Tim Robbins is looking back at one of the most unsettling lessons he heard while working around prisons, and it came straight from someone who knew the system from the inside. The actor recalled a prison guard telling him that incarceration could turn people serving time for minor offenses into more experienced criminals. Years later, the blunt phrase the guard used to describe it still stands out in Robbins’ mind.

And the more Robbins listened, the more that prison guard’s words exposed a system where punishment could become its own kind of education.

Talking on SmartLess with Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes, Tim Robbins reflected on his work with prison organizations in New York and his experiences surrounding films including Bull Durham, The Shawshank Redemption, and Dead Man Walking. He recalled asking one prison guard on the sets of The Shawshank Redemption what he would change if he had the power to do so, only to receive an unexpected answer: legalize d****. According to Robbins, the guard argued that people entering prison for possession could spend their time learning how to become better criminals, with guards themselves referring to the environment as “crime school.”

"Because what we have is we have people coming in for possession for a year, and they're winding up becoming better criminals. It's basically like they call crime school," Robbins revealed on SmartLess.

Robbins also recalled the guard pointing to the lack of basic opportunities for inmates, including GED programs and job training, which he said had year-long waiting lists. The result, as Robbins remembered it, was a system where young people could enter prison without meaningful support and spend their time surrounded by others who could teach them the very criminal behavior the system was supposed to prevent.

But while Robbins continues to revisit the darker experiences that shaped some of his most memorable work, the actor is also entering a much busier chapter of his own career.

Tim Robbins remains a key part of Apple’s dystopian sci-fi series Silo, where he plays Bernard Holland, the calculating head of IT and de facto leader of the underground bunker. Beyond television, the actor is also returning to the big screen with The Catch, an upcoming Universal romantic comedy starring Emma Stone and Chris Pine. Robbins is set to play Stone’s father, with production expected to begin later this year ahead of the film’s May 21, 2027 theatrical release, marking his first major studio feature role in seven years.

The actor is also keeping one foot firmly in theater through The Actors’ Gang, the nonprofit ensemble he leads as artistic director. Its 2025–2026 season includes More Miracles, The Adding Machine, Fractured Fables, and The Physicists, while Robbins has also been involved in productions including Commedia Palooza and the free summer Shakespeare adaptation Two Gentlebots of Verona.

From prison stories that challenge the system to a packed slate spanning film, television, and theater, Robbins continues to keep his career moving in several directions at once.

What are your thoughts on Tim Robbins’ “crime school” revelation? Let us know in the comments.