From working as a cast member in Saturday Night Live to venturing as an actor, Adam Sandler has gone through a marvelous journey! Primarily gaining prominence for his work in comedy movies, he is diversifying his portfolio by taking on different projects. Recently, he starred in Johan Renck’s sci-fi drama, Spaceman, which is streaming on Netflix now.
Talking about having Adam Sandler portray the leading role in his new project, Renck commented on how he deemed the former fit for the character, which was something different from what he’s known for.
Spaceman Director Talks About Adam Sandler’s Work
The 57-year-old actor has cemented a successful acting career, starring in several comedies that gained widespread acclaim from audiences. While his notable projects like Happy Gilmore, The Waterboy, Big Daddy, and The Wedding Singer elevated his popularity, his skills are the one thing that continued to help him move forward.
He has showcased his versatility with his work in projects like Punch-Drunk Love and Uncut Gems. He is back again with Spaceman which further highlights his acting potential.
Talking about why Adam Sandler is best suited for the lead role, film director, Johan Renck, told Screenrant,
“You can never know anything, but I had a very, very good feeling. I’m a big fan of his.”
He emphasized the actor’s versatile career, which goes way beyond ‘stupid dumb humor.’ He added,
“I love his versatility. He can be anything all the way from really stupid dumb humor all the way into sophisticated, great humor and everything in between. And then, obviously, when he’s playing more dramatic roles, like in Punch-Drunk Love or the Safdie brothers movie and things like that, you see his technical skills.”
Renck wanted to push the actor into a different scenario that would bring out his vulnerable side, leaving more space for audiences to witness his real talent.
He added,
“But what I felt was that, to some extent, is that there is an opportunity to be had and the fact that a comedian, if you want somebody that everybody recognizes as really funny if you just pull off the mask and take off the clown shoes and all that kind of stuff, I think you’d perceive that person as more vulnerable than if you do the same of somebody who’s only doing very dramatic roles.”
His work eventually became available for the world to witness and the director couldn’t be more proud. He has high regard for the actor who went through a lot during the filming process for the role.
Adam Sandler Went Through ‘Significant Pain’ While Making Spaceman
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the filmmaker threw light on the filmmaking process, revealing that Sandler had a hard time portraying the astronaut who lives in zero gravity.
He shared that the SNL veteran “was on wires, which means that he’s kind of fixed to the set, he can’t piss off when he wants to at all.”
He added,
“He can’t move, he can’t do anything, and also under significant pain, because that’s what happens with this harness and these rigs — they start digging into your flesh, and after 24 days of shooting, that pain is real, I will tell you.”
He praised the actor for pulling off a remarkable performance. In an interview with Space.com, he shared,
“He’s completely alone acting against tennis balls with someone around the corner reading him his lines. So he has to be a pretty remarkable actor to pull that off…I’m blown away by his performance. How subtle it is and how watchable he is.”
Based on Jaroslav Kalfař’s 2017 novel, Spaceman of Bohemia, it centers around the story of Jakub Procházka (Sandler) who is sent on a mission across the solar system, away from his wife, Lenka (Carey Mulligan), as their relationship continues to fall apart.
During the six-month mission, he encounters a telepathic creature in the form of a giant spider (Paul Dano) who helps him solve his earthly problems.
Spaceman is available on Netflix.
