Tim Robbins, star of The Shawshank Redemption, shared his concerns over the future of cinema. The actor, who is currently starring in the second season of Silo, sat down for an interview with The Guardian, where he called out the growing trend of looking at algorithms that “prioritize more of the same” over more creative work. (Also read: Brad Pitt’s kids have not spent ‘extensive time’ with his parents but Angelina Jolie has not ‘blocked’ them: Report)

What Tim Robbins said

Talking about the growing fascination with streaming sites in recent years, the actor said, “You go on Netflix right now, you see what films are coming out and you tell me that that’s the future of cinema? We’re in big trouble.”

On The Shawshank Redemption

Tim went on to cite the example of The Shawshank Redemption and how the audience rejected it during the time of release to make his point of quality cinema that will stand the test of time. He added, “We’re at 30 years now [on from] Shawshank Redemption. When it came out it got good reviews, it got nominated for Academy awards, but nobody saw it. It was VHS and [Ted] Turner playing it on his television channel [Turner Classic Movies] that changed that. That is a beloved movie. It remains on top of IMDb as the most favoured movie of all time. So I know that a quality movie, a quality television show, will last. Whether it’s a hit or not is irrelevant compared to what people are going to think about it in 10, 15, 20 years.”

Tim Robbins won an Oscar in the Best Supporting Actor category for 2003’s Mystic River, which was directed by Clint Eastwood and also starred Sean Penn. He currently stars in the Apple TV+ science-fiction series Silo, which is on its second season.