The Princess Bride Line That Defined Mandy Patinkin's Life

It would be reasonable to assume that if any line delivered by Mandy Patinkin in the late Rob Reiner's sweeping 1987 fantasy-adventure-romance film "The Princess Bride" was going to impact the actor's life the most, it might be his character's repeated mantra: "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." After all, when we meet him in the story, Inigo has spent years fantasizing about saying that to the six-fingered man who murdered his father, and his desire for revenge has become his all-consuming passion. (Plus, I have to imagine people have quoted that back to him on the street more than any other line in his impressive career.)

But in a 2013 actor roundtable conversation for The Hollywood Reporter, Patinkin revealed that a different line helped to define his life instead. "This 34-year-old Mandy who said the line never really realized what I was saying," he explained to his peers. "And then in my late 50s, I heard this line that to me really became the real cornerstone line for at least my character and very much of my life."

The line in question happens at the end of the movie, after an injured Inigo finally avenges his father's death and is poised to jump out of the castle window to ride off into the sunset with his friends. In a quiet moment of contemplation before he leaps out, he tells Cary Elwes's Westley: "I have been in the revenge business so long, now that it's over, I do not know what to do with the rest of my life."

"That, to me, is the line that mattered to me," Patinkin said, decades later. "And it was so interesting to me that the kid who said that line didn't hear it."

It's possible that properly understanding the weight of this particular line comes easier with age. At 34, Patinkin still had most of his career ahead of him, and even though he wasn't engaged in a life-long revenge mission like Inigo, he could probably relate to the ambition and drive that character felt. "The Princess Bride" was only his 13th credit; as of this writing, he has 69 acting credits listed on IMDb, with three more coming up. The poignancy of Inigo's line may be better appreciated after one has lived more of one's own life and experienced either success or failure at reaching one's goals.

Either way, it's clear the line is still resonating with the actor. In the summer of 2025, Patinkin cited it in a different context, using it to underline the emptiness of revenge for Jewish people in the wake of the October 7th attack and to advocate for peace.

Wow, this is so powerful. Mandy Patinkin is outstanding. Watch till the end.

Listen to the outrage, despair, and yes, fear, in his voice.

That is the sound of a person with a conscience. All our voices should sound like this!

*I had to screen record it from X. I couldn't find it anywhere else 🤷‍♀️

— Geneva 🇨🇦 (@geneva1111.bsky.social) 2025-07-14T00:37:32.156Z

In the clip, Patinkin praises the late William Goldman's script, and says that line specifically is comprised of "the singular greatest words [he's] ever read." That's extremely high praise, coming from a guy who's worked on plays written by William Shakespeare, Henrik Ibsen, Steven Sondheim, and Oscar Hammerstein. Patinkin's realization indirectly serves as a great PSA for the act of rewatching movies, because you never know when an unexpected line might hit you differently than it ever has before.