Fangirl Fridays – Cary Elwes

Most people, they saw The Princess Bride when they were little. Me, I didn't see it until I was nearly twenty - and I'm roughly the same age as Fred Savage, who played The Boy. So, I caught it late.


Follow me through the jump so I can tell you just exactly when I figured out WHY I loved Cary Elwes so very much!









Naturally, like everyone under the sun, I adored Westley. While my personal favorite is still Inigo, I absolutely adored Westley (which should tell you about Inigo!).






First for me, obviously, was The Princess Bride. And then... Robin Hood: Men in Tights. I still didn't know quite what it was that made him so magnetic, but damn. Now a Robin Hood - great eyes, fun smile, and apparently a sense of humor, too! Good for the soul, all that is.



Source
Source
Many years (and many roles) went by before Ella Enchanted came. Of course I loved it, and despite not being able to keep up with as prolific an actor as Cary Elwes is - as well as some serious issues with the horror genre that means I'll never see him in SAW... I still squee whenever I see he's been in something new.  *Ahem.* This digression brought to you by FanGirl 101. Anyhow. Something Hugh Dancy said on the commentary of the Ella Enchanted DVD (of course I got it right away!) hit me, and it went a long way to explaining why I love him as much as I do - paraphrasing Dancy, he'd said Elwes came into filming, and was all over the place. He was crazy, he was stoic, he was funny, he was serious... They had filmed the scenes for the movie completely out of order! So Elwes had had a vision of what he wanted for the developing character of Edgar in the film, and each day's takes were a completely different step in that journey.




The kind of vision it must take to make something like that happen, completely unprompted, on one's own... and to make it really work... Combine his newly obvious adoration for his craft with his boyish good looks and his ability to carry off Mel Brooks roles (which I swear must come with a 'sense of humor' test!!), and I'm gone! A hopeless fangirl of the performances I will never see all of from an actor who is utterly worth every moment spent watching, every word spoken or thought, and really every award he's ever (and never!) won.

Do you have a favorite Cary Elwes movie or role? Can you not decide? Share with me, I'm lonely!


Comments

  1. I love Cary Elwes too, but I am old (according to his IMDB page, I am a few months older than he is!), because I remember seeing the Princess Bride at the movie theatre when I was an adult. :-) I really love everything, but I appreciate seeing him as a good guy more than when he is a bad guy. (And, I will never see Saw either). I love him very early in his career in Lady Jane. Check it out if you haven't seen it yet, but bring tissues.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

You Might Want to Read...

Black Dagger Brotherhood: Scenes That Left us Begging for More

A Tribute to The Fiery Cross

When The Music's Over

Dani Mega O'Malley: Superstar

Review: Annihilation (Book and Movie)