Before Martin Sheen played the American president in The West Wing, he played the chief of staff in Rob Reiner’s movie, The American President. Now, that great rom-com did lead him to the beloved series set in the White House. However, Sheen wanted to remember the late director by making it clear that he landed the part in the film where Michael Douglas played the commander-in-chief because of a conversation he had with Reiner about The Princess Bride.
It’s not a secret that The American President inspired The West Wing, seeing as both were penned by Aaron Sorkin. There was some cast crossover, too, as Sheen went from playing Chief of Staff AJ MacInerney in the movie to President Jed Bartlet in the show. However, he got the role of AJ because he had a meeting with The American President’s director, Rob Reiner. But they didn’t talk about the Oval Office. No, they discussed a far-off and beloved fantasy land instead, as Sheen explained during a panel at C2E2 (via Josh Horowitz):
