Actor Mandy Patinkin, whose role in the cult classic film “The Princess Bride” made him a household name, is taking on a new role ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California: honorary Team Captain for USA Fencing.
“When Mandy and I first spoke, what struck me wasn’t the movie, though we got there eventually,” Phil Andrews, CEO of USA Fencing, explained. “It was how deeply he understood what this sport gives people: discipline, confidence, a community and a lifetime of joy. We could not ask for a better honorary Team Captain to lead our fencers, and our sport, into a home Games in Los Angeles.”
After being named as the organization’s first-ever honorary team captain, Patinkin said, “Fencing is a true craft, a genuine art form, a thrilling discipline. It requires every cell of your mind and body, but particularly your mind. It’s a form of meditation. It’s not just your physical abilities that count, and they certainly do, but I think the real fun is to get inside the other person’s mind and being, and know when and where they’re going to move before your opponent even knows it.”
And while acting might be Patinkin’s primary job, his fencing skills are legitimate.
Patinkin and his costar Cary Elwes — for their respective roles as Spanish swordsman Inigo Montoya and Westley the farm boy/The Man in Black — trained for months under Yale fencing coach Henry Harutunian, stunt coordinator and fencer Peter Diamond, and British Olympic fencer Bob Anderson so that they could deliver the film’s iconic fencing scene without the use of stand-ins or stunt doubles. Both Patinkin and Elwes spent eight to 10 hours a day training as they learned to fence both right-handed and left-handed.
In 2022, Patinkin recalled the scene with fondness. He said that when director Rob Reiner had given the inevitable direction to “cut, and print,” he’d been devastated because he knew that it was over. “I’m such a f*ckin crybaby,” he laughed, choking up as he remembered how he’d felt in the moment.
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