Liam Neeson has made a pretty impressive career out of showing up in movies where you wouldn’t necessarily expect him. Before 2008’s Taken, few would have pegged Neeson as an action hero. Later this summer, he’ll pick up the mantle of the great Leslie Nielsen in a reboot of The Naked Gun, testing his comedy chops like never before. But could you imagine him playing Fezzik in The Princess Bride? I'm not sure I could, and the same seems to have been true of the fantasy film's director.
In actuality, such a casting never came close to happening, according to Neeson. However, he did technically audition for the role. Speaking with EW, Neeson admitted to feeling embarrassed when he showed up to audition, as director Rob Reiner gave him a “look of disgust." As for why the acclaimed filmmaker was less than pleased with him, Neeson said the following:
It's very true. He turned to the casting director and said, 'I asked for a giant.'... No 'Hello,' 'Thanks for coming.' Nothing like that.
While Liam Neeson himself was surely a bit upset by the whole experience, he says he actually felt bad for the casting director. The role would, of course, would go to an actual giant in professional wrestler Andre the Giant, who was a full foot taller than Neeson. It’s unclear how many people of Andre’s stature there even were to audition.
Neeson isn’t a small guy, at 6’ 4” tall, but he certainly would have needed significant camera tricks to make him look giant compared to a six-foot-tall Cary Elwes. It’s unclear how Neeson was called in to audition for a role if Reiner only wanted “real” giants for the part of Fezzik. Perhaps other people who weren’t giants had also been called in, leading to more “disgust” from Reiner.
Things certainly turned out fine for Liam Neeson. He would appear in another cult classic, the Sam Raimi-directed film, Darkman, just a couple of years after this failed audition. Also, in 1993, he would star in Schindler’s List, a movie that would see him nominated for an Academy Award and truly launch his career into the stratosphere.
It’s certainly intriguing to wonder how Neeson appearing in The Princess Bride might have impacted the movie, never mind just his career. It would have been one of his biggest roles to date had he been cast. Of course, thefilm initially flopped in theaters before becoming a cult hit on home video later.
The Princess Bride (which is streamable with a Disney+ subscription) would have been one of the funnier roles in Neeson’s career if he had gotten it. Perhaps it would have led to more comedies earlier. As it stands, though, his new lead role in The Naked Gun will be something we haven’t really seen before, but, at this point, it seems clear Liam Neeson can do anything, except be a giant.
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