Gone too soon, The Princess Bride star and wrestling legend Andre the Giant nonetheless left an impressive screen CV of acting roles for the performer's many fans to rank. Beloved by wrestling fans and film lovers alike, Andre the Giant was a singular talent who continues to cast a long shadow over the intersection between wrestling stardom and mainstream movie success.
Long before Dwayne the Rock Johnson and John Cena managed to make the leap from wrestling into being a household Hollywood name, Andre the Giant was beloved, not just as a cult figure in the world of wrestling, but also as an occasional actor who parlayed his considerable ringside experience into a stint on the big screen. That said, much like fellow wrestling legend Hulk Hogan, the fact that Andre the Giant was an outsized talent doesn’t mean his movie roles always lived up to his star potential.
Like so many wrestlers before and after him, Andre the Giant sometimes managed to translate his campy, over-the-top appeal to the screen, but on occasion, the charismatic performer was wasted by directors who didn’t do justice to his unique appeal. As a result, a deep dive into the Giant’s screen history, from his early appearance in a forgotten 60s flick through to his last 90s outing, can offer an overview of Andre’s best, worst, and most middling big screen offerings.
Starring a bizarrely miscast Sissy Spacek as an overworked mom (the woman cast as Stephen King's killer Carrie plays a Jamie Lee Curtis-esque harried mom role), Trading Mom is an unspectacular 90s kids movie notably mostly for being Andre the Giant’s last onscreen role. Although slated upon its initial release (earning an almost-impressive spot on Siskel & Ebert's Worst of 1994 list), Trading Mom has since enjoyed something of a renaissance online as fans of the cult curio argue it’s a stranger and more interesting movie than critics credited it with. Regardless, the misfire enters this list so low less due to its forgettable story and more because Andre the Giant’s role amounts to little more than a cameo.
Also known as Chinese Puzzle For Judoka, this long-forgotten 60s curio is easily the most obscure title on Andre the Giant’s screen CV, as well as the first film to feature the performer as an actor. While there’s nothing wrong with the fun James Bond-style spy flick, it mostly earns a low spot on the actor’s career rundown due to how small the Giant’s role is. The action of Chinese Puzzle For Judoka sees a kendo tournament winner begin an affair with his CIA agent friend’s girlfriend, only to be wracked by guilt when said secret agent buddy goes missing. Inevitably, the hero does what anyone would do, and heads to Hong Kong to kick some heads and retrieve his friend. Andre’s role in all these shenanigans is admittedly minimal, but anyone hoping to see the Giant in action at a mere 21 years old should seek out this obscuro to see him play a participant in the kendo tournament who soundly trounces every opponent he faces (save for the hero, naturally).
I Like To Hurt People is a funny one since, like Tarantino's lost debut movie, the film is the cobbled-together remnants of an unfinished movie that never came to be. Released in 1985, I Like To Hurt People was originally intended to be a wrestling-centric horror movie from Hell Comes To Frogtown helmer/ cult director Donald G Jackson. However, the rumor goes that Jackson and company ran out of funding for the film and instead changed the footage they had into a feature-length work/ pseudo-documentary that follows the Sheik, Dusty Rhodes, and of course Andre the Giant through a handful of minor matches and shoots. Does it qualify as an actual narrative movie? Just about. Is it a fun excuse to watch Andre the Giant and fellow legendary wrestler friends riffing ringside banter and pulling off some vintage moves? Undoubtedly.
Released in 1984, Micky & Maude was one of a string of rom-coms from the legendary Blake Edwards (of The Pink Panther franchise/ 10 fame). As far as the prolific Edwards’ directorial efforts go, this mid-‘80s outing falls somewhere between 1989’s meandering John Ritter vehicle Skin Deep and the underrated acerbic 1980 Hollywood satire S.O.B. A jaunty comedy starring Dudley Moore as an unrepentant bigamist (hence the two women in the title, the lead's simultaneous love interests), Micki & Maude is also notable for featuring future Princess Bride co-stars Wallace Shawn and Andre the Giant in the same film for the first time. Unfortunately, the duo doesn't get to share the screen in this one, as the wrestler plays a fictionalized version of himself while Shawn plays a typically beleaguered doctor.
The first fantasy adventure to feature Andre the Giant, Conan the Destroyer was a rare case of a sequel that improved on the original movie across the board. Less violent than the original Conan the Barbarian released two years earlier, this star vehicle for Arnold Schwarzenegger introduced more magic, goofier humor, and a sillier sense of adventure to proceedings and won over critics of the first film in the process. An uncredited Andre the Giant played the movie’s monster of Dagoth, and Conan the Destroyer's making of was also notable for prompting the creation of Andre and co-star Wilt Chamberlain’s famous photo in which the pair manage to make co-star Schwarzenegger look downright diminutive.
Easily the finest film and strongest performance on Andre the Giant’s screen CV, The Princess Bride is a classic fusion of romance, fantasy, comedy, and adventure. One of a string of incredibly strong releases from director Rob Reiner, who preceded the film with Stand By Me and When Harry Met Sally and followed it with Misery and An American President, The Princess Bride remains the witty, twisty, and inventive fantasy comedy by which entries into the genre are measured. Andre the Giant’s peerless chemistry with co-stars Wallace Shawn, Cary Elwes, and Mandy Patinkin gives the actor’s deadpan humor a chance to shine in a bigger role than usual, and the making of The Princess Bride even led to the wrestler’s real-life little-and-large friendship with co-star Billy Crystal, an enduring companionship that eventually inspired Crystal to create My Giant in his honor after the wrestling legend’s untimely passing.
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