Carey Elwes

Ivan Simon Cary Elwes (; born 26 October 1962) is an English actor and writer. He is known for his leading film roles as Westley in ''The Princess Bride'' (1987), Robin Hood in '' Robin Hood: Men in Tights'' (1993), and Dr. Lawrence Gordon in the ''Saw'' film series. Elwes' other performances in films include '' Glory'' (1989), ''Hot Shots!'' (1991), ''The Jungle Book'' (1994), '' Days of Thunder'' (1990), '' Bram Stoker's Dracula'' (1992), ''Twister'' (1996), '' Kiss the Girls'' (1997), ''Liar Liar'' (1997), ''Cradle Will Rock'' (1999), ''Shadow of the Vampire'' (2000), '' The Cat's Meow'' (2001), ''Ella Enchanted'' (2008), '' A Christmas Carol'' (2009), '' No Strings Attached'' (2011), and ''The Hyperions'' (2022).
He has appeared on television in a number of series including ''The X-Files'', '' Seinfeld'', ''From the Earth to the Moon'', '' Psych'', ''Life in Pieces'', '' Stranger Things'', and ''The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel''.

Early life

Ivan Simon Cary Elwes was born on 26 October 1962 in Westminster, London. He is the youngest of three sons of portrait painter Dominic Elwes and interior designer and socialite Tessa Kennedy. Elwes is the brother of artist Damian Elwes and film producers Cassian Elwes and Milica Kastner. His stepfather, Elliott Kastner, was an American film producer and the first American to set up independent film production in the United Kingdom. His paternal grandfather was the portrait painter Simon Elwes, whose own father was the diplomat and tenor Gervase Elwes (1866–1921). Elwes has English, Irish, Scottish, Croatian-Jewish, and Serbian ancestry, the latter two from his maternal grandmother, Daška McLean, whose second husband, Billy McLean, was an operative for Special Operations Executive during World War II.

One of Elwes's relatives is the British miser John Elwes, who was the inspiration for Ebenezer Scrooge in '' A Christmas Carol'' (1843), having been referenced by Charles Dickens himself in chapter six of his last completed novel, '' Our Mutual Friend''. Elwes himself played five roles in the 2009 film adaptation of ''A Christmas Carol''. Through his maternal grandfather, Elwes is also related to Sir Alexander William "Blackie" Kennedy, one of the first photographers to document the archaeological site of Petra following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

Elwes was brought up as a Roman Catholic and was an altar boy at Westminster Cathedral. His paternal relatives include such clerics as Dudley Charles Cary-Elwes (1868–1932), the Roman Catholic Bishop of Northampton and Abbot Columba Cary-Elwes (Ampleforth Abbey, Saint Louis Abbey). He discussed this in an interview while he was filming the 2005 CBS television film ''Pope John Paul II'', in which he played the young priest Karol Wojtyła.

Elwes's parents divorced when he was four years old. In 1975, when Elwes was 13, his father committed suicide. He was educated at Harrow School, and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. In 1981, he moved to the United States to study acting at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. While living there, Elwes studied acting at both the Actors Studio and the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute under the tutelage of Al Pacino's mentor, Charlie Laughton (not to be confused with English actor Charles Laughton). As a teenager, he also worked as a production assistant on the films ''Absolution'', ''Octopussy'', and '' Superman'', where he was assigned to Marlon Brando. When Elwes introduced himself to the actor, Brando insisted on calling him "Rocky" after Rocky Marciano.

Career

Film

Elwes made his acting debut in 1984 with Marek Kanievska's film '' Another Country'', which was loosely based on the English boarding school exploits of British spies, Burgess, Philby and MacLean. He played James Harcourt, a gay student. He went on to play Guilford Dudley in the British historical drama film '' Lady Jane'', opposite Helena Bonham Carter. He was then cast as stable-boy-turned-swashbuckler Westley in Rob Reiner's fantasy-comedy ''The Princess Bride'' (1987), which was based on the novel of the same name by William Goldman. It was a modest box office success, but received critical acclaim. As a result of years of reviews, it earned a score of 97% on the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. Since being released on home video and television, the film has become a cult classic.

Elwes continued to work steadily, varying between dramatic roles, such as in the Oscar-winning '' Glory'' (1989), and comedic roles, as in ''Hot Shots!'' (1991). He played a rival driver to Tom Cruise in '' Days of Thunder'' (1990). In 1993, he starred as Robin Hood in Mel Brooks's comedy, '' Robin Hood: Men in Tights''. Elwes then appeared in supporting roles in such films as Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of '' Bram Stoker's Dracula'' (1992), '' The Crush'' (1993), ''The Jungle Book'' (1994), ''Twister'' (1996), ''Liar Liar'' (1997), and '' Kiss the Girls''. In 1999, he portrayed famed theatre and film producer John Houseman for Tim Robbins in his ensemble film based on Orson Welles's musical, ''Cradle Will Rock''. Following that, he travelled to Luxembourg to work with John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe in ''Shadow of the Vampire''. In 2001, he co-starred in Peter Bogdanovich's ensemble film '' The Cat's Meow'' portraying movie mogul Thomas Ince, who died mysteriously while vacationing with William Randolph Hearst on his yacht.

In 2004, Elwes starred in the horror– thriller ''Saw'' which, at a budget of a little over $1 million, grossed over $100 million worldwide. The same year he appeared in ''Ella Enchanted

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