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As an artist or performer nothing means more than knowing something you did resonated with someone else and had an impact.
Now, Mandy Patinkin has shared a deeply personal and moving story about his role in The Princess Bride in an emotional TikTok Tuesday (Aug. 24th).
TikTok user Amanda Webb had posted a video asking if it was true that his character Inigo Montoya’s line, “I want my father back, you son of a bitch” was delivered while Patinkin was thinking of his own dad who had passed from cancer. Webb, whose own father had just lost his battle with the disease, is a big fan of the film and the line had become meaningful to her. Through a series of shares and tags, Patinkin saw the video and answered it.
The actor dueted her original post and revealed, “It is true — 100 percent true. I went outside in this castle and walked around. And I kept talking to my dad and I said, 'Dad, I'm going to get this guy.'"
He continued, "From the minute I read the script I knew… I said, 'I'm going to do this part because in my mind, if I get the six-fingered guy [Count Rugen], that means I kill the cancer that killed my dad, and I'll get to visit my dad.'"
Both Patinkin and his wife Kathryn Grody – who also lost her parents to cancer – were visibly choked up while making the video. The actor even asked Webb to send him her dad’s name so he can keep him in his prayers.He thanked her for reaching out and sharing this moment.
Simply beautiful.