From auditions to table readings to sword-fighting training to filming, Cary Elwes shares his journey to becoming Westley in the movie The Princess Bride.
From an Independent Bookstore in
As You Wish:
Inconceivable Tales From the Making of The Princess Bride
Cary Elwes
Published by Atria Paperback
an imprint of Simon & Schuster
Published in 2016
239 pages
The Princess Bride was one of the first movies my then-boyfriend, now-husband and I watched together. In fact, as a blushing bride, I walked down the aisle to Storybook Love by Mark Knopfler and Willy DeVille. So when my husband brought home a copy of As You Wish I knew I had to read it. And I learned...
Twenty-something, Cary Elwes was just embarking on his acting career when director Rob Reiner saw him in Lady Jane (a movie about Jane Grey) and thought, that's my Westley (one of the two leads in the movie). Carey Elwes was thrilled. He's a fan of the book the movie is based on--having first read it when he was thirteen.
Many directors--including Robert Redford--had tried to make the movie but author William Goldman was reluctant. Of all his books, The Princess Bride was his favourite. He'd written it for his daughters. As well, directors were warned that the book was too diverse in genre to be a movie.
Rob Reiner managed to get the rights, held onto his carefully crafted vision, persevered and a movie was made.
'We had the right actors, the right crew, the right script, and a sure hand at the helm in Rob.' (p. 114)
People have always loved The Princess Bride. After its first viewing during a Toronto film festival, it won the People's Choice Award.
The challenge was marketing the movie--with such a diverse genre blend which genre should be emphasized?
Cary Elwes' As You Wish reads like a love letter to the fans of the movie The Princess Bride.
