Adam Sandler is being embraced by his peers in Hollywood more today than at any other time in his 30-year career. Uncut Gems is a runaway indie hit and miles away from what the comedian first rose to fame with, which is usually described as something akin to lowbrow bathroom humor. Still, despite his newfound critical success, Sandler remains the same guy he’s always been.
Sandler’s Award-Winning Moment
At the recent Independent Spirit Awards, Adam Sandler took home the trophy for Best Male Lead for his role as Howard Ratner, a down-and-out gambling junky struggling to pay his debts. It’s a brilliant performance and one many people felt Sandler deserved at least a nomination for an Academy Award. He didn’t get that, though he took the news in stride. Watching him backstage in the press room after winning his award, it’s clear what was is really important to the actor.
Speaking Of Success
In the press room, he was asked to reflect about his career, making such huge hits as Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison, Grown Ups, and Murder Mystery. Sandler responds, “I got to make so many movies, you know I got to make so many friends,” but on his latest, he says, “I’m just happy I’m getting to do something different with the [Uncut Gems filmmakers] the Safdie boys. I’ve been very fortunate.”
Expanding on that thought, he is asked how he has changed since the early days of his career. “I’m a little heavier,” the always wry Sandler replies. He gets more serious though, “I’m still similar to that guy from Saturday Night Live. I do have a family now. I think about them all the time.” He says that’s the biggest change, of course. “When I was on Saturday Night Live I was obsessed with that, so now I’ve got a nice, well-rounded life.”
Adam Sandler Is Not Pushing His Kids
One thing Adam Sandler is not pushing for his two daughters to get into show business. He’s not against it though, and late last year, his daughters performed Taylor Swift’s “Lover” at a charity event together. OK! took the opportunity to invent a story claiming Sandler’s wife was upset that he was trying to make his daughters into stars. The unreliable tabloid purported Sandler “wants to be the one who shepherds them through their careers as they get older.”
His wife, the magazine falsely claimed, wasn’t happy about it. A dubious insider claimed Jackie Sandler “begrudgingly goes along with it.” The story was, of course, bogus, as Gossip Cop pointed out. We double-checked with Sandler’s rep, who told us, “They did the singing for charity and his wife was there.”
Who knows, maybe one day we’ll see his daughters starring in Grown Ups 5 with a geriatric Sandler yelling about old people poop, but for now, Adam Sandler is quite content with the life he’s built and the critical success he’s found with Uncut Gems.