Remember that dramatic scene from "The Princess Bride" where Westley, played by Cary Elwes, tackles a rodent of unusual size? It turns out some serious drama unfolded on the day it was filmed.
The film's star Cary Elwes and its director Rob Reiner looked back on the cult classic on HuffPost Live last week and revealed what went down decades ago.
"This poor [actor] had to be sewn into this rat suit under these very hot lights, and he was the only actor and stunt man who could perform it and he went missing that day," Elwes told host Josh Zepps. But as the crew later found out, the stuntman was stuck in jail.
"The guy who was in that suit, he came late that day because he was arrested for burning down this kennel that he owned with his wife because they were going through a divorce," Reiner said. "And so we had to bail him out of jail to get him into a rat suit so he could fight Cary."
Reiner, who voiced the ginormous rodent from a sound studio, was determined to make the scene work and found a temporary replacement for the stunt actor.
"Rob was having me wrestle a rubber rodent of unusual size for about six hours before this guy showed up," Elwes laughed. "And I thought, 'This is ridiculous!' and Rob is like, 'Don't worry, we'll make it work. It's gonna work, don't worry. Just grab his feet and move 'em!' It's hilarious, absolutely hilarious."
Watch the full HuffPost Live interview with "Being Charlie" director Rob Reiner, Cary Elwes and actor Common here.
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