You talkin’ to me?
Film quotes pose as questions. Film stars try to cope. In the crosshairs this month:
‘That kind of opportunity doesn’t happen every day. It was true love for me’
You talkin’ to me? Then I would say to you, ‘I don’t see anybody else here, are you talkin’ to me?’ I might get a little bored talking about myself but I never get bored talking about [The Princess Bride]. I always get asked, was it as much fun to make the film as it looked, and I always tell folks it was more fun than it looked, and that’s what I wanted to share with the fans in the book. Do you feel lucky punk? Unbelievably lucky. They were taking an enormous risk [ casting me in The Princess Bride], I was pretty much an unknown actor, and that’s a huge gamble. Yeah, incredibly lucky, incredibly fortunate. Look at the pedigree of the folks I was working with. You talk the talk. Do you walk the walk? How great is that movie? There was no greater filmmaker than Kubrick, truly one of a kind. My favourite Kubrick film? Oh, it’s hard. I go through phases, like Beatles songs. Last week it was Barry Lyndon. What’s the last thing that you do remember? To turn this into a reference to [The Princess Bride], I think saying goodbye to everybody on the set. It was very hard for production to end. We all bonded so closely as a family, it was hard to say goodbye. Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight? I’ve never danced with the devil in the pale moonlight, thank God! I try to avoid conflict when I can. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t find me sometimes... Do you ever have that feeling where you’re not sure if you’re awake or still dreaming? Yeah, on the set of The Princess Bride. Our first table read I felt like I should pinch myself, I couldn’t believe I was actually there, with all this tsunami of talent surrounding me at the table. Once we started shooting, everybody made me feel very, very welcome. It was like a little family. We’d have dinner in Rob [ Reiner]’ s room four nights a week. He’d cook us hamburgers and hot dogs on his little mini grill. What’s in California? Well, it’s where my family is, and also where most of the work is right now. I mean not physically where the work is filmed any more, which is sad, but where a lot of the work is generated. My family is there, so it is really my new home. This is true love - you think this happens every day? True love doesn’t happen every day, that’s why it’s so poignant, and I think that’s one of the reasons why the film is so timeless: it’s a wonderful love story. It’s funny too. Yeah, The Princess Bride, that kind of opportunity doesn’t happen every day at all, and it was true love for me from day one. MM ETA | OUT NOW As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales From The Making Of The Princess Bride is out now.