When trying to sort out the annoying ordeal known as a midlife crisis, there’s apparently an even pricier alternative to a shrink’s couch, sports car and plastic surgery—make a multi-million dollar movie about the crazy places you find yourself when carefree youth is no longer an option. Or maybe it still is, in some nutty aspects, if Adam Sandler has his way with the not-so-excellent vacation, coming-of-middle-age comedy Grown Ups. In any case, the Grown Ups star came clean during this conversation about ups and downs in his life that may have leaked into his script for the movie, including turning into your own father whether you like it or not, berating the kids back home for assorted infractions and dealing with supersized entitlement issues that can come up with celeb offspring. And on a lighter note, just how cute and plump he thinks David Spade’s bare butt can be.
Q: Where did the idea for Grown Ups come from?
ADAM SANDLER: Me and Fred Wolf wrote the movie. The whole idea was about putting together old friends that get to hang out for a weekend. These guys are my old friends, so it made total sense. I’m glad they said yes to it.
Q: When exactly did it dawn on you that, “Hey, I’m grown up,” or maybe that hasn’t happened yet?
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AS: When you’re around your kids, you feel like you act the most grown up! I mean, just because you’re supposed to lead, and I’ll find myself saying things like every other parent that’s just like my own parents. But there’s one thing that I do know about being a parent—it’s that you understand why your father was in a bad mood a lot!
Q: As a dad yourself, did the idea for this movie have anything to do with anxieties about raising elitist Beverly Hills kids who might turn out bratty?
AS: The idea of my kids being spoiled? I go to sleep thinking about it, and I wake up thinking about it! I’m trying to do the right thing, but with the amount of money I have, it’s difficult to raise children the way I was raised.
Q: What’s with the David Spade nude stuff?
AS: His butt is cute. It’s plump.
Q: How about Salma Hayek, how did she end up in Grown Ups?
AS: It’s fun being married to Salma! She’s a great girl.
Q: So who do you think is the funniest guy in the movie?
AS: Everybody’s got their own thing. But I’ll tell you, Spade is incredibly funny, he drops the most destruction bombs on you. He’s quick as hell. But everybody’s got their moments. Kevin is incredibly funny; he has different ways of being funny in conversation. And when Kevin texts me, I laugh like a buffoon for five minutes. And Rock is one of the funniest guys I’ve ever seen in my life, like with just summing up something, and having a different slant on it. And you’re just like, “That is amazingly accurate, and I can’t believe I’ve never said that out loud, I never even thought that.” He makes you think straight; his comedy’s just genius.
Q: How come you included basketball in the story?
AS: I grew up playing church league basketball; it was a big part of my town, and I thought that instead of doing a movie about high school, it would be easier if we made it church league basketball kids. Sixth grade was a big time in my childhood, with hoops and friendship and coming up with funny things, and that’s what the movie is. And our kids are that age, so we thought that’s when it starts. You see the contrast of childhood now, compared to what we were like as kids, and that’s why that was a big part of my life. And we all play a little bit of ball anyway, so we just thought that would be interesting.
Q: Is there a reason you wrote Born to Be a Star, but you won’t be in it?
AS: I’m about 15 years too old for it! But I got to watch it and laugh, that’s actually a nice thing.
Q: What are you up to in Jack and Jill?
AS: I play me and I play my twin sister. The man version of me is doing OK. He’s got a family out in L.A. The twin sister of me is in the Bronx, and comes out to L.A. for Thanksgiving and then refuses to leave, and is spoiling the man version of my family’s life a little bit.
Q: Are you still producing that Richard Pryor project with Chris Rock?
AS: Yeah, we’re doing the Richard Pryor movie. Marlon Wayans is going to play Pryor, so we’ll see what happens, but it hasn’t really gotten rolling yet, we’re just talking about it right now.
Q: How about the new Gong Show with Dave Attell?
AS: Yep, our company is involved. Attell is funny. I went down to the studio and watched a couple of shows. It’s pretty disgusting!
Q: What’s the one thing that drives you to succeed?
AS: I don’t know what drives me to succeed. I know I want to always do the best I can, but I never was like that as a kid. I certainly wasn’t the best at school. But this comedy thing and making movies and stuff, I love it so much that I do get driven to push myself as hard as I can.
Q: Is there anything that got cut out of Grown Ups, and why?
AS: I’m sure there will be a lot of stuff on the DVD that we babbled about. But it ain’t that funny if it ain’t in the movie!