Adam Sandler is speaking out about his recent hip surgery recovery.
During the 2022 Gotham Awards on Monday, the “Blended” star, 56, told the New York Post’s Page Six that the surgery he had in early September made him feel old.
Sandler jokingly said:
“It’s only painful to say out loud. I say it was because of basketball so that feels a little bit rugged, but then being unable to tie my own shoe didn’t feel rugged.”
In addition, the actor stated that his wife, Jackie Sandler, and their two daughters, Sadie, 16, and Sunny, 14, took turns tying his shoes. He thanked them for their patience with him.
He told the outlet:
“They were nice about it. I screamed a lot then calmed down and ate some food.”
He added that he wasn’t always an ideal patient after the surgery.
Sandler, who rose to prominence on “Saturday Night Live” in the 1990s, has recently taken on more serious roles in films such as “Uncut Gems” and “The Meyerowitz Stories.” He admitted that he has “no idea” how he achieves empathy for his characters.
He explained to the outlet:
“I just try to feel what I’m supposed to feel in a scene and go from there.”
Regarding his acting career, which has seen him play a variety of characters, the “Just Go With It” star stated that it is what he desired.
He said:
“I’ve always wanted to do everything. I’ve been lucky to have people write stuff for me that’s as cool as it gets and work with amazingly talented people that put the movies together. And the stuff I do with my friends means everything to us, too. I like to work hard.”
Sandler is best known for his role as an NBA scout in Netflix’s “Hustle.” Many people have praised his performance in the film, which has generated Oscar buzz.
Sandler discussed his role in the 1995 comedy film “Billy Madison,” in which he played a 27-year-old who re-enrolls in elementary school, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. While it was considered one of his signature films, 90% of film critics called it garbage, according to the actor.
Sandler, who co-wrote the film with friend Tim Herlihy, admitted that the criticism hurt because “you know your grandmother’s reading,” and that they decided they “shouldn’t read this stuff because it’s so harsh.”
He recalled:
“When ‘Billy Madison’ came out, me and my friend who wrote it, we were just like, ‘Oh yeah, they’re going to write about this in New York!’ We grew up reading the papers, we were going to NYU. And then we read the first one and we were like, ‘Oh my god, what happened? They hate us.’ And then we were like, ‘It must have been this paper,’ but then 90% of the papers are going, ‘This is garbage.'”
Sandler went on to say that he still received negative feedback on his first two or three films, including “Happy Gilmore” and “The Wedding Singer,” so he learned to stop reading reviews.
He explained:
“People would call us up, ‘Can you believe they said this about you?’ I’d be like, ‘I didn’t read it, man…’ But everything has turned out excellent. And it’s OK, I get it. Critics aren’t going to connect with certain stuff and what they want to see. I understand that it’s not clicking with them.”