Just Doing Comedy!Fun facts, wild true stories, and cringey ego-driven tea-spilling from behind the scenes of some of history's most beloved and infamous comedy movies.
It's the little things that make digging into famous film productions so enjoyable. There are so many fascinating anecdotes surrounding The Princess Bride- from actors' stories to daring stunts - everybody's favorite fantasy/comedy masterpiece, it really deserves a "making of" documentary.
Mandy Patinkin's Father Had Died Not Too Long Before Filming
Everybody has their own favorite character from The Princess Bride, but it's pretty easy to single out Mandy Patinkin's Inigo Montoya as the emotional core of the film. He's a complicated, conflicted character whose entire life has been built around avenging his father. And despite his predilection for violence, he's a decent person deep down. It's a tricky role, but Patinkin nailed his performance, and that's partially because for him it was more than a part, it was real life.
Just a few years before The Princess Bride began filming, Patinkin's father died of cancer. Patinkin took that pain and used it in his performance. It's pretty sad, but Patinkin once told NPR, "I always had it in my mind that if I could get the six fingered man, if Inigo could get the six fingered man, then my father, Patinkin's father, would come back and be with me." Knowing Patinkin's personal struggles gives Inigo's revenge scene much more poignance.
Andre The Giant Was Self-Medicating With Copious Amounts Of Alcohol
Professional wrestler turned professional actor, Andre the Giant comes across as a lovable goofball in The Princess Bride. He's huge and strong, but really he's more of a teddy bear than a Goliath. The sad thing about Andre, though, is he struggled with chronic pain for much of his life, and he self-medicated with a generous amount of alcohol.
While filming, Andre would make a drink called "The American" that was basically a 40 oz. blend of an assortment of liquors. Cary Elwes even said it tasted like airplane fuel. One time, Andre was so drunk he passed out in a hotel lobby, and since nobody could move him, the hotel management just put velvet ropes around his sleeping body.
Billy Crystal is widely regarded as one of the funniest comic actors of all time, and his role in The Princess Bride supports that claim immensely. If you just casually watch the movie, it would be hard to notice Crystal's lines were improvised. There are apparently hundreds of hilarious takes that will never see the light of day.
The material he came up with on the spot was so funny, director Rob Reiner had to leave the set because he was laughing so hard. Mandy Patinkin even bruised a rib trying to hold in his laughter during a scene.
The Princess Bride is one of those movies everybody seems to love. Even still, it's pretty surprising just how incredibly far-reaching it is. One of the biggest fans of the film was Pope John Paul II. Cary Elwes had the chance to meet the Pope a year after the film came out, and the Pope asked if Elwes was from The Princess Bride. A stunned Elwes confirmed he was, and John Paul II responded, “Very good film. Very funny.”
On another end of the spectrum, the mob boss John Gotti and a cadre of his “associates” once came into a restaurant where director Rob Reiner was dining. After the meal, one of the guys said straight to Reiner, “You killed my father. Prepare to die.” It took Reiner a couple (terrifying) seconds to realize that the wiseguy was quoting his film, not issuing a threat.
When Cary Elwes was first asked to jump into quicksand to save Robin Wright's character Buttercup, he thought it would be too dull. Originally, he was asked to leap feet first, but Elwes told the director he didn't think it'd be "swashbuckling" enough, so he requested to dive in headfirst.
That may not sound like a huge deal, but the quicksand was operated with a trap door. So if Elwes dove too quickly, or landed in the wrong place, he could break his neck or otherwise seriously injure himself. Fortunately, the Dread Pirate Roberts never fails, and Elwes landed the stunt on his first try.
One day before filming, Andre the Giant convinced Elwes to ride ATVs with him. Andre actually used an ATV to get around as a way to help mitigate his pain, but he also wanted to give Elwes a turn. So, of course, as soon as Elwes agreed, he managed to wedge his foot between a pedal and some rocks, breaking his toe.
Although the pain was bad, he was more afraid the director would fire him. Thankfully that wasn't the case, and they were able to shoot around Elwes's injury.
