Robin Wright Recalls How Andre the Giant ‘Palmed My Head Like a Basketball’ to Warm Her Up on Princess Bride Set

Robin Wright and Andre the Giant shared a special bond during their days on set The princess bride.

The 57-year-old actress addressed her relationship with the late wrestler, who died just six years after the film’s release in 1987, during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday.

“He was such a gentle giant,” Wright said of her co-star, who played rhyme-obsessed Fezzik and helped Westley (Cary Elwes) save her character, Buttercup.

“It was so cold on set outside in England – it was raining constantly. I was freezing and shivering, and he just came up to me and took my head with his palm like a basketball,” she recalled a funny moment on the set. “It was so hot because he was sweating all the time, he was hot all the time because he’s such a big man.”

“It was like having a sauna on my head. It was fantastic, it was great,” she said with a laugh as the 7-foot-5, 520-pound heavyweight champion helped warm her up. “That was very nice of him.”

Robin Wright, Cary Elwes in ‘The Princess Bride’.

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The princess bride Interesting facts: See how well you know the film!

The wrestler’s size was the result of gigantism caused by excess growth hormone, which later resulted in acromegaly, a disorder that can cause joint pain and headaches, among a host of other complications. He died of congestive heart failure in 1993 at only 46 years old.

The role of Andre the Giant was literally perfect for him, both because of his size and because of his “gentle giant” nature, in Wright’s words. However, it almost went to someone else, as Liam Neeson revealed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! few years ago.

“I didn’t audition, but I was living in London and I was asked to meet with Rob Reiner, the director, and I was pretty nervous because I knew this was a big movie,” Neeson recalled of almost the role. .

“I walked into the office in London and Rob Reiner looked at me and said, ‘He’s not a giant! How tall are you?’ I said four feet. ‘That’s tall. He’s not a giant!’ ”

He continued about the interaction: “So there was no ‘Hello, thank you.’ I thought, ‘OK, next time I see Rob Reiner, I’m going to tell him he was very rude.’ ”

Neeson, 71, said he has since “forgiven” the director.

Cary Elwes, Robin Wright in ‘The Princess Bride’.

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Mandy Patinkin cries as he tells fans the emotional story behind his iconic song ‘Princess Bride’

For Wright, the role of The princess bride marked her breakthrough film role after playing Kelly Capwell in the soap opera Santa Barbara.

It has since come with hilarious consequences, as her daughter, Dylan Penn, who she shares with ex-husband Sean Penn, along with son Hopper, recalled to PEOPLE a particularly embarrassing moment when the film was shown at school.

“The teacher played a movie for the class to watch and that was it The princess brideDylan said. “All the boys in my class started talking about how beautiful my mom was!”

Robin Wright at the Netflix “Damsel” Photocall held at the Plaza Hotel on February 29, 2024 in New York City.

John Nacion/Variety via Getty

In Wright’s final film role, he sentences the young princess Elodie (Millie Bobby Brown) to death in the Netflix film A girl. She plays Queen Isabella, whose son, Prince Henry (Nick Robinson), is next in line for the throne, and the royal family routinely “sacrifices” young, eligible bachelors “to pay off an old debt,” according to the synopsis.

Princess Elodie is the latest in “a long line of women who helped build this kingdom,” Wright’s character tells her in the credits. If she survives the cave in which she is trapped – and its resident, a fire-breathing dragon – she will receive the ultimate prize: the hand of Prince Henry.

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A girl premiering on Netflix March 8.

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Source: HIS Education