Starting Christmas Day at 1:00 p.m. eastern/pacific, Sundance TV will be airing the "As You Wish: The Princess Bride Marathon," which will conclude the following morning at 2:00 a.m. The marathon will be hosted by star Cary Elwes, who plays Westley in the popular romantic comedy. Throughout the day, Elwes will be sharing his personal thoughts and insights on making the film to give fans a special behind-the-scenes look at the beloved classic.

Elwes will also be taking part by answering fan questions on Twitter live during the marathon.

Fans can also find more behind-the-scenes tidbits from Elwes available on the Sundance.tv site along with excerpts from his best-selling book, As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride, as well as some online games and trivia.

Recently, Elwes sat down with Jamie Ruby of SciFi Vision for an exclusive interview to talk about the marathon, his book, and to discuss just what makes The Princess Bride a fan favorite.

The actor first talked about what fans can expect during the marathon. "I'm going to be sharing inside stories from the making of the film. Many of them are in the book, but some aren't, and essentially I'm hosting it so that the viewers can watch the movie in a more special way, where they actually have Westley discussing the film with them, sharing it with them."

The fan Twitter event will run live during the marathon, and Elwes is looking forward to it. "I've never done it before; it's a first time for me."

Elwes has used Twitter in the past for other promotions. "It's certainly helped the sales of the book. I find it very useful as a tool to help promote my work."

According to the actor, there is more than one thing that makes the classic film so special to fans, even now, twenty-seven years after its release. "I think it's a number of things. I think it's a sweet movie; I think it's funny. It's a family film, which is very rare today."

It was after the twenty-fifth year reunion with the cast and crew that Elwes decided to write the book about his experiences making the film. "We were asked at the anniversary what our favorite moment was in the process of making the film, and I realized the whole journey for me was fun, and I wanted to share that with the fans."

The film is quite popular now, but it wasn't always. Elwes talked about the first time he was recognized for his iconic role and knew the film was a hit. "About ten years after the movie came out I was in a restaurant in New York, and I was ordering a hamburger, and the waitress said, "How do you want that cooked?" I said, "Medium-rare," and she said, "As you wish." I looked at her, and I said, "What did you say?" She winked at me and said, "You know." and walked away. And that was the first time I'd ever heard anyone say those three words to me. It was wonderful and extraordinary at the same time."

Another meeting with a fan stood out to the actor. "I met one fan who lifted up her hair, a very nice young lady, and she had "as you wish" tattooed on the back of her neck, and I said, "That's very nice." She said, "It would be nicer if you signed it," and she handed me a marker pen. I said, "I don't know if that's a good idea," but her mother, who was standing right next to her, said, "Yes it is." (laughs) And that was a strange one. So God bless her, there's a young lady out there who's wandering around with my name tattooed on her neck."

Elwes is still most recognized in public for his role in The Princess Bride, but also quite a bit for the comedy Robin Hood: Men in Tights and for his work on Thor.

The actor enjoys meeting the fans, and he will be starting the book tour back up again soon. "I'm going back out on the book tour starting on the 15th [of December], so we'll be traveling around the country, going to Seattle, Salt Lake City, Arizona, San Diego. I'm excited to get back out there and meet the fans; it's great."

It's really all about the fans for Elwes, and he loves connecting with them. "I meet folks who say it's changed their lives. I mean, especially meeting folks who are sick, how much it means to them, those are the really special ones."

The actor has worked in a wide variety of genres, from romantic comedies like The Princess Bride, to science fiction like The X-Files, to horror films such as Saw, but he enjoys them all. "I don't really have one preference over another; to me it's just all about the material. To me I just respond to the written word and the character. The character and the story; those are the two main things you look for when you read a script."

Elwes talked a bit about his transition from film to television. "My first TV show was Seinfeld, which was taped in front of a live audience, so that was definitely both exhilarating and exciting at the same time. Obviously it was an incredible show to be a part of. I didn't know how live tapings worked, so that was an education."

Besides his book tour, the actor has also been busy with some other projects. "There are a couple movies that I have shot that are in the can already that are coming out next year. One of them is called Sugar Mountain with Jason Momoa, and the other one is called The Greens Are Gone, with Catherine Keener. They're both family dramas. And I'm very proud of them; I'm excited for them to come out."

For now, don't forget to check out The Princess Bride marathon on December 25th on SundanceTV, and for more on the film and the actor's experiences making it, take a look at the Sundance.tv website and Elwes' tell-all book, which is a great read for fans.