QUESTION: You have an incredible success rate so is there pressure that
every movie matches the success of the movie that went before?
ADAM SANDLER: I dont even know what my movies have done [at the box office] I
am that cool! (jokes) I make my movies and then I walk away. Then people come up
to me and sayWow, what a big hitand I go, I dont want to hear. I dont want
to know if they did good or bad, I just want to make movies. So there is no
pressure. I have always been that guy and I always will be that guy.
QUESTION: There are Brits, Aussies and Kiwis on screen. Did that make for
Commonwealth Vs USA rivalry?
ADAM SANDLER: I wanted to get to know different people.
QUESTION: Which bedtime stories that you were told were your favorites? And did
you ever imagine that this would be where you are now?
ADAM SANDLER: No, I didnt think about that when I was a little kid. I knew I
was destined for greatness, I just didnt know what. (jokes) I was always very
good at chess and for a while I thought would be it. NoBedtime stories were
definitely a big part of my life because I was just so excited that my father
was talking to me (jokes). I was likelonger father, stay in the room with me
(jokes) can I get a hug also? No, just the story.
QUESTION: Which bedtime stories were you told?
ADAM SANDLER: The Little Engine That Couldthat was a big one in my house. I
have been reading it to my kid, I dont love it as much as an adult (jokes). My
kid is two and a half and she says it thoughI think I canIt is very sweet when
she says it, I like it when she says it. I dont necessarily love reading it
very day, but I do. What else did I like as a kid? I liked Willie Wonkajust the
movie, no-one ever read that to me. I would ask my father and hed saythe
movies coming on in three months. (jokes) Help me out with more stories I might
have heard as a kid? Little Red Riding Hood? Yeah, I know that, its a great
one.
QUESTION: Which bedtime stories do you tell your daughter?
ADAM SANDLER: I tell my two and a half year old the Little Engine story. We do
free-styling where I just improvise a story. I ask what she wants to hear and
she right now is obsessed with food so she will saywaffles! So I say there was
a giant waffleand then she says pancakes!...and I say and the waffle got into a
fight with a big pancakethen she says syrup!...and I continue- and there was a
river made of syrupbutter!...and of course the mountain of butter was
therecookies!...No, I want a cookie! No more story!
QUESTION: How did you enjoy making a film that really was a return to the age of
innocence?
ADAM SANDLER: It was great! It did feel good to bypass your first instinct and
come up with something sweeter. I have hung out with kids in my life and I
always tried to make them feel comfortable, so I thought of them. I felt good
coming home at night; for the first time in a while. Usually I feel I am going
to get yelled at for that, my mother is going to be humiliated and blah blah
blah. Honest to God, just for the recordI said this when I was walking down the
red carpet at the London premiere. We did test screenings in America and I got a
high score and I was high five-ing my friends...I was screaming over and
overThey love me, the children think I am wonderful! Then I saw Russells score
and got some giant 95 or 96 and I got a 91. After I got past being hurt (jokes)
I was very happy for Russell. The children of America have embraced the long and
lean and handsome Russell Brand.
QUESTION: What is your aim with an Adam Sandler movie?
ADAM SANDLER: We always try to put a lot of jokes in our movies. We wanted
Bedtime Stories to be as funny as a kids movie could be. When it was being
written we talked about how we wanted it to be as funny as possible. That is
usually our goal in our moviesfunny and there is usually a message in there.
Also we try to shoot me so that you dont see the triple chin (jokes). We try to
make the girl seem like she likes me. (jokes)
What else? We try to make it like I am stronger than most people. We try not to
hoot me from behind too much and stay off the ass (jokes).
QUESTION: Was there any pressure from Disney regarding the tone of the film?
ADAM SANDLER: Disney was incredibly cool. In fact when we were putting it
together they said they liked the Happy Madison style of humour. We have a PG
movie so we tried to keep it where everybody would be comfortable with what we
were saying. We came up with jokes that we thought would be funny and not
offensive at all. It is a little different from the average Disney movie but we
feel it is respectful enough to be in the category.
QUESTION: You have made a lot of different types of movies; do you still prefer
making comedies?
ADAM SANDLER: I do enjoy making movies and I try to test myself on occasion with
some stuff. I did always dream of making a family movie and then having kids
helped make that more exciting for me. I can eventually show it to them and
maybe my daughter will have a sleep-over party in a few years and Ill sayhey
come and watch Daddys movie and then all those kids can like Russell more than
me and Ill be fine with that. I enjoy doing all different types of movies. But
I am most comfortable with comedy and trying to make jokes. Actually I had a
great time on this movie trying to think of friendlier jokes.
QUESTION: When were you aware of the fact that you are funny and of the power of
comedy? And what does your daughter think Daddy does for a living?
ADAM SANDLER: I always had to be funny. My family always told jokes round the
dinner table, that sort of stuff. That was my way of getting attention in class.
If it was quiet I would like to make a joke and if it worked I was so excited
all day long. I would be talking about it at lunch. The only reason I got into
stand-up was because my brother told me to. I had no idea what I was going to do
with my life. I was 17 and my brother went to a comedy club and he said you
can do that. And I said ok, thats what Ill do and thats the only reason that
I got into it. But I did not feel confident about it until I was 22 or 23. It
took about five years to start being ok with my friends showing up and watching
me. What does she think I do for a living?
She is pretty funny about that. She always pretends that she has to go to work.
I have an office at Sony and she starts packing up and when I ask where shes
going she sayswork. And when I ask where she is working today, she saysSony.
When I ask what shes doing, she saysmaking a movie. So she knows I make
movies. In fact the other day she visited me on a movie set and I asked if she
wanted to go to dinner and she started screamingTrailer food! Like ever other
rich ass I have a cook and he is in my trailer making food all the time, so she
keeps goingTrailer food, not pancakes!
QUESTION: Which of the mini movies in Bedtime Stories would you like to develop
into a full feature?
ADAM SANDLER: I dont like being on a horse, thats the only negative in a
western. I like the whole get-up, I look great in a hat. But I get tense around
horses. But maybe we could work around that? If they could get a big, calm horse
for me then I would like to make a western. Id also like to do a gladiator
movie. I am uncomfortable in the wig but I would do it.
