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Bosom Buddies
Ex flatmates, star Adam Sandler and writer / director / producer Judd Apatow reunite for Funny People, a rather serious comedy. Here they speak candidly about the film and its many pleasures.
The film starts with these early films of Adam - what made you think you should document this?
Adam Sandler: Yes how did you know?
Judd Apatow: Adam was doing this every day and they were just so funny that it felt wrong not to be documented. I felt bad they were going into the ether and no one would ever share them.
Did either of you think it would end up in a movie?
Adam Sandler: I swear I'm as dumb as it gets. I had no idea he was even filming me. I knew he had something on me but I forgot what it was.
What was it like to be roommates?
Adam Sandler: It was pure happiness. We would both wake up and we would eat and if we wrote one good joke we would be happy for months. We would have a spot at The Comedy Club that night and we would talk about it all day long. We would have mood swings all day - but we just hung - it was all about the comedy.
What was your impression of Adam back then?
Judd Apatow: I didn't understand why he is funnier than me, why he would get more women than me. I would drink and think what is going on with me? We all loved watching Adam do stand up because he had this great act, but he didn't care if he bombed - there was no pressure, because nobody knew who anyone was, so the audience had no expectation. So you could bomb and laugh about it all night and it wasn't going to be on YouTube the next day.
What was it like to go back and do stand up?
Adam Sandler: With my appearances on shows like David Letterman and Jay Leno I was able to use my stand up days of writing jokes, so I kept that going but when Judd asked me to go back on stage with a mike - I was not excited about that at all.
So it was hard?
Adam Sandler: Yep. I'm glad I did it. Chris Rock was saying to me the whole time -
‘You are going to go back on tour after this,' and I said no way.
Was it interesting to see some of your real history used for the film?
Adam Sandler: You know the guy is not me that I'm playing but it makes the movie more intimate, more like you can connect the whole thing.
Judd Apatow: I remember when I saw Annie Hall and there is just one brief moment when they show him doing one joke. That was the greatest moment in Annie Hall - in addition to being a writer he was also a live performer, so I've always wanted to try and tell a story and weave in a lot of stand up comedy. When we thought he was a movie star, we thought it would be funny to see some of his old stand up, because no one had seen these clips and then create these new fake movies - this entire fake career.
Who came up with the fake movies?
Adam Sandler: That was all Apatow.
Judd Apatow: Basically almost every fake movie we made later we realised in some form Tom Hanks did the good version of it. In one he turns into a baby - I guess that's the bad version of Big, then one we shot a cop with a dog - that's Turner and Hooch, then the Merman movie - that was Splash.
Adam Sandler: His was great but I think our Merman is fantastic.
Judd Apatow: We could still do it, we own the rights. We own the fin so we might as well use it.
This character gets to do comedy as well as some hardcore dramatic scenes. Was that a nice marriage for you?
Adam Sandler: Absolutely. I was very lucky to get to do this guy. I know a lot of comedians who will be thinking, ‘Why didn't Apatow let me do this?'
But people could blur the lines. Was there any hesitation that people might think you were more like George?
Adam Sandler: I guess at times I would say I hope people realise this ain't me.
Judd Apatow: I hope so - or else they wouldn't come up to you on the street - they would be scared of you.
There is a scene where you hear some bad news but you still have to take photos with fans. Was that relatable?
Adam Sandler: I go through that sometimes where I hear news, not like the movie, but I have some real things going on and people stop me and want to take a picture and it takes a while for them to get their camera ready and I'm in the middle of something heavy and you think calm down, let's get this picture going.
What was it like seeing Adam do those serious scenes?
Judd Apatow: I didn't enjoy it. I was thinking the whole time this is why I do comedy so I don't have to do scenes like this. Adam's performance was so real, it was heartbreaking to watch. I hated making him go through it. I tried to go through it as fast as it could, but he is such a good actor, it wasn't a struggle. I knew those scenes were important because it's what would make you care about the character. It would also make the other scenes way funnier, because you like this guy and would feel bad for him.
What do you think this film tells people about the world of comedy?
Judd Apatow: I think it shows what the dark side of celebrity can be sometimes when you don't have real connections with normal people and you just live off the adulation of your fans.
Adam Sandler: If you see other movies about superstars - they often tend to be alcoholics or drug addicts - but this doesn't have any addictions. It's because he is isolated and not opening himself up to anyone.
Funny People is available on DVD and Blu-ray from January 7.
