Sword-Fights and Bill Cosby Impressions: Secrets of The Princess Bride
If you’ve been known to shout “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die,” then this is for you.
The cast and creative team of the cult classic The Princess Bride, including Broadway favorites Billy Crystal and Mandy Patinkin, reunited on Tuesday, October 2 to celebrate the film’s 25th anniversary as part of the New York Film Festival.
The Hollywood Reporter has revealed what went on during the reunion, with cast members like Patinkin and Crystal sharing never before-known secrets in an excellent profile with THR reporter Ashley Lee. A few of our favorites, as told to Lee:
Director Rob Reiner ruined takes: “He’s too good of an audience, so he laughs and he’ll ruin takes — you have to tell him, ‘Go home and you’ll see it tomorrow!,” Billy Crystal said.
William Goldman’s writing made HIM cry: “The high point of my writing was I didn’t know what I was doing, and Westley was in the machine, and the bad guy came in and killed him. And until that moment, I never knew what was gonna happen … and I got hysterical with tears,” he said.
Reiner almost didn’t get the gig: Francois Truffaut, Norman Jewison, John Boorman, and Robert Redford had all shelved it.
Cary Elwes landed Westley with an impression of Bill Cosby: “Here’s this beautiful-looking kid, he’s like Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and he’s doing shtick, and I thought, Oh boy, he’s our guy,” Reiner said.
Billy Crystal Went Method: the comedian reportedly did a “Dopey impression” before putting on his wig and stayed in character while ordering lunch.
There weren’t any stuntmen, except for an Olympic gymnast to do flips: “The only injury I received on the entire movie was I bruised a rib holding in my laughter,” Patinkin noted.
The actors are the cult flick’s biggest fans: “I’ve sat with my grandchildren and watched the movie, and felt this amazing feeling of, ‘I’m in something that’s really important,” Billy Crystal said.
Our kingdom for a stage adaptation. Shakespeare in the Park-style, at The Delacorte? Yes, we’re looking at you, The Public Theater.
