I'm a big believer in mythology's importance: Robert Redford

Robert Redford will soon be seen in Disney's adventure fantasy "Pete's Dragon". The veteran actor says that for him "dragon is a symbolic creature from mythology" and that mythology is a big deal for him.

"Pete's Dragon" is the adventure of an orphaned boy named Pete and his best friend Elliot, who happens to be a dragon. The film is slated to release in India on August 19.

"The dragon is a symbolic creature from mythology and mythology was a big deal for me as a kid growing up, so I'm a big believer in its importance," Redford said in a statement.

Redford, who was last seen in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier", shared that he "grew up in a working class environment where there were not a lot of options for entertainment".

"So you had to kind of create your own. And it was about a greater world and greater characters and greater creatures than I knew, so, therefore, it was very, very attractive to me," he added.

In the film, he plays an old wood carver Mr. Meacham who has delighted local children with his tales of the fierce dragon that resides deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest.

Talking about his character, Redford said: "He's the only person to have claimed that he's seen the dragon? Nobody believes him, but they like him and he's a part of the community. He's isolated, not because he's an outlaw, but because he believes in magic, and I thought that was a wonderful character to have in a film."

Being one who is a "storyteller", he said: "I believe in storytelling, so I told my kids stories. I think it's really invaluable. In fact, I think 'once upon a time' is one of the greatest phrases imaginable. When you're a kid and you hear 'once upon a time,' it's 'ah, I'm going to get something now'."

The screen legend, who has appeared in classic films like "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", "The Way We Were", "The Sting" and "All the President's Men", has been very selective in recent years regarding the roles he chooses.

So, the makers of "Pete's Dragon" tailored the part to fit Redford's strengths as an actor.

"I think the story crafted here is very human and quite interesting. It is an intimate story of a father, a daughter and a boy who has survived an accident and gone into the woods, and it has a lot of magic, but at its core, it's a very emotional, human story," he said.

The film is directed by David Lowery, who has co-written it with Toby Halbrooks. It is based on a screenplay by Malcolm Marmorstein and produced by Jim Whitaker with Barrie M. Osborne serving as executive producer.

"Pete's Dragon" also stars Bryce Dallas Howard, Oakes Fegley, Wes Bentley, Karl Urban, Oona Laurence, and Isiah Whitlock Jr.

--IANS

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