Wallace Shawn has a long resume of acting, writing and producing credits but there's one thing he would prefer fans avoid asking him.

It's the I-word — inconceivable — from the 1987 blockbuster The Princess Bride.

Prior to his appearance at this weekend's Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, he talked with The Homestretch about how his life may have been different today by choosing different roles over his decades-long career.

Here's an edited version of that interview:

Q: How does it feel when people ask you to say that famous catch phrase when you are out on the street?

A: Over the decades, I have come to find it somewhat painful or hurtful. I can't entirely explain why. We don't like to be defined or categorized when we are human beings.

I am more than that, just as a beautiful woman who may be born with beautiful breasts feels, 'But that is not all there is to me.'

Q: Does that lead to awkward interactions?

A: It is a very painful interaction.

I usually say 'I won't say that, but I would be glad to wash your feet instead,' or something comparable because I realize what a kind impulse it is on their part and they are expressing affection toward me.

It is complicated. I want them to have a memorable experience.

Q: What are you most proud of in your varied career?

A: There are things I am proud of that I didn't do.

The things that I turned down are some of my favourite moments. In the realm of commercials, there was a time when I could have become quite a wealthy man if I had been willing to do them, but my left-wing principles stood in the way and I am rather proud of it, that I am broke really.

Q: Do you ever think about what it would have been like to take those commercially-viable roles?

A: I did turn down certain auditions which might have ended with my not getting the part, so I will never know, and I eventually at a certain point said I don't want to hear about commercials that are offered to me, because I am not going to do them, and I will just be sad at the money I am not making.

Q: Has your career suffered because of the roles you chose not to take?

A: In the 1980s I was kind of, almost climbing onto the A-list as they say, crawling up to the A-list, and during that time, I was rather arrogant.

They said, 'well, you can be considered to win an Emmy as the best supporting actor in a TV episode, but you have to pay $250 to be considered.'

I said, 'That is absurd. I object to that.' I just felt if you have good fortune you tend to feel that you always will.

Q: Are you happy being referred to as a character actor?

A: Character actor is not something that people want to be. It's something that, you are too short, or too fat or too bald to be the leading man and so you play more two-dimensional figures.

Andre the Giant, top, Mandy Patinkin, centre, and Wallace Shawn in The Princess Bride (1987) are pictured. (The Canadian Press)

It's not really a dream that people have when they are kids.

An actors' actor is a beautiful thing. If that would be true, I would be ecstatic.

Wallace is at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo Saturday and Sunday.

With files from The Homestretch