Ivan Simon Cary Elwes (born 26 October 1962) is an English actor and writer. He was born in Westminster, London, the youngest of three sons, and attended 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.
His debut film role was as James Harcourt in Another Country, but Elwes truly entered the public eye in Rob Reiner's cult classic, The Princess Bride. Since then, he's worked steadily in film, television, and voice-acting roles, balancing comedic projects with dramatic ones in nearly equal measure.
In October 2014, Simon and Schuster published his memoir As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride, which he co-wrote with Joe Layden.
Cary Elwes roles with TV Tropes pages:
- The Alphabet Killer as Capt. Kenneth Shine
- American Crime as Albert Bodine
- Another Country as James Harcourt
- Bram Stoker's Dracula as Lord Arthur Holmwood
- The Bride as Captain Josef Schoden
- The Cat's Meow as Thomas H. Ince
- The Chase (1994) as Steve Horsegroovy
- The Crush as Nick Eliot
- Days of Thunder as Russ Wheeler
- Ella Enchanted as Sir Edgar
- Georgia Rule as Arnold
- Glory as Major Cabot Forbes
- Hansel & Gretel Get Baked as Meter Man
- Hellgate as Jeff Matthews
- Hot Shots! as Lt. Kent Gregory
- The Informant! as Lt. David Ferris
- The Jungle Book as Capt. William Boone
- Kiss the Girls as Detective Nick Ruskin
- Lady Jane as Guilford
- Last Train To Christmas as Roger Towers
- Liar Liar as Jerry
- New Year's Eve as Stan's doctor
- No Strings Attached (2011) as Dr. Metzner
- The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure as Bobby Wobbly
- The Pentagon Wars as Lt. Col. James Burton
- The Princess Bride as Westley/The Dread Pirate Roberts
- Race Against Time as Burke
- Reach Me as Kersey
- Robin Hood: Men in Tights as Robin Hood
- Saw as Dr. Lawrence Gordon
- Saw 3D as Dr. Lawrence Gordon
- Shadow of the Vampire as Fritz Arno "Fritzy" Wagner
- The Story of Luke as Paul
- Twister as Dr. Jonas Miller
- The Unholy as Bishop Gyles
- Uprising as Dr. Fritz Hippler
- Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning as Denlinger
- Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre as Nathan Jasmine
- Rebel Moon as the King
- The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare as Winston Churchill
- Cosmos
- From the Earth to the Moon
- Granite Flats
- Home Movie: The Princess Bride
- Knuckles
- Law & Order: SVU
- Leverage
- Life in Pieces
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
- Night Visions
- The Outer Limits (1995)
- Perception (2012)
- Pope John Paul II
- Psych
- Seinfeld
- Stranger Things
- Wonder Woman (2011 pilot)
- Workaholics
- The X-Files
- The Adventures of Tintin (2011) as Pilot
- The Adventures of Puss in Boots as Guy Fox
- Batman Beyond
- A Christmas Carol (2009) (mocap)
- Family Guy
- Hercules
- Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox as Aquaman (voice)
- Pinky and the Brain
- Quest for Camelot as Garrett (voice)
- Sofia the First
- Home Movie: The Princess Bride
- The Cat Returns as Baron Humbert vin Gikkingen (English dub)
- Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two
- Porco Rosso as Curtis (English dub)
- Whisper of the Heart as Baron Humbet von Gikkingen (English dub)
Tropes associated with Cary Elwes:
- Fake American: Elwes was once advised to minimize his natural British accent, and he is frequently cast as American characters, with varying degrees of success.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Naturally blonde, his heroic characters play this straight, while his villainous ones subvert it.
- I Am Very British: He has a very refined, Received Pronunciation style British accent.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: His shining blue eyes make him a great cast for wholesome hero types. . . and serve to make his turns as villains all the more surprising.
- Older Than They Look: He's in his sixties, but could pass for being in his forties.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: His American accent can be fairly hit-or-miss.
- Playing Against Type: He's played so many heroic characters that it's a genuine shock when he plays a villain.