Adam Sandler went even deeper on the story behind how he landed perhaps the most acclaimed role of his career in Uncut Gems on Tuesday night'sJimmy Kimmel Live. Sandler, who was also asked if he was "offended" by the praise for the movie in comparison to his usual output, was joined by co-star Kevin Garnett for a portion of the interview.
"I understand," Sandler said when asked about the reviews for Uncut Gems, which are starkly more positive than the comedies Sandler is perhaps most known for among the general public. "It's a different style of movie. My comedies are light and fun and I love doing 'em and I get a different kind of compliment to those. I hear 'Man, I was stoned the other night when I saw your movie,' you know, and that's fine. But this is a different style of movie with the Safdie brothers."
As for landing the part of Howard, a move Sandler previously revealed was partially inspired by the encouragement of his wife Jackie, Sandler recalled how his recently lauded performance in The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) proved fateful.
"They wrote it like 10 years ago and I think I was busy and they sent a script in . . . I don't know what happened but 10 years goes by and I did [The Meyerowitz Stories] and I'm going over to Cannes and when I'm going over there, my agents kept saying 'The Safdie brothers wanna talk to you.' I said 'Who are the Safdie brothers?' And they're like 'They're young and hip' and I thought they were just, like, skateboarders so I was like 'What do I wanna meet the Safdie brothers for?' and then I saw Good Time . . . These guys are incredible."
Garnett later popped into the chat, joking that he and his co-star are only making movies together from here on out. "Can you really mess up playing yourself?" Garnett joked. "I'm glad I didn't talk to you before I did this."
Garnett and Sandler also talked about the assortment of great reviews Uncut Gems is garnering for them both, as well as detailed their on-set basketball strategy.
"There was a basket on the set so when we would get done with these long days or in between takes, we would go out, shoot around and mess around," Garnett said.
Uncut Gems is out Dec. 25.
