History Trivia / ThePrincessBride

** When the behind-the-scenes interviewers asked him what he liked most about working on the film, he simply responded, "[[IJustWantToBeNormal Nobody sees me]]," and he was correct; everyone treated him as just another member of the cast. After the film came out, one of the stipulations Andre had for any hotel he was staying at was they had to have a copy of ''The Princess Bride'' for him to watch. He clearly enjoyed his work on the movie.

* CreatorsFavorite: Creator/MandyPatinkin has said that the role of Inigo Montoya is his personal favorite over the course of his entire career.
** One of the stipulations Andre had for any hotel he was staying at was they had to have a copy of ''The Princess Bride'' for him to watch. Adding to that, when the behind-the-scenes interviewers asked him what he liked most about working on the film, he simply responded, "[[IJustWantToBeNormal Nobody sees me]]," and he was correct; everyone treated him as just another member of the cast. He clearly enjoyed his work on the movie.

** One of the stipulations Andre had for any hotel he was staying at was they had to have a copy of ''The Princess Bride'' for him to watch. Adding to that, when the behind-the-scenes interviewers asked him what he liked most about working on the film, he simply responded, "[[IJustWantToBeNormal Nobody sees me.]]", and he was correct; everyone treated him as just another member of the cast. He clearly enjoyed his work on the movie.

* IronyAsSheIsCast: Andre the Giant was famously a heel WrestlingMonster, but plays a complete sweetheart who actually has to be told to fight dirty and laments it's "not very sportsmanlike." Subverted as well, in that Andre's real-life personality, as opposed to his kayfabe Heel persona, was actually almost exactly the same as Fezzik's.

** One of the stipulations Andre had for any hotel he was staying at was they had to have a copy of ''The Princess Bride'' for him to watch. Adding to that, when the behind-the-scenes interviewers asked him what he liked most about working on the film, he simply responded, "[[IJustWantToBeNormal Nobody sees me.]]" He clearly enjoyed his work on the movie.

** Creator/CarrieFisher was the initial candidate for the part of Buttercup before Creator/RobinWright was cast. Now-famous actors including Creator/CourteneyCox, Creator/MegRyan, and Creator/UmaThurman also auditioned for Buttercup before the casting of Wright. Thurman was turned down due to the fact that she was considered "too exotic" for the character.
** Creator/KareemAbdulJabbar, Creator/LouFerrigno, Creator/RichardKiel, Creator/LiamNeeson, Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger, and [[Film/TheAddamsFamily Carel Struycken]] read for the role of Fezzik before the casting of Wrestling/AndreTheGiant. Neeson was declined due to the fact that Creator/RobReiner considered him "too short" for the part, despite Neeson being ''[[ExpectingSomeoneTaller 6'4"]]''.

* HolyBacklight: In real life. Author William Goldman was set to meet actress Robin Wright, who was under consideration for the role of Buttercup. When she arrived at Goldman's house, director Rob Reiner opened the front door to reveal Wright silhouetted in the doorway, wearing a white summer dress with her long golden hair backlit by the sun. Goldman took one look and said "Well, that's what I wrote." She got the part.

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: The film was produced independently by Norman Lear before Fox stepped in to help distribute it late in the game. Unfortunately, the marketing people didn't know what to make of the movie and it was released into theaters with zero promotion.
-->'''Rob Reiner:''' They had faith but they didn't know how to market it. We had no trailer, no TV spots, no one-sheet!

** Creator/ChristopherReeve was considered for the role of Westley before the casting of Creator/CaryElwes.

** When Count Rugen hits Westley over the head, Creator/CaryElwes told Creator/ChristopherGuest to go ahead and hit him for real. Guest hit him hard enough to shut down production for a day while Elwes went to the hospital.

* HarpoDoesSomethingFunny: Creator/BillyCrystal was basically told by Rob Reiner to do whatever during the "mostly dead" scene.

** Mandy Patinkin also suffered an injury on the set, but surprisingly, it wasn't during one of his fight scenes. During the sequence with Miracle Max, he was trying so hard not to [[{{Corpsing}} corpse]] at Billy Crystal and Carol Kane's antics that he bruised a rib from holding in his laughter.

* OnSetInjury: When Count Rugen hits Westley over the head, Creator/CaryElwes told Creator/ChristopherGuest to go ahead and hit him for real. Guest hit him hard enough to shut down production for a day while Elwes went to the hospital.

** One of the stipulations Andre had for any hotel he was staying at was they had to have a copy of ''The Princess Bride'' for him to watch. Adding to that, when the behind-the-scenes interviewers asked him what he liked most about working on the film, he simply responded, "Nobody sees me." He clearly enjoyed his work on the movie.

** Also provided EnforcedMethodActing for Christopher Guest as Count Rugen. Guest had come onto the film under the assumption that that he'd only need to learn the sword fighting routines as needed, but Mandy Patinkin got so deep into character while shooting the climax that he actually stabbed Guest in the leg. For many of the shots, the fear on Count Rugen's face is Guest's genuine fear that Patinkin would, once again, get carried away and hurt him again. Guest also went and took fencing lessons on his own just in case he'd have to actually defend himself against Patinkin.

* CreatorChosenCasting: When the casting director asked Creator/WilliamGoldman how big a giant Fezzik should be, he replied "about the size of Wrestling/AndreTheGiant". This was practically a case of RealLifeWritesThePlot; Goldman has revealed that André was the original inspiration for Fezzik in the novel (the author was a huge wrestling fan).

* TropeNamers: ''The Princess Bride'' is the Trope Namer (or [[Administrivia/RenamedTropes Former Namer]]) for:
** ClimbingTheCliffsOfInsanity
** JustForFun/{{Hello}}
*** MyNameIsInigoMontoya
*** YouKilledMyFather
*** PrepareToDie
** HeroicSecondWind (originally called MyNameIsInigoMontoya prior to Administrivia/LaunchDisplacement)
** IAmNotLeftHanded
** IKnowYouKnowIKnow (formerly "Wine in Front of Me")
** OnlyMostlyDead (Truuuuueee... loooooooooooove...)
** OutGambitted (Formerly [="Vizzini Gambit"=])
** RodentsOfUnusualSize
** SkipToTheEnd
** SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay (formerly "As You Wish")
** StormingTheCastle
** ToThePain
** YouKeepUsingThatWord

** A self-inflicted example. Creator/WallaceShawn considered himself too minor an actor to play Vizzini, and felt that the original choice for the role, Creator/DannyDeVito, was closer to the novel's version. As filming progressed, he thought he bombed take after take, inadvertently creating the meme-worthy film Vizzini. Notably, the early scenes with Vizzini show him in a far more menacing light than after he reaches the metaphorical and literal [[NoIndoorVoice CLIFFS OF INSANITY!]]