An actor who played a major role in Ted Cruz’s favorite movie “The Princess Bride” wants Cruz to stop quoting lines from the film as he runs for president.
Mandy Patinkin, who played Inigo Montoya in the movie, told The New York Times he doesn’t like Cruz using the movie to make political points.
In October, for example, Cruz criticized the Times for defending Obamacare by claiming President Obama “misspoke” about some of its provisions by quoting the classic Inigo Montoya line in his best Spanish accent, “You keep using this word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.”
But Patinkin, an outspoken liberal, says Cruz is missing the main point of the movie by using its lines to advance his agenda and campaign.
“This man is not putting forth ideas that are at the heart of what that movie is all about,” Patinkin told The New York Times. “I would love for Sen. Cruz, and everyone creating fear-mongering and hatred, to consider creating hope, optimism and love. Open your arms to these people, these refugees trying to get into our country, and open your hearts.”
Patinkin said he had been inundated with emails of photos showing Cruz’s face superimposed over Inigo Montoya’s.
“They photoshopped his face right over my face!” he said. “I said, ‘How can I stop this?'”
The “Homeland” star was also upset that Cruz, who leads the Washington Examiner‘s presidential power rankings, is not quoting his favorite line, which he believes encapsulates the movie’s major theme of love conquering hate.
“After the princess flies out the window and falls into Andre the Giant’s arms, Inigo says to the Man in Black, ‘I have been in the revenge business so long, now that it’s over, I don’t know what to do with the rest of my life,'” Patinkin said. “Sen. Cruz, if you’re going to say those lines, you’ve got to say the other line, too.”
Cruz has made his love for “The Princess Bride” known multiple times during the presidential election cycle, and acted out an entire scene involving Billy Crystal’s Miracle Max and Carol Kane’s Valerie in early November.
He also tweeted in August 2014 that “The Princess Pride” is a movie that he always gets “sucked into” when it’s playing on late-night TV.
+1 RT @JusticeWillett: Late-night cable flicks I *always* get sucked into:
• Princess Bride
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 11, 2014
Cruz has also tried his hand at portraying Darth Vader and various characters from “The Simpsons” as well.
