Mandy Patinkin Tearfully Connects With a Grieving Fan By Opening Up About His Late Father

Leia IdlibyAug 25th, 2021, 9:40 am
 

Mandy Patinkin Tearful TikTok

Mandy Patinkin shared an emotional story with a grieving fan on Tuesday night, opening up about how losing his own father inspired his Princess Bride character Iñigo Montoya.

TikTok user Amanda Webb, who uses handle @alaska_webb, posted an emotional video revealing that her late father, who passed away from cancer, was a huge fan of both Patinkin and The Princess Bride.

During the TikTok, Webb asked about the rumor that Patinkin channeled his personal grief and thought about his own late father when delivering Montoya’s iconic line, “I want my father back, you son of a bitch,” during his duel with Christopher Guest’s Count Rugen.

“It is true — 100 percent true,” Patinkin replied in his tearful TikTok. “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.'”

The actor claimed that from the moment he read the script he knew he was going to portray Montoya, adding, “Because in my mind, if I get the six-fingered guy [Count Rugen], that means I kill the cancer that killed my dad, and I’ll get to visit my dad.'”

“And so you can talk to your dad anytime you want, anywhere you want,” he assured Webb later in the TikTok.

In addition to posting his emotional video on Tik Tok, Patinkin shared it in a lengthy Twitter thread:

“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,” he wrote in a tweet sharing the TikTok.

“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.”

Patinkin also shared a link to The Dinner Party, “a platform for grieving 20- and 30-somethings to find peer community and build lasting relationships,” adding that he hopes Webb finds “all kinds of ways to keep the memory of him alive.”

In addition to sharing the resource in his thread, Patinkin noted that a link to The Dinner Party is included in his Twitter bio.

The Homeland star also offered one of his favorite quotes, from Oscar Hammerstein II’s musical Carousel:

“As long as there’s one person on earth who remembers you, it isn’t over,” Patinkin shared, later thanking Amanda for reaching out and telling her story.

“Big big love to you and your family and your dad.”

After sending his love, Patinkin included a hilariously cute video of his wife Kathryn Grody admitting that she doesn’t remember Iñigo Montoya saying, “I want my father back, you son of a bitch,” in The Princess Bride.

“It’s however you remember it,” Patinkin laughed, prompting their son to ask, “Ma, have you — you’ve seen dad’s movies right?”

“A couple times,” Grody replied and Patinkin continued to laugh.

Webb replied back once she saw Patinkin’s response, breaking down in a TikTok and admitting that she’s “so overwhelmed right now.”

“If he knew right now what was happening he would go, ’Oh shit, girlie, that’s pretty cool,” she added of her father’s likely reaction.

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