The Princess Bride star Cary Elwes reflects on how his role in 1980s cult classic changed his life

Release time：2024-05-21 15:13:14 Source：Worldly Weaves news portal

Cary Elwes credits the fantasy adventure comedy film The Princess Bride (1987), for which he played Westley, as being the big breakthrough role of his career.

In fact, some 36 years after it premiered in theaters, the British actor feels as though it has been 'the gift that keeps on giving' throughout the years, according to People.

The Westminster, London, England native also heaps praise on the now cult classic and its director Rob Reiner for solidifying his comedy chops. 

'Well, Rob Reiner really helped me with that,' Elwes, 61, said when asked whether he felt the need to prove he had the comedic ability to hold his own early in his career.   

'Once I got that part, that really kind of opened the door for me and that's how I got the role of Robin Hood with Mel Brooks,' the actor shared, in a reference to his titular role in Robin Hood: Men In Tights (1993). 

Cary Elwes, 61, credits his role as the swashbuckling farmhand named Westley in The Princess Brie (1987) as being his breakthrough role of his career

'So that was really Rob basically saying, "I believe that you can do comedy and I can believe you do serious as well." So, yeah,' Elwes proceeded to add.

Elaborating more on how much The Princess Bride has meant to his career, the actor maintains it is still integral to his career to this day. 

'I have sold-out shows. I tour with the movie and I sell out everywhere I go. It's crazy,' he told the publication, before sharing his appreciation, 'It's really beautiful.'

For Reiner, now 77, The Princess Bride marked his fourth time directing a feature film, in which he worked from a screenplay by William Goldman, who adapted his own 1973 novel of the same name.

Elwes starred alongside leading lady Robin Wright, who played the role of Buttercup/The Princess Bride, as well as Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn, André the Giant, Peter Falk and Billy Crystal.

While the film didn't become a huge blockbuster hit, grossing $30.9 million at the worldwide box office against a $16 million budget, it was well received by critics at the time. Through the years, though, it did reach cult classic status, and is now considered one of the best films of the 1980s. 

Solidifying its lasting impact, the film was selected by the Library of Congress in 2016 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being 'culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.'

Borrowing a word famous from the movie, Elwes called the lasting impact of The Princess Bride on his career as 'inconceivable.'

Elwes starred alongside Robin Wright in The Princess Bride, which was not a blockbuster film but over time has become a cult classic with fans

The British actor also heaped praise on the fantasy adventure comedy film's director Rob Reiner for believing he 'could do both comedy and serious' as well

'You're lucky as an actor to have anyone resonate with your work, and I seem to hit the jackpot with that one,' he said of the film that tells the story of a swashbuckling farmhand named Westley, who is accompanied by companions he's befriended along the way, who must rescue his true love Princess Buttercup from the odious Prince Humperdinck.

And like The Princess Bride novel, the film preserves the metafictional narrative style by presenting the story as a book being read by a grandfather to his sick grandson.

Along with his titular role as Robin Hood, Elwes went on to star in a slew of popular films over the past few decades, including Glory (1989), Days Of Thunder (1990), Hot Shots! (1991), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), The Crush (1993), The Jungle Book (1994), Twister (1996), Kiss the Girls (1997), Shadow Of The Vampire (2000), Saw (2004, Saw 3D (2010), No Strings Attached (2011), and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023).

'You're lucky as an actor to have anyone resonate with your work, and I seem to hit the jackpot with that one,' he said of The Princess Bride; Wallace Shawn, Robin Wright and André the Giant were among the cast to star in the film

'I have sold-out shows. I tour with the movie and I sell out everywhere I go. It's crazy,' Elwes told People, before sharing his appreciation, 'It's really beautiful'

For his latest role in Guy Richie's The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare, Elwes has a special connection to Brigadier Colin Gubbins, who was the man personally chosen by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to run the Special Operations Executive.

'My grandfather was actually recruited by the character I play in the film,' he revealed. 'He was dropped into Albania in 1943 to create a partisan brigade to fight the Italians and the Germans.'

Elwes called his grandfather his 'real-life hero' who would 'regale me with stories when I was a kid. So this is a deeply personal project for me.'

The spy action comedy film, which only just premiered in the U.S. on April 19, also stars Henry Cavill, Eiza González, Alan Ritchson, Alex Pettyfer, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Babs Olusanmokun and Henry Golding.

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