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Princess Bride Almost Cast Schwarzenegger As Fezzik: Why It Didn’t Happen

Arnold Schwarzenegger was almost cast as Fezzik in The Princess Bride, instead of professional wrestler Andre the Giant. Had it not been for the long process of adapting the beloved novel into a movie, it’s possible that Schwarzenegger’s big break might have come from playing the strongest man in the world in William Goldman’s fractured fairy tale rather than Conan the Barbarian.

First published in 1973, The Princess Bride was a smash hit novel. It was fast-tracked for adaptation into a film, largely based on the reputation of author William Goldman, who had won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for his work on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid three years earlier. Despite this, the film spent several years in developmental hell until Goldman bought the film rights back with his own money and sat on them until he could find a director he felt truly understood the material.

Related: Princess Bride Author S. Morgenstern Joke Explained

During the first attempt at producing The Princess Bride, Goldman decided that professional wrestler Andre Roussimoff (professionally known as Andre The Giant) was the ideal person to portray the character of Fezzik; a gentle giant and would-be poet. Goldman reportedly approached Andre, but he wasn’t interested in any acting jobs that required him to speak extensively. A native of Coulommiers, France, Andre had a thick French accent that, coupled with his deep voice, made him difficult for many to understand, and Andre was quite sensitive about his voice.

Wilt Chamberland Arnold Schwarzenegger and Andre the Giant

Hollywood legend has it that Andre suggested William Goldman talk to a friend of his: a bodybuilder who had done a few films and had dreams of becoming a movie star. Regardless of how it happened, Goldman did wind up speaking to a then-unknown Arnold Schwarzenegger about the role of Fezzik and left the interview satisfied that he had the strength of character necessary to bring his creation to life. It is a testament to Schwarzenegger’s charisma that he was able to win over Goldman despite being a mere 6’2″ compared to the 7’4″ Andre the Giant.

Unfortunately, Goldman gave up on getting the film produced sometime after his meeting with Schwarzenegger. Years later, when Goldman was persuaded to try and adapt his novel again with This Is Spinal Tap director Rob Reiner, he remembered his promise to cast Schwarzenegger in the role of Fezzik. Unfortunately, by that time, Schwarzenegger had achieved stardom after appearing in two Conan the Barbarian movies  and playing the title role in The Terminator. As much as Schwarzenegger wanted to play Fezzik, his value as an actor had risen to the point that they couldn’t afford to hire him.

Ironically, this led Goldman and Reiner to approach Goldman’s first choice to play Fezzik. This time they were able to persuade Andre The Giant that they could work around his accent, with Reiner personally recording all of Fezzik’s dialogue phonetically so that Andre could listen to his lines and practice his pronunciation. Yet, while it is impossible to imagine anyone but Andre the Giant playing Fezzik in The Princess Bride today, we might have seen Arnold Schwarzenegger testing his comedic chops long before he made movies like Twins or Kindergarten Cop — had it not been for a simple twist of fate.

More: Princess Bride Author S. Morgenstern Joke Explained

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‘I am officially off the market’: When Margot Robbie revealed she made the ‘conscious’ decision of not dating actors


Margot Robbie revealed her decision to not date actors because of the media scrutiny that came with a public relationship of two high-profile actors
Back in 2015, A-lister Margot Robbie made a declaration that she would not be dating any actors. The actress may have alluded to her fiance Tom Ackerley, who she married the following year in 2016. In an exclusive interview with Marie Claire, she revealed that being in a relationship as an actor herself came with its own set of challenges. She believed that dating someone who was popular would add on to the media scrutiny.

Margot Robbie opened up on why she made a conscious decision to not date actorsTalking to Marie Claire, she claimed, “I am officially off the market.” She then shared the reasoning behind her decision and added, “I made a conscious decision not to date actors.” She continued to explain, “But not because I hate actors. That’s a nasty generalization to make, and that’s not the case. People take such an interest in your love life when you have a profile, it puts a lot of stress on a relationship.”
The Barbie actress continued, “So two people with profiles, I figure it’s just double the amount of scrutiny, and I’d like to avoid that at all costs.” This came after reports of her locking lips with Tarzan co-star Alexander Skarsgard started making rounds. It was reported that she was caught kissing the actor during the Sundance Film Festival.

Margot Robbie revealed she opted for a minimal lifestyle even after becoming an actorIn the interview, Robbie also opened up about how she was adapting to fame. She shared, “I have a normal 24-year-old life. If I were a waitress, I’d probably have the exact same lifestyle. I’d go to the same clubs I go to already, live in the same house with the same housemates, hang out with the same people.”
However, Margot Robbie tied the knot with Tom Ackerley who is an English producer and actor. The duo met on the sets of 2013 movie Suite Francaise where Tom was working as an assistant director. Post marriage, both of them launched their production company LuckyChap Entertainment.

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Monica Bellucci and Tin Burton at lunch in the restaurant in Selci Lama


For All Saints’ Day, the Hollywood star from Tiferno returned to his native Umbria to enjoy a moment of relaxation and then visit his parentsOn the occasion of the All Saints’ Day celebrations, the Hollywood star of Tiferno origin, Monica Bellucci, returned to her native Umbria to enjoy a moment of relaxation and to visit her father Pasquale and her mother Brunella.Flanked by her current partner Tim Burton, she went to lunch, together with about twenty old friends, at the Osteria del Musicista, which has always been her favorite restaurant, in Selci Lama.Menu dedicated to typical dishes of the area, which includes an appetizer with breadsticks lined with coppa, duck in porchetta and grilled pork livers, polenta with wild boar sauce accompanied by the very typical cappelletti in broth.To conclude, a dessert based on fried “ciaccia” with Nutella and roasted chestnuts.
Having paid the bill and greeted the restaurant owner and lifelong friend, Roberto Polchi, Monica brought home cappelletti and broth for a family dinner.

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‘Rocky’ Was Quite Different In His Original Screenplay, Sylvester Stallone Claims


Sylvester Stallone took his friend’s advice on a rewrite of the original screenplay to Rocky. A few tweaks later, he was on his way to major success.
In the new Netflix documentary Sly, Stallone discussed how he initially conceived of the project, which had a much harder edge. In the early version, Rocky was depicted as a “thuggish” character, inspired by Martin Scorsese’s crime drama, Mean Streets.

But Stallone’s perspective changed when a friend read the script and thought the boxer was too cruel for audiences to actually care about him.
Stallone recalled her crying.

“She goes, ‘I hate Rocky. I hate him. He’s cruel. He hits people. He beats them up.’”
Stallone took it to heart, and asked what he could do to soften the character.

“I said, ‘what if you stop short of it?’ Like, maybe he almost did. He could have, that’s his job, but he doesn’t?’ ‘That’d be nice,’” he added. “I said, ‘What if he had a girlfriend or something?’ ‘Yeah, that’s nice.’ So I go back, start writing that: ‘Girlfriend. Nice.’”
$117 million in box office later, a franchise was born.

Stallone also revealed that actor Dolph Lundgren sent him to the hospital during one fight scene in Rocky IV.
“Dolph Lundgren… he pulverized me,” Stallone says in the documentary. “Later that night, my heart started to swell—which happens when the heart hits the chest—and then my blood pressure went up to 260, and they thought I was going to be talking to angels. Next thing I know, I’m in intensive care, where I’m surrounded by nuns, and I thought, ‘OK, that’s curtains.’”
Stallone was in the hospital for nine days following the incident, praying for “one more round.”
“For the first minute of the fight, it is going to be a free-for-all,” Stallone told Lundgren. The Swedish actor joked in a separate interview that all he did was “obey orders,” explaining, “[Stallone] was the boss. I did what he told me.”
Doctors allegedly told Stallone that he received a blow to the ribs that made his heart rattle around in his ribcage, a condition typically seen in head-on collisions. “I did hit a bus, of sorts,” Stallone joked.

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