Cary Elwes

Actors

Ivan Simon Cary Elwes (born October 26, 1962) is a British actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for his leading film roles as Westley in Rob Reiner‘s The Princess Bride (1987), with Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Wallace Shawn, André the Giant, and Christopher Guest; Mel Brooks‘ Robin Hood in Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), with Amy Yasbeck, Roger Rees, Richard Lewis, and Dave Chappelle; and Dr. Lawrence Gordon in the Saw film series.

He is also known for leading roles in films like Lady Jane (1986), with Helena Bonham Carter; Edward Zwick’s Glory (1989), with Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, and Morgan Freeman; Jim Abrams’ Hot Shots! (1991), with Charlie Sheen, Valeria Golino, Lloyd Bridges, Jon Cryer, Kevin Dunn, Kristy Swanson, and Bill Irwin; and The Jungle Book (1994), with Jason Scott Lee, Lena Headey, Sam Neill, John Cleese, and Jason Flemyng.

Roles in the 90s include Tony Scott‘s Days of Thunder (1990), with Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid, Caroline Williams, and Michael Rooker; Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), with Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, and Keanu Reeves; Twister (1996), with Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Jami Gertz, and Philip Seymour Hoffman; Kiss the Girls (1997), with Freeman and Ashley Judd; Liar Liar (1997), with Jim Carrey; and Tim Robbins’ Cradle Will Rock (1999), with John Cusack, Joan Cusack, Philip Baker Hall, Bill Murray, Vanessa Redgrave, Susan Sarandon, John Turturro, and Emily Watson.

Roles in the 2000s include Shadow of the Vampire (2000), with John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Eddie Izzard, Udo Kier, and Catherine McCormack; Peter Bogdanovich‘s The Cat’s Meow (2001), with Kirsten Dunst, Izzard, Edward Herrmann, Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Tilly; Ella Enchanted (2004), with Anne Hathaway, Hugh Dancy, Vivica A. Fox, Joanna Lumley, Minnie Driver, and Eric Idle; Robert Zemeckis’ adaptation of A Christmas Carol (2009), with Carey, Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins, Wright; and Ivan Reitman‘s No Strings Attached (2011), with Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher, Kevin Kline, Greta Gerwig, Lake Bell, Olivia Thirlby, Jake Johnson, and Mindy Kaling; Hellgate (2011), with William Hurt; and We Don’t Belong Here (2017, with Catherine Keener, Kaitlyn Dever, Anton Yelchin, Riley Keough, Annie Starke, and Maya Rudolph

He has had recurring roles in television series including The X-Files, Seinfeld, From the Earth to the Moon, Psych, Life in Pieces, and Stranger Things. He joined the third season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel as Gavin Hawk, a famed Broadway actor. In 2014 he released the book As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of the Princess Bride, featuring interviews with the various cast and crew members.

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

  • Yesterday’s Hero (1979) – directed by Neil Leifer
  • Another Country (1984) – directed by Marek Kanievska
  • Oxford Blues (1984) – directed by Robert Boris
  • The Bride (1985) – directed by Franc Roddam
  • Lady Jane (1986) – directed by Trevor Nunn
  • Maschenka (1987) – directed by John Goldschmidt
  • The Princess Bride (1987)** – directed by Rob Reiner
  • Never on Tuesday (1989) – directed by Adam Rifkin – uncredited
  • Glory (1989) – directed by Edward Zwick
  • Days of Thunder (1990) – directed by Tony Scott
  • Hot Shots! (1991) – directed by Jim Abrahams
  • Leather Jackets (1992) – directed by Lee Drysdale – also associate producer
  • Porco Rosso (1992)** – directed by Hayao Miyazaki – 2003 English dub
  • Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) – directed by Francis Ford Coppola
  • The Crush (1993) – directed by Alan Shapiro
  • Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)* – directed by Mel Brooks
  • The Chase (1994) – directed by Adam Rifkin
  • Felidae (1994) – directed by Michael Schaack – English dub
  • The Jungle Book (1994)* – directed by Stephen Sommers
  • Whisper of the Heart (1995) – directed by Yoshifumi Kondō – 2006 English dub
  • Twister (1996) – directed by Jan de Bont
  • Liar Liar (1997)* – directed by Tom Shadyac
  • The Informant (1997) – directed by Jim McBride – TV movie
  • Kiss the Girls (1997) – directed by Gary Fleder
  • The Pentagon Wars (1998) – directed by Richard Benjamin – TV movie
  • Quest for Camelot (1998)* – directed by Frederik Du Chau – aka The Magic Sword: Quest for Camelot
  • Cradle Will Rock (1999) – directed by Tim Robbins
  • Shadow of the Vampire (2000) – directed by E. Elias Merhige
  • Race Against Time (2000) – directed by Geoff Murphy – TV movie
  • The Cat’s Meow (2001) – directed by Peter Bogdanovich
  • Uprising (2001) – directed by Jon Avnet – TV movie
  • Wish You Were Dead (2002) – directed by Valerie McCaffrey
  • The Cat Returns (2002)** – directed by Hiroyuki Morita – 2005 English dub
  • Comic Book Villains (2002) – directed by James Dale Robinson – also co-producer
  • Saw (2004) – directed by James Wan
  • American Crime (2004) – directed by Dan Mintz
  • Ella Enchanted (2004) – directed by Tommy O’Haver
  • The Riverman (2004) – directed by Bill Eagles – TV movie
  • Edison (2005) – directed by David J. Burke – aka Edison Force
  • Neo Ned (2005) – directed by Van Fischer
  • Pope John Paul II (2005) – directed by John Kent Harrison – miniseries
  • National Lampoon’s Pucked (2006) – Arthur Hiller – aka Pucked, National Lampoon’s The Trouble with Frank
  • Factory Girl (2006) – directed by George Hickenlooper – uncredited
  • Haskett’s Chance (2006) – directed by Tim Blake Nelson – TV movie
  • Georgia Rule (2007) – directed by Garry Marshall
  • Walk the Talk (2007) – directed by Matthew Allen – also executive producer
  • The Alphabet Killer (2008) – directed by Rob Schmidt
  • Toys in the Attic (2009) – directed by Jiří Barta – aka Na půdě aneb Kdo má dneska narozeniny? & In the Attic: Who Has a Birthday Today? – English dub
  • A Christmas Carol (2009) – directed by Robert Zemeckis
  • As Good as Dead (2010) – directed by Jonathan Mossek
  • Flying Lessons (2010) – directed by Derek Magyar
  • Psych: 9 (2010) – directed by Andrew Shortell
  • Saw: The Final Chapter (2010) – directed by Kevin Greutert – aka Saw 3D
  • Tough Trade (2010) – directed by Gavin Hood – TV movie
  • Ghost of New Orleans (2011) – directed by Predrag Antonijević aka Little Murder – not released theatrically till 2017
  • No Strings Attached (2011) – directed by Ivan Reitman
  • Hellgate (2011) – directed by John Penney – aka Shadows
  • The Adventures of Tintin (2011)* – directed by Steven Spielberg – aka The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
  • New Year’s Eve (2011) – directed by Garry Marshall
  • Camilla Dickinson (2012) – directed by Cornelia Moore
  • Delhi Safari (2012) – directed by Nikkhil Advani – aka Jungle Safari – English dub
  • The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure (2012) – directed by Matthew Diamond
  • The Story of Luke (2012) – directed by Alonso Mayo
  • The Citizen (2012) – directed by Sam Kadi
  • Prairie Dogs (2012) – directed by Luke Greenfield – TV short
  • Hansel & Gretel Get Baked (2013) – directed by Duane Journey – aka Black Forest: Hansel and Gretel and the 420 Witch
  • Armed Response (2013) – directed by Adam & Evan Beamer – aka In Security
  • She Loves Me Not (2013) – directed by Brian Jun & Jack Sanderson
  • Anna Nicole (2013) – directed by Mary Harron – TV movie
  • Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013) – directed by Jay Oliva – straight to video
  • Horizon (2013) – directed by Yves Simoneau – TV movie
  • A Bit of Bad Luck (2014) – directed by John Fuhrman
  • Behaving Badly (2014) – directed by Tim Garrick
  • Teen Lust (2014) – directed by Blaine Thurier
  • Reach Me (2014) – directed by John Herzfeld
  • H8RZ (2015) – directed by Derrick Borte
  • Being Charlie (2015) – directed by Rob Reiner
  • A Haunting in Cawdor (2015) – directed by Phil Wurtzel
  • Lost & Found (2016) directed by Joseph Itaya
  • Elvis & Nixon (2016) – directed by Liza Johnson – co-writer, producer only
  • Indiscretion (2016) – directed by John Stewart Muller – TV movie
  • The Queen of Spain (2016) – directed by Fernando Trueba – aka La reina de España
  • Sugar Mountain (2016) – directed by Richard Gray
  • Max (2016) – directed by Lena Dunham – TV movie
  • We Don’t Belong Here (2017) – directed by Peer Pedersen – aka The Greens Are Gone
  • Don’t Sleep (2017) – directed by Rick Bieber
  • Billionaire Boys Club (2018) – directed by James Cox
  • Ghost Light (2018) – directed by John Stimpson
  • Circus Sam (2019) – directed by Rayner Wang – short
  • Black Christmas (2019) – directed by Sophia Takal
  • A Castle for Christmas (TBA) – directed by Mary Lambert
  • Best Sellers (TBA) – directed by Lina Roessler
  • Shrine (TBA) – directed by Evan Spiliotopoulos
  • The Gettysburg Address (TBA) – directed by Sean Conant – documentary
  • Butterfly in the Typewriter (TBA) – directed by David DuBos
  • The Hyperions (TBA) – directed by Jon McDonald
  • Why Not Choose Love: A Mary Pickford Manifesto (TBA) – directed by Jennifer DeLia