Cary Elwes Reveals the Two Movies Fans Always Recognize Him From
The Princess Bride may be one of the best-loved movies of all time, but star Cary Elwes says it isn't one of the two movies he is most commonly recognized for. Instead, Elwes says that when fans approach him out in the world, it's usually to express their love for one (but rarely both) of two movies -- Saw, and Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Both of those films featured Elwes in the lead role, with Saw being a stripped-down horror movie with a tiny cast, so it makes particular sense people would remember Elwes from that.
Robin Hood: Men in Tights hit five years after The Princess Bride, after the latter movie had already become a cult classic on VHS but before it was widely regarded as a totally indispensable part of the American film canon. As such, it was the first exposure many fans had to Elwes as a leading man.
"I would say it's a combination of my characters in Saw and Robin Hood: Men in Tights," Elwes told Empire magazine. "It's very rare that I find someone who is a fan of both."
Both films also have a pedigree that has helped them age gracefully. Robin Hood: Men in Tights not only hailed from legendary comedy filmmaker Mel Brooks, but also starred a number of comedy superstars, including a very young Dave Chapelle. That means all of those people had fans who will find the movie themselves.
And as for Saw...well, they're still making those movies. Hard to forget them when they never went away. And for many fans of the franchise, the first Saw remains the best. Some horror geeks who didn't buy fully into the series will go one step farther and say it's the only good one, but few people will say that it's a bad film in its own right.
Elwes has some big stuff coming up, incuding Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, which he called the biggest movie in the franchise. He is also set to host a special screening of The Princess Bride at New Jersey's Count Basie Center for the Arts on February 4, and he has been cast in Zack Snyder's two-film, Star Wars-inspired epic, Rebel Moon.