Once again, Mandy Patinkin has proved that he’s a stellar person. He and his wife, actor Kathryn Grody, recently reached out to a grieving TikToker who had a question about his performance in the 1987 fantasy drama The Princess Bride.
TikToker Amanda Webb took to the social media platform to share her grief over her father, who recently passed away from cancer.
In their short video, Webb shared that The Princess Bride was a movie that they held close to their heart and that Patinkin’s Inigo Montoya was her father’s favorite character. Referencing a rumor, she wanted to ask Patinkin if his line, “I want my father back, you son of a b***h,” was inspired by his own grief.
While Webb never imagined that her video would reach the acclaimed actor, it caught the attention of his son Gideon. Gideon brought the video to his parents, filming their reactions and asking them if they had a response. Patinkin and Grody both shared kind messages to the Alaskan TikToker — and answered her burning question.
Patinkin on his iconic line
Patinkin was quick to share the backstory on the delivery of the line in question. He shared, “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 added, “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, that means I kill the cancer that killed my dad, and I’ll get to visit my dad.'”
“I played that scene with Chris [Christopher Guest], and then I went back out there and talked to my dad. So, you can talk to your dad, anytime you want, anywhere you want,” the 68-year-old actor continued.
Patinkin shares a message about grief
Patinkin’s kindness didn’t stop there. In addition to volunteering to add the name of Webb’s father to his list of ‘prayers,’ Patinkin continued to share supportive messages on his Twitter account.
He wrote, “To Alaska (aka Amanda – we figured it out!) Thread – Thank you for sharing this with us. My dad died of cancer when I was 18. Kathryn’s parents died within a year of each other when she was 25, her dad of a heart attack while her mom was sick with cancer….”
In the following tweet, he added, “The loss of them has been a huge part of our lives and a huge part of what forged our bond together. We are so sorry for your loss, so moved that this movie meant something to you and your dad and so glad you asked this question.”
As the thread continues, Patinkin posted a link to a resource called The Dinner Party — mentioned by his wife in their response video. The organization’s mission is to assist “grieving 20- and 30-somethings to find peer community and build lasting relationships.”
Relieving the pressure, he was quick to add, “If that avenue is not for you we just wish those struggling to reach out like you did, and find the comforts and the tools that might work and help. It can be such a lonely kind of pain, but know there are so many others out there going through it.”
Fans were brought to tears by Patinkin’s response and took to the thread to share their own experiences dealing with grief, thus forming a supportive community on his personal account. As Patinkin expressed, it appears that The Princess Bride is “the gift that just keeps giving.”