was absolutely thrilling to stand here and watch him do that.”

He continued, “It’s one of the highlights of my career.”