For their new film Jay Kelly, George Clooney made one clear rule on set — no one was allowed to call Adam Sandler by his nickname, “Sandman.” Clooney wanted to make sure the comedian was taken seriously in his dramatic role.
At the movie’s AFI Fest premiere on Thursday, Clooney
explained to The Hollywood Reporter why he enforced that rule: “You get
treated the way you treat yourself. This was a different kind of role for Adam,
and I wanted to make sure he wasn’t making fun of his incredible talent. He
likes to deflect, and I told him, ‘You’re really good in this film, you’re a
really good actor — let’s not just make jokes.’”
Sandler, who stars alongside Clooney in Noah Baumbach’s
Netflix film, laughed about the restriction: “I still call myself the Sandman —
he can’t stop me.” But he appreciated Clooney’s support. “He’s very protective
of me,” Sandler said. “He’s a really nice guy. We’d do these deep scenes
together, and he’d say, ‘I just want people to see how good you are.’ I’d tell
him I’m fine just working hard, and he’d say, ‘No, I want people to notice.’ He
really looks out for me.”
In Jay Kelly, Clooney plays a movie star who has a
midlife wake-up call and takes a trip through Europe with his loyal manager,
played by Sandler. The film was written by Noah Baumbach and Emily Mortimer,
who crafted Sandler’s role specifically for him.
Sandler described the story as being about “anyone who works
hard and tries to do their best — the sacrifices that take a toll on your
family and yourself, the things you miss out on when you throw yourself into
your work. You start asking what’s more important — this or that? It’s a
struggle.”
Greta Gerwig, who plays Sandler’s wife in the film, acted
alongside her real-life son and Sandler’s daughter, Sadie. “We were one nice
family together,” Sandler said. “Greta was fantastic — she was so kind to
Sadie, and they got really close.”
Baumbach, who is married to Gerwig, said he always
envisioned her in the role: “I basically said to Greta, ‘Who are you going to
play?’ She gets early dibs on parts — she couldn’t play Jay Kelly or Ron, but
she could play pretty much anyone else.”
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