The untold truth of Adam Sandler

Love him or hate him, there's no denying that Adam Sandler has had a considerable impact on the shape of comedy today. You know him from his early days on Saturday Night Live, his oft-repeated songs, and movies that have had up-and-down responses from critics and audiences alike. So, what's really going on behind that goofy — and sometimes frighteningly angry — big-screen persona?



He was fired from SNL, but he got a fax machine

Adam Sandler was on television screens during a golden age for long-time mainstay Saturday Night Live. He was so popular it seemed likely that he had a job for as long as he wanted it. And yet, in 1995, both he and Chris Farley were given the boot. Just what happened has been up for debate for a long time, and in 2014 he sat down with The Daily Beast to say at least a bit about it.

"Yes, we were [fired]," he confirmed. "We kind of quit at the same time as being fired. It was the end of the run for us. The fact that me and him got fired? Who knows. We were on it for a few years, had our run, and everything happens for a reason. We kind of understood because we did our thing. It hurt a lot at the time because we were young and didn't know where we were going, but it all worked out."

What happened to Sandler and Farley was by no means unusual, and they weren't the only ones to find themselves with a suddenly broken contract. The Chicago Tribune took a look at everyone that broke from SNL under less-than-perfect circumstances, and it was a long list that included Sarah Silverman, Norm MacDonald, and Chris Parnell. While Sandler might just be another name in a long list, he did tell Conan O'Brien that he got his payback. Appearing on O'Brien's fledgling show meant returning to NBC, and Sandler didn't just accept with no conditions. Before he'd make his return, he insisted that the network buy him a fax machine — and they did.

If you're ever hoping that he might return to host SNL one of these days, it's unlikely. That's at least what he told ScreenCrush in 2015, saying, "It was great to be back [for the anniversary special], I loved it. I would love to do an anniversary every year. [...] I'm not sure I can sit there for six days and do the show. I like watching it."

He doesn't read the bad reviews, but he hears about them

If there's one thing you can say about Adam Sandler's movies, it's that they at least semi-consistently get a lot of hate. Take Pixels, his 2015 tribute to 1980s gaming. Las Vegas Weekly gave us their thoughts on it, first praising the short that it was based on, then saying, "Sadly, they've turned it into an Adam Sandler film, albeit one slightly less lazy and obnoxious than his other recent efforts. Of course, calling Pixels one of Sandler's better movies is like calling a particular strain of Ebola somewhat less horrifically painful; either way, it's not pleasant."


Ouch! Words like that have got to hurt, no matter how thick a person's skin is. Everyone knows the entertainment business can be rough, but how do you reconcile yourself when it's that harsh?

"I know what they're writing about me," Sandler told The Independent in 2013. "I could almost write the piece for them by now. But then I remember that I didn't get into movies to please the critics. I got into it to make people laugh and have fun with my friends." He addressed the relentless bad reviews when he talked to The Daily Beast, too, and when he did, it was with a shrug. "I don't really read 'em. I hear about 'em, and have friend who called me up and told me how much they hated my last thing [Blended], and every move I make I hear how they don't like it. [...] You know, I wish they would calm down a little bit."

He's incredibly media-shy

While Sandler has spoken a bit about how he feels about the critics, he hasn't really said much about his lack of regular interviews. Most actors find filming their project is only part of the job and the promotional tour is the other part, but Sandler is notorious for dodging interviews — especially with the press. According to ScreenCrush, who did get a sit-down, on-screen chat with him, they quoted him as saying, "I used to be misquoted all the time," as the reason he swore off talking to print media.

Sandler spoke to The Harvard Crimson in 2000, and even then, he gave a sneak peek into something that has to do with his aversion to conversations with the media. When the Crimson asked him how he felt about all the negative reviews he was getting even then, his answer involved just how two-faced he thought the critics were.

"The worst part about all of it — as a guy who gets a lot of s**t from critics — is like, one time I was in a room with a person who kept going on and on about how much he loved the movie and he's just going nuts and looking me in the eye. That night, I see him on TV saying, 'This movie is useless.' And I'm like, 'Dude! That's the guy who was nice to me.'"

His movies have done better than you think

In March 2017, Netflix announced that they were signing Sandler to another contract for another four movies. It was met with not a small amount of confusion, especially considering The Ridiculous 6, perhaps the most well-known of Sandler's first four Netflix films, didn't just get a shocking 0 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but it was the subject of a huge controversy over its treatment of Native Americans. That led to a massive walk-out by actors, cast, and crew, so when Netflix said they were bringing him back, it left people scratching their heads.

According to Netflix, though, Sandler's films are some of the most popularly viewed movies across the US and 50 other territories across the world (via Business Insider). They also note that when his movies do hit theaters, the successes have done so well that they make up for the failures. At the time they were writing, his 30-odd movies had raked in $3.9 billion.

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