The man is just plain funny - whatever Adam Sandler decides to do, he makes it a hit. Either producing ("The Benchwarmers") or acting ("The Longest Yard," "50 First Dates"), it's a good time had by all. Even when Adam heads the drama route ("Punch-Drunk Love" which earned him a Golden Globe Best Actor nomination), he seems to deliver gold.
In Sandler's latest film, the life-altering comedy "Click," he plays Michael, a busy architect who purchases a remote control that seems to not only let him control his TV set and stereo, but virtually his entire life. Michael quickly becomes addicted to this new rush of power, which literally allows him to have his cake and eat it too. But before he knows it, the remote is programming him, rather than the other way around.
The comic superstar talks about "Click," his co-star Christopher Walken and being a new dad in the following interview:
Q: When you read this script, did you feel like you're fast-forwarding through some of your life?
Adam Sander: Sure, yeah, definitely; we all read this thing and connected to it because, when you're shooting a movie you are away from home most of the time. It's an amazing thing that we get to do what we get to do, but you definitely are away from the family more than you'd like to be and time keeps passing. I'm 39 years old. Looking back on the past 10 years of my life, I've been at work more than I've been at home, so I connected with the message of the movie. When I watched the playback the other day, I went home. I was excited to get home and do the right thing - be with the family.
Q: You became a father recently. How has it been so far?
Sandler: The baby situation is fine, it's great; I love that kid. Everyday I get more and more excited and I feel comfortable with her; I just want her to feel comfortable with me, I'm a little bit clutsy. My arms aren't perfect for the kid's head when I hold her.
Q: Are you changing diapers?
Sandler: I see that go on; cheering on my wife. I say 'good feeding' a lot, 'way to go', 'nice milk.'
Q: You seem to do comedy and drama and even in all your movies it's a little bit of both; what do you prefer as far as a genre to do?
Sandler: Much more comfortable showing up that day knowing we got a funny scene coming. The day where I had to be upset over my father in the movie - I don't like sitting in my trailer being deppressed all day and looking at pictures. I don't like that, I do it, I'm glad when it's over; it's a huge relief. And if I think I did the best I could do, I feel a huge sense of accomplishment.
Q: Do you have any funny Christopher Walken stories?
Sandler: Every day was pretty enjoyable, watching 'The Walken;' my favorite thing was introducing anybody to Walken, just the fear in everybody's eye when they're shaking Walken's hand, they don't know what's gonna happen. Walken's always very cordial, but people tend to be nervous around the man.
Q: How do you decide which films you'll star in and which one's you'll produce?
Sandler: I don't have any clue how we decide. With "Click," they told me about the premise of the movie and asked if I was interested in that and I didn't even read the script, I just said, 'Yeah, that's a huge idea; it sounds great.' That's how I decided to do this script, just off three sentences about what the movie's about, I knew it could be awesome.
Q: Is the next year worrying you?
Sandler: Nope, I got my kid, I've got the kid. I feel a little more relief that I don't have to just think about myself too much. Man, I've had 39 years just talking about how great I am; it's time, at age 40, to talk about the kid.
Q: Are you going to do more family-oriented films?
Sandler: I don't know. I like what I've been doing. I believe in what I've done in the past. I hope my kid enjoys the movies I've made and enjoys some of the movies in the future. I don't think she's going to dig them until she's maybe 14 or 15, but I know I'll show her her whole life, 'Watch Daddy now; this doesn't affect you the way it affected all of America.'
Q: Are you doing a comedy next?
Sandler: Yeah, a movie with Kevin James called "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry." We're just getting ready. I'm just taking the summer off to hang out with family and then we're going to get rockin' on that.
(Opening soon across the Philippines, "Click" is distributed by Columbia Pictures, the local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.)