One of the most anticipated panels at Fan Expo this year saw Cary Elwes from The Princess Bride take to the stage in Toronto.  It also happened to be the last Q&A of the convention at 4:00PM on Sunday afternoon. The room was filled with nostalgia as he answered questions from devoted fans about some of his beloved characters, specifically Wesley.

The Princess Bride was a career-altering moment for Elwes, but it took its sweet time building into a cult classic. The film first came out in 1987 around the same time as Fatal Attraction and quickly faded into oblivion, this is no secret. Despite the lack of initial success Rob Reiner made sure the cast knew how proud of it he was.

All of the actors continued on with their lives until about 10 years later when they noticed a shift with the help of VHS tapes. Suddenly, people started renting and buying the movie after a decade has passed, allowing The Princess Bride to become what it is today. Elwes recalled the moment he realized it had become something. He was in a restaurant where a waiter responded to his order by saying, “as you wish.”

Even after all this time, Elwes wouldn’t change anything about The Princess Bride. There is not one additional scene he would add. Although, the memorable sword fighting sequence up the tower was added in when Rob Reiner noticed the fight was too short. They had only 20 minutes to extend it. Their aggressive daily training sessions allowed them to succeed. Elwes joked that people still expect him to be able to fence, and he feels like he’s disappointing them.

As the questions continued to roll in from fans, Elwes recalled working on Robin Hood: Men In Tights with Mel Brooks. He had no prior experience on how to arch and had about five minutes to learn before filming. It was by pure chance when he hit the bullseye on the fifth arrow. Elwes pointed out that you can see the look of utter surprise on his face in the film because of it.

Elwes likes to prepare for all of his roles in the same way, by doing a lot of research. He said playing serial killer Ted Bundy in The Riverman was not the most exciting in comparison. The role places an actor in a very dark head space and he found it a difficult place to be. It’s probably the last serial killer he will ever play.

And while he couldn’t expand, Elwes can be seen in the upcoming third season of Stranger Things on Netflix, where he’ll play the new mayor of Hawkins.

Photography Credit: Marc Levy