AP Film Studies: True Love

If you can't wait two weeks to see the 52-year-old Elwes—or don't want to drive out to Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing—The Princess Bride continues at the Kiggins Theatre through Thursday, Dec. 4. For my part, I jumped at the chance to chat with the dashing Brit. 

WW: You spend a lot of time paralyzed in the movie. Was this a relaxing experience?

Cary Elwes: Well, I only laid down in Miracle Max's hovel. When I was mostly dead, André carried around a rubber dummy. Rob [Reiner] and I were both sent off the set because we were laughing too much.

So André never actually carried you?

He had a bad back. If you look at the film, he's literally carrying me with one arm. He didn't complain, but he was actually in a lot of pain.

Did you remain friends after the film?

I miss him to this day. He was a wonderful man. He'd give you the shirt off his back. It'd be enough for five people, but he'd give it to you.

Did you ever go out drinking together? André's kind of a legend among boozers.

Oh yeah. I went out to a New York screening with him, and I sipped a beer at each bar that we hopped to. I noticed there was someone following us, and I thought it was a fan, but after the fifth bar, I said, "André, I think somebody's following us." I pointed out this guy I'd seen at the last five bars, and he said, "Don't worry about him, boss." He called everybody "boss." It turns out, one time, André slipped in New York getting into a car and knocked over a patron. The NYPD had sent a policeman to follow him every time he went out drinking. And so André would buy this guy drinks once he found out he was there. 

What prompted you to write the book?

I always get asked by fans, "Was it as much fun to make this film as it looked?" I always tell them it was more fun. I wanted to put together my entire journey to share with the fans.

Initially, the film failed to hit, but it became a home-video classic.

The film opened the same weekend as Fatal Attraction, and kind of went away quietly. William Goldman, the writer, warned Rob Reiner that it's an oddball movie, and that it would be tough to sell. They didn't know what angle to take: It's a kids' movie, it's an adult movie, it's a fairytale and a comedy and an action film. It was all those things and more.

When people see you on the streets, is there something they always say to you?

It's usually Princess Bride, and I get asked to say the three words. It took the publisher all of two seconds to come up with the title for my book. It never wears on me. I feel blessed. You're lucky if you have anything resonate with an audience.

This is a question from my sister: Will you marry her?

[Laughs heartily.] Tell her I appreciate the offer!

But she's really pretty!

That's very kind. But I'm already married.

Also Showing:

1. With A Cosmic and Earthly History of Recorded Music, Mississippi Records takes on the super-easy-sounding task of summing up “the entire history of recorded music from the time of the first star in the universe being born all the way to the dark ages of the 1990s.” If Herb Alpert’s glossed over, I’m demanding a refund. Hollywood Theatre. 7:30 pm Wednesday, Dec. 3.

1. The Hollywood’s Critics’ Choice series kicks off with the Merc’s Erik Henriksen, who presents Guillermo del Toro’s gorgeously fucked-up vampire film Cronos. Hollywood Theatre. 7:30 pm Thursday, Dec. 4.

1. Speaking of gorgeously fucked-up vampire movies, the David Bowie-Susan Sarandon classic The Hunger is the perfect dessert to Cronos. Hollywood Theatre. 9:30 pm Friday, Dec. 5.

1. Alain Resnais’ Hiroshima Mon Amour—a classic, kinda boring meditation on war and the romance between a French actress and a Japanese architect—gets a digital restoration. Cinema 21. Opens Friday, Dec. 5.

1. High on the list of greatest Christmas traditions is watching Chevy Chase freak out over the jelly-of-the-month club in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Hallelujah! Holy shit! Where’s the Tylenol? Laurelhurst Theater. Dec. 5-11.

1. Jesus might get all the attention, but his neighbor went to space, and Monty Python’s Life of Brian is here to tell his tale, helping us all to look on the bright side of life. Academy Theater. Dec. 5-11.

1. 5th Avenue Cinema ends its year with Andy and Lana Wachowski’s psychedelic Speed Racer because…Jesus, I really have no idea. Because pot? 5th Avenue Cinema. 7 and 9:30 pm Friday-Saturday and 3 pm Sunday, Dec. 5-7.

1. In anticipation of John Waters’ Christmas show at the Aladdin on Monday, the Clinton Street goes full camp with Hairspray. The one with Divine, not John Travolta in a fat suit. Clinton Street Theater. 7 pm Friday and Sunday, 9 pm Saturday, Dec. 5-7.

1. One of the most gonzo kung fu flicks of all time, Master of the Flying Guillotine is a nonstop orgy of eye-popping fights and head-chopping weirdness. Hollywood Theatre. 7:30 pm Tuesday, Dec. 9. 

WWeek 2015