‘The Princess Bride’ star Cary Elwes arrives on Oahu to talk story

Since the 1980s, actor Cary Elwes has appeared in numerous projects ranging from quirky comedic movies like “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” to horror flicks like “Saw” to appearances on television shows like the upcoming season of the Netflix series “Stranger Things.”

Elwes (pronounced El-wez) will join “Stranger Things” when it returns next year as a character called Mayor Kline. The show is set in the 1980s, a time period some people are hungry to visit for the first time or revisit.

It’s “The Princess Bride,” however, a hit movie that was actually filmed in the 1980s, that Elwes is arguably best known for.

What exactly is the secret behind the success of the cult classic “The Princess Bride”? It may sound inconceivable, but Elwes couldn’t tell you.

He can tell you stories about its making, though, and will do so on Sunday night, when he appears at the Hawaii Theatre for a behind-the-scenes look at the beloved fairytale.

“The Princess Bride: An Inconceivable Evening With Cary Elwes” will include Elwes’ appearance, a screening of the film and a moderated discussion including the actor.

“THE PRINCESS Bride,” released in 1987, was a slow starter at the box office. But the tale of Westley, a questing farmhand in the mythical country of Florin (in between Sweden and Germany), who has the habit of responding, “As you wish,” to most requests; his true love, Princess Buttercup, who is held captive by a dastardly prince; and the oddball outlaws, pirates and misfits he encounters while attempting to rescue Buttercup, caught on over the years.

In the Blockbuster era of video rentals, it became a fan favorite.

Viewers were enchanted by the ingenious story and casting, in a movie that introduced the world to Robin Wright (“House of Cards”) as Buttercup, and made a catchphrase out of Mandy Patinkin’s utterance in the character of swordsman Inigo Montoya: “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

“I don’t know what it is about that movie,” said Elwes in a phone call from Los Angeles. “It’s sweet. It has heart. If I knew, I would make more of them. I’m very proud of it. It was made 30 years ago, and it is still going strong.”

Elwes hadn’t met Rob Reiner, the director and a producer of “The Princess Bride,” beforehand. But both Reiner and Elwes were equally familiar with each other’s work.

Reiner had Elwes in mind for “The Princess Bride” after seeing him act in a drama, “Lady Jane,” the previous year, and flew out to meet Elwes while he was working in Berlin.

“I had grown up watching ‘All in the Family,’” said Elwes, referring to Reiner’s role as Michael, the son-in-law on the sit-com. “I knew ‘Spinal Tap’ and ‘Stand by Me’ (which Reiner both directed). I read for him at the hotel. I didn’t think I had done a good job.”

Apparently Reiner thought differently.

“The Princess Bride” was the first comedy Elwes starred in. He learned how to sword fight — both left- and right-handed — over a six-month period for the movie.

Actors did much of their own physical stunts, and it was hard going at times. Elwes even broke a toe during filming, he said.

ON SUNDAY, Elwes will share more stories from behind the scenes at the movie’s making. His recollections are vivid. In 2012, his own book about his experiences was published, called, “As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride.”

“It was as much fun as it seemed,” he said. “There wasn’t a single day without laughter. It was an incredible cast.”

Elwes may not have acted in a comedy before “Princess Bride,” but he was certainly familiar with the comedic work of many of his movie co-stars.

“I had seen Billy Crystal in ‘Soap’ … Peter Falk from ‘Columbo’,” Elwes said. “It was a gifted cast.”

At this live appearance, Elwes also plans to talk about the book by William Goldman that the movie was based on. (Goldman, a prominent novelist and screenwriter, won Academy Awards for his scripts for “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “All the President’s Men.”)

The prolific Goldman wrote the 1973 romantic-fantasy novel as a bedtime tale for his two daughters.

“I read it when I was 13,” Elwes said.

Fourteen years passed between the publishing of Goldman’s book and the movie’s filming, and Goldman had all but given up hope of “The Princess Bride” being adapted for the big screen.

Several directors wanted to film it, including Robert Redford, who had starred in Goldman’s Oscar-winning films, but the project was dropped at different points for various reasons.

Then Reiner came along, having previously directed “This Is Spinal Tap” (1984) and “Stand By Me” (1986).

“It was Reiner’s favorite book,” said Elwes. “That’s how I knew it was going to get made.”

Goldman tried to make a sequel of “The Princess Bride,” but it never happened. That doesn’t bother Elwes.

Though he has appeared in a lot of period pieces, “I don’t pick things by genre,” he said. “I’m not a fan of sequels. I think only a handful of them have worked.”