Adam Sandler says he’ll make a bad movie “on purpose” if he doesn’t win an Oscar for Uncut Gems. After a career-making stint on SNL, Sandler went on to become a massive superstar thanks to his turns in comedies like Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore and The Waterboy. In recent years, Sandler has moved away from making theatrical comedies to establish a new home on Netflix with formulaic crowd pleasers like The Do-Over, The Week Of and 2019’s Murder Mystery.
Of course, over the years Sandler has had a few occasions to move outside his bro-comedy comfort zone and attempt “real” performances in movies by auteur directors. The first legit filmmaker to adopt Sandler as an unconventional leading man was Paul Thomas Anderson, who starred the comedian in his 2002 film Punch-Drunk Love. In 2017, Sandler joined Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson in Noah Baumbach’s ensemble comedy-drama The Meyerowitz Stories, and garnered some Oscar buzz (that ultimately did not lead to a nomination). In 2019, Sandler again finds himself gaining steam as an Oscar contender in the Safdie Brothers’ Uncut Gems, which stars the comedian as a New York jeweler on a high-stakes gambling spree.
Addressing the Oscar buzz about himself on The Howard Stern Show (via ETCanada), Sandler indicated that he fully expects to not only gain his first career nomination for Uncut Gems but to actually win. In fact, Sandler offered a joking threat to Academy members if they don’t fulfill his expectations and vote for him. “If I don’t get it, I’m going to f**king come back and do one again that is so bad on purpose just to make you all pay,” Sandler quipped.
Unfortunately for Sandler, he will face some pretty stiff competition in the Best Actor category this year, as was already demonstrated when on Monday night he lost the Gotham Award to Adam Driver. Indeed, as of now Driver seems to be a solid favorite to claim his own first career Oscar, with his performances in dramas Marriage Story and The Report. Joaquin Phoenix is also considered a strong contender for his turn as Arthur Fleck in the blockbuster Joker. Leonardo DiCaprio too is generating significant buzz for his performance as washed-up cowboy actor Rick Dalton in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. As it happens, another actor who like Sandler has SNL and Netflix ties, Eddie Murphy, is also considered a contender for his work as Rudy Ray Moore in Dolemite Is My Name.
As of now, a nomination for Sandler looks like at least a decent possibility, but his winning the award would have to be considered a long shot. At the very least, after garnering buzz for dramatic performances in two out of the last three years, Sandler has to be credited with shedding the “comedy star” tag and establishing himself as a legitimate performer. As for his threat to make a bad movie on purpose (something he absolutely has never done before), it can be argued that Sandler’s resume is already so filled with bad movies that one more wouldn’t make much difference.
Uncut Gems is set to hit theaters on December 13, 2019.
Source: The Howard Stern Show (via ET Canada)