We’ll take Cary Elwes however we can get him. It’s satisfying to see him on screen, whether we’re watching him as Mayor Larry Kline in Stranger Things or hearing him lend his voice to different characters on Family Guy. But for many hardcore Elwes fans, there’s a particular way we like to see him: in hot pursuit of true love, preferably on horseback and delivering one-liners as only he can, amid a backdrop of rolling hills — and royal traditions he’s willing to challenge for the right woman.

This holiday season, we’re in luck. More than 30 years after cult classic The Princess Bride was released, Elwes has finally returned to rom-coms, as Myles the Duke of Dunbar in the Netflix original A Castle for Christmas. His love interest? Sophie Brown (Brooke Shields), an American author looking to buy a castle in bucolic rural Scotland. Specifically, it’s Myles’ castle she wants, but he won’t give it — or his heart — up so easily.

We spoke with Elwes about his much-anticipated rom-com comeback, including why he waited so long, how A Castle for Christmas speaks to him on a personal level and which romantic Old Hollywood movie scene is his favorite.

You’re returning to romantic comedy after 34 years. You played farm boy–turned–pirate Westley in The Princess Bride, and now you’re Myles the Duke of Dunbar in A Castle for Christmas. What does it mean to come back to rom-coms as an actor? Is there a kind of muscle memory that kicks in?

Yes. I was obviously very wary of stepping into this genre after Princess Bride, because it’s very hard not to have people compare the films you’re [doing] to ones you’ve done in the past. So I was very wary of doing one, but when this script came across my desk and I read it, I was immediately drawn to the character because he was someone so very different from anything I’d ever played before. But also because of Brooke [Shields]. I’d been a big fan of hers for a long time. I’d studied her career; I’d followed her with great interest, especially her comedy roles, with Suddenly Susan, and I realized that this was a perfect partner for me because she understands comedy so well. And we got along famously right away. She has the same kind of work ethic I have, which is that she doesn’t take herself too seriously, but she takes the work seriously. That’s how I roll, so we got along great.

Speaking of comedy, as fans, one of the things we loved most in A Castle for Christmas was the little Princess Bride Easter egg, when you physically mime a sword fight on a spiral staircase in the castle, saying, “This staircase was built clockwise. Apparently, the best way to defend by a right-handed swordsman.”

Ha! Well, I knew it was an Easter egg, so I thought I’d have some fun with it. It’s very hard not to acknowledge the role that made me famous. The producers were very excited about that line, obviously, so, you know, a little Easter egg for the fans — why not?

Princess Bride fans will love seeing you on horseback again in A Castle for Christmas. You’ve said your horseback-riding skills have served your career well. Tell us how those have gone hand in hand — or boot in stirrup, so to speak.

[Laughs] I’m very fortunate. I grew up in England, and I spent my summers in Spain with my father, and he taught us to ride horses when we were very, very young, when I think I was about 6 or 7. He wanted us to be comfortable in the saddle. And so that stood me very well in roles like Robin Hood [in Robin Hood: Men in Tights], Princess Bride, The Queen of Spain and this movie. Every time they ask me to get on a horse, [I think,] “Thank God.” I say a little prayer of gratitude to my dad for having taught me at a very early age. And it’s stood me in very good stead.

You have Scottish heritage. How did it feel to film A Castle for Christmas on your ancestral turf?

It felt wonderful. I have a Scottish grandfather and a Scottish step-grandfather. My grandmother was obviously very enamored [with] Scotland, and then my mother ran away to Scotland to get married. So Scotland looms very large in our home. And I hadn’t been there since I was 13, so it was a big deal for me. I’d obviously never thought I’d ever get a chance to make a movie there. And I can’t recommend it enough. It’s one of the great places on the planet. The people are just magnificent and so funny and filled with a sense of spirit — a real spirit — of life, love and community. And I think that shows in the film. That’s part of the reason we set the story there, and they welcomed us, man, with open arms... And we were very grateful for that.

On a serious note, why is A Castle for Christmas special to you on a personal level?

It’s the first rom-com I’ve done in 30 some-odd years, but also because it has wonderful themes that I think are important. We’re still experiencing this terrible pandemic, where people are just traumatized by it. Comedy is an important medicine at this point. As much as any other medication that you might be taking, comedy is important too.

The holiday season is all about getting together with your loved ones and with your friends and sharing your love for each other, and I can’t think of a more important time right now that we celebrate one another. And this film is about that. It’s about celebrating each other and reminding each other that your family and your friends are important — and that the friends are the family you choose for yourself. And so it hits upon all these themes that were really important to touch on. That’s the reason I was drawn to it.

Because we’re discussing romantic comedies today, do you have a personal favorite rom-com movie hero?

Well, there’s an actor. There’s an actor who, to me, will go down in the history of rom-coms as one of the great character actors in a holiday movie. And that would be Jimmy Stewart in It’s a Wonderful Life. To this day, you really can’t touch it. It’s a precious jewel in the history of cinema. And it was one of those things where all of the cinema gods were all aligned and in favor of this film, and there wasn’t one beat in it that’s false.

And if it’s on television, I dare you to flip the channel. I fell in love with Donna Reed as a kid. I was so in love. When he’s on the phone and he realizes he’s in love with her and he's fighting it, and she’s crying and realizes that she’s in love with him, too, it’s just fabulous. It’s just great. It gets me every time — every time. So when there are great moments like that in film, you just go, “You know what? That’s a touchstone I can go back to.” It’s like a favorite memory. You save it. It’s like an album of music that you really love. Sometimes you play it too much, and you have to take a break from it so you can come back and enjoy it again after a few years. That’s how I feel about It’s a Wonderful Life.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.