Adam Sandler is nothing if not loyal. His friends tend to show up in movie after movie, giving them both steady pay and consistent time to hang out and make each other laugh. Sandler’s collaborations with The King of Queens star Kevin James go all the way back to 50 First Dates and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. They’ve worked in live action as well as animation. So how does Sandler ensure that James will come back to play every time?
The comedic duo are making the rounds to promote the new Netflix movie Hubie Halloween. Adam Sandler plays the title character, an unusual loner obsessed with the October holiday, while James is a police officer who has to put up with Hubie’s nonsense. During an interview for the WWE, Sandler revealed that the pathway to James’ professional heart is through his stomach.
Kevin James: It’s a pain in the ass for me every time, but it’s a joy for you…Adam Sandler: I talk him into it. I say, ‘You know they’re gonna give you money?’ He says, ‘No.’ Then I say, ‘They’re gonna give you a new motorcycle.’ He says, ‘Not yet.’ And then I say, ‘They have these incredible dumplings.’ He goes, ‘Ooh.’James: You’ve sparked my interest!Sandler: We love being together.
Kraft Services. The secret to luring the finest co-stars to an Adam Sandler set. When you get to see these two interact in an interview setting, you can physically see their chemistry and admiration for each other. Sandler notoriously treats his close friends and colleagues extremely well – there’s a well-known story about Sandler buying Maseratis for the main members of the Grown Ups cast, James included. Maybe “dumplings” is Adam Sandler’s code name for Italian sports cars?
We recently had a wonderful time interviewing the cast of Hubie Halloween, and posed a similar question to James, Tim Meadows, Maya Rudolph and more to find out how these Adam Sandler joints attract such high-powered comedic talent, time after time. It essentially boils down to everyone loving Sandler, but their answers were pretty enlightening about the atmosphere Sandler creates.
And the funny thing about Hubie Halloween is that the movie, itself, is legitimately funny. Too often, the Adam Sandler comedies can lose sight of the joke because the people involved are having too much fun hanging out… and there’s only so much of that the audience wants to watch before we just feel like we’re not invited to the party. Hubie Halloween remembers to work in jokes – and blatant references to the Sandler catalogue – so it’s almost like we are eating the dumplings along with Kevin James.
Now, where do I pick up my Maserati, Mr. Sandler? Is there a parking lot, or does it just show up in my driveway? I’ll await further word.
