Robert Redford is an anomaly in the entertainment industry.

Despite being one of the world’s most recognisable faces, having starred in movies as varied and entertaining as Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, The Way We Were, All The President’s Men, The Sting and Indecent Proposal, he remains an enigmatic figure.

In his 50-year career he’s produced 27 films, directed eight, earned four Academy Award nominations and walked off with two golden statuettes (Best Director for Ordinary People in 1981 and an Honorary Award in 2002).

Yet he eschews Hollywood in favour of a ranch in Utah, where he hosts his independent movie showcase – the Sundance Film Festival.

Today, he’s granting a rare audience to promote his latest directorial offering The Conspirator, which tells the story of Mary Surratt, the only female conspirator convicted of killing American president Abraham Lincoln.

Redford, known as ‘Bob’ by colleagues and friends, was drawn to the project for two reasons.

“The most important is the story itself, which is a story very few really know. The trial of Mary Surratt. This sits inside the story everyone knows, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln,” he says.

The second is the parallel that exists between the present and the past.

“History is a series of loops. We keep repeating ourselves and right now we’re living in a condition of confusion, anxiety and fear and it was the same 150 years ago.”

Wearing jeans, a black sweatshirt and brown jacket, even at the age of 74 Redford exudes movie star charisma. His blue eyes remain piercing, his hair is still auburn and the streamlined features that earned him heartthrob status appear free from cosmetic enhancement. Only his grey sideburns belie his age.

The late Sydney Pollack, a director who worked with Redford on numerous films, once said of him: “He looks like a golden boy but is actually a very complex, dark personality.”

And in person Redford does seem so inclined, though there are glimpses of a lighter side.