30 years later, Inigo Montoya can still deliver
Mandy Patinkin’s ‘Princess Bride’ line hasn’t lost its punch
“There’s a little part of me that goes: ‘I can’t believe I was in this movie they keep talking about. That I got to be in it.’ ”
“My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
Fans of The Princess Bride will recognize that line uttered by Mandy Patinkin as Inigo Montoya. He tells everyone who’ll listen that he intends to kill his father’s murderer, “the six-fingered man.” It’s the quote he repeats, half-dead, when Montoya finally does face the baddie with an extra digit, Count Rugen (Christopher Guest).
Thirty years after the Rob Reiner film hit theaters, Patinkin, 64, delivers that line with the same panache and Spanish accent, much to the surprise of fans.
In particular, he makes a point of whispering it into the ears of children who don’t believe that the gray-bearded man with an American accent and the spright-
ly, mustachioed swordsman Montoya are the same man.
“The little kids are like: ‘Maybe my grandma or grandpa’s not crazy. That sounded familiar,’ ” Patinkin told USA TODAY at this month’s Emmy Awards, where he was nominated for outstanding supporting actor in a drama for his role as Saul in Homeland.
More specifically, it sounds exactly like it does in the movie.
I can say that because, yes, I asked Patinkin to whisper the line into my ear. It was a joyful, emotional experience. (Don’t worry: I waited until Patinkin was out of sight to cry.)
“Almost every day of my life” a fan mentions The Princess Bride, “and it just tickles me pink,” Patinkin says. “And every time, even when you bring it up, there’s a little part of me that goes: ‘I can’t believe I was in this movie they keep talking about. That I got to be in it.’ ”
Another overarching memory of shooting the movie? That Patinkin got hurt on set, and it had nothing to do with swordfighting: “I bruised the muscles around my ribs holding in my laughter off-camera.”
As Patinkin recalls, “Billy Crystal cracking 13th-century jokes” is hilarious. It’s so funny, in fact, even Reiner had to leave the set.
But Patinkin doesn’t seem upset about his Princess Bride injury.
“Really, you don’t dream of being in something like that. You know, I should have paid them. It was more fun than anything I ever did in my life.”