Adam Sandler is one of the funniest guys in Hollywood so it’s no surprise that he brings the laughs on set. HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with Safdie brothers Josh and Benny Safdie, who directed Uncut Gems, at the 2019 Gotham Awards about working with Adam. One of their favorite moments with Adam from set didn’t even make it into the movie! “It’s not even in the movie, but it’s a favorite moment where it was just like he [Adam] kept coming back and we kept sending him back out into the showroom with another one-liner, another zinger, and it just kept coming back and forth, back and forth. We ended up doing it for like 15 minutes,” Benny told HollywoodLife.
Josh added that everyone was “having a great time” with it and getting the chance to watch Adam tell jokes was quite the experience. “It was just like, how much, how many more of these jokes do you want to do? That was just us being like listening to Adam Sandler records as kids being like, ‘Oh my God, we have Adam Sandler.’ Let’s just keep throwing jokes out there,” he continued.
Adam is already getting major Oscar buzz for his role as Howard Ratner, a charismatic jeweler who makes a high-stakes bet that could make or break him. If he receives an Oscar nomination, it will be Adam’s first-ever. HollywoodLife asked the Safdie brothers how they feel about Adam’s Oscar chances.
“We didn’t do it for that,” Josh said. “So just to hear people talking about it… I’m happy for him. The guy is one of the hardest working people I’ve ever met and a real mention and really put a lot of himself into this. A lot of time and it’s a really complicated performance and happy to see people are responding.” Benny also noted, “The fact that we saw him do that work and we saw him transform every day, so it’s pretty amazing.”
Uncut Gems will be released in theaters on Dec. 13. The movie also stars Idina Menzel, Julia Fox, and The Weeknd.