From an NBA star to the King of Pop, these famous figures turned down the chance to work
with the one and only Adam Sandler.
The 1995 comedy "Billy Madison" tells the story of dimwitted Billy, a privileged deadbeat
poised to inherit a chain of hotels from his father, Brian.
Despite Billy having graduated high school, Brian reveals that he had bribed Billy's school
to let him pass his classes.
Now, Billy must prove himself capable of running the business by going back to school and passing
all twelve grades within six months.
If he fails, the business will belong to the hotel's evil vice president, Eric Gordon.
" You're gonna give the company to Eric?!
He is a bad, bad man."
Initially, Sandler wanted Bob Odenkirk to be cast as the villainous Eric, as the two
had gotten along during their time on "SNL."
But Odenkirk, far from the household name he is today, was vetoed by studio executives.
After an extensive series of auditions, Sandler fell in love with the performance of an up
and coming actor named Philip Seymour Hoffman — but executives were reluctant to hire him.
Sandler was able to convince them to hire Hoffman, but a new problem quickly arose — Hoffman
ended up turning down the role.
In "Fly on the Wall," a podcast hosted by David Spade and Dana Carvey, Sandler detailed
how he called up Hoffman personally to see what was going on.
He recalled —
"I go, 'Hey, I saw your tape, you're so great, buddy, and they said you don't want to do
it [...] So, do you want to do it?'
And he goes, 'Aww, I can't [...] I just don't want to.'"
The role ended up being delightfully filled by "The West Wing" star Bradley Whitford.
Fortunately, Hoffman and Sandler would eventually get the chance to work together in Paul Thomas
Anderson's romantic dramedy "Punch-Drunk Love."
"Shut up!
Shut the f— up!"
"You have no right to take me—"
"Shut up!
Will you shut up!
Shut up! Shut up!
Shut shut shut shut shut up!"
Following the highly successful "Billy Madison" was Adam Sandler's classic 1996 sports comedy
"Happy Gilmore."
The film chronicles the journey of the titular failed ice hockey player Happy, who soon discovers
his talents transfer better to the world of professional golf.
His more rambunctious style rankles his uptight competitor Shooter McGavin — played by Christopher
McDonald — who resorts to nefarious means to get Gilmore off the course.
McDonald's portrayal of Shooter is truly iconic, but it almost didn't happen.
In an interview with Alex Withrow for And So It Begins, McDonald confirmed that he had
turned down the role twice, explaining —
"I was tired, I wanted to see more of my family."
Fortunately, McDonald changed his mind after winning a particularly competitive game of golf.
He continued —
"That high was something else.
So, with my golf shoes still on, I went in the locker room, called my agent and said,
'Is that golf movie still available, because I just won this tournament and I'm feeling
a little bit, well, Shooterish.'"
"I've worked hard my whole life, paid my dues, and now it's Shooter's turn.
And Shooter's not about to let his reign at the top be spoiled by some freak sideshow clown."
McDonald was cast, and movie magic was made.
McDonald enjoyed the freedom he was given to improvise, making sure his character didn't
just play to all of the cliched bad guy tropes.
Though he initially declined the role, he now looks back on the film as a blessing, saying —
"We really had fun with that one.
And the fact that that movie is still on people's minds is great."
After Christopher McDonald initially turned down the role of Shooter McGavin in "Happy
Gilmore," studio executives began looking for a possible replacement.
Deciding to take a big swing, the studio reached out to Kevin Costner, legendary star of sports
films like "Field of Dreams," "American Flyers," and "Bull Durham."
Casting Costner as a golf player sounds like a perfect fit, and Costner himself agreed
— but he still didn't agree to the role of Shooter.
Instead, he was busy making his own golf movie, "Tin Cup."
"Tin Cup" earned Costner a Golden Globe nomination for his role as Roy McAvoy, so it was probably
worth it for him to swing away from "Happy Gilmore."
More sports films followed for Costner, including Sam Raimi's "For Love of the Game," the football
movie "Draft Day," and Disney's "McFarland, USA."
But for a brief shining moment, the world was nearly graced with Kevin Costner as one
of the funniest sports film villains ever.
After finding success with "Happy Gilmore," Adam Sandler again returned to sports for
the 1998 football comedy "The Waterboy."
Sandler stars as the titular waterboy Bobby Boucher, who lives with his overbearing mother,
played by Kathy Bates.
When Bobby winds up playing football instead of just handing out drinks, he begins to make
his way out from under his mother's thumb and into the real world.
"Mama… something bad happened today."
"Somebody hurt you, my boy?
Who hurt you?
You tell Mama who hurt you."
The Academy Award-winning Bates almost didn't play the iconic role of Mama Boucher, as her
agent didn't like the script.
Bates told SBNation —
"They made an offer, so legally, she had to send me the script.
And I read the first 12 pages, and it was about football, and it was kind of silly,
so I tossed it in the trash next to my bed."
Fortunately, Bates' niece saw the script and recognized Adam Sandler's name.
She convinced Bates to give the script another chance — a decision that Bates now knows
was the right one to make.
She reminisced —
"There's many experiences I've had that have been more difficult or unpleasant or didn't
turn out the way I wanted them to turn out.
This was one of the happy experiences that I've had."
In 2010, "Grown Ups" became Sandler's highest-grossing film to date, raking in over $270 million worldwide.
The movie did so well that Sandler generously gifted brand new Maseratis to his co-stars
Chris Rock, Kevin James, and David Spade — as well as a Tesla Roadster to Rob Schneider.
After the smashing success of the first film, a sequel followed in 2013 with one major difference:
Rob Schneider was absent, replaced by comedian Nick Swardson as Schneider's character's brother.
When questioned about his absence in a radio interview, Schneider initially made it sound
like there was bad blood between him and Sandler because of pay disputes.
He said —
"They're doing 'Grown Ups 2' without me.
Mistake.
They should have paid me a lot of money."
However, Schneider also added —
"Well, truthfully, I wasn't sure if I'd have my TV series, so it was an availability thing,
but at the end of the day, they should have [said], 'What money does Rob need?'"
If there really was a falling out behind the scenes, the two seem to have made up.
Schneider has gone on to appear in more recent Sandler films, including "The Ridiculous 6,"
"Sandy Wexler," and "Hubie Halloween."
The 2015 action comedy "Pixels" sees Adam Sandler as Sam Brenner, a former arcade champion
recruited by the government to stop aliens that are taking the forms of classic arcade
games like "Pac-Man," "Centipede," and "Donkey Kong."
In addition to the gaming icons, the aliens take on the appearances of famous '80s faces
like Ronald Reagan and Max Headroom to deliver their messages to mankind.
According to a report from Showbiz 411, the infamous 2014 Sony email leak revealed that
the studio reached out to the estate of Michael Jackson for a potential cameo in "Pixels."
While the estate didn't exactly turn them down outright, they did request a fee that
surpassed their budget by quite a large amount.
Although Sandler really wanted the King of Pop to appear in the sci-fi adventure, the
Michael Jackson alien did not moonwalk its way into the final cut.
Adam Sandler's first of many Netflix films was the Western parody "The Ridiculous 6."
The film stars Sandler as a man raised by Native Americans who learns he has a handful
of eccentric half-brothers — played by Terry Crews, Jorge Garcia, Taylor Lautner, Rob Schneider,
and Luke Wilson.
The brothers team up to rescue their newfound, recently kidnapped father by stealing enough
money to pay his ransom.
"Any of you handsome brothers ready to go steal a big hunk of gold?"
"I'm ready."
"I'm hungry."
"I'm drunk."
"And I'm Lil' Pete!"
Despite its eclectic cast, critics and audiences alike were less than pleased with the movie.
Many criticized the film as racially insensitive, with loads of unfunny jokes that relied on
terrible stereotypes.
But it wasn't just the audience saying so — this criticism also came from some of
the movie's own cast members.
As reported by Indian Country Today, many of the Native American extras were upset at
the lowbrow jokes and inaccurate costumes.
This led to about a dozen actors and crew members, including actor Loren Anthony and
the Native American cultural advisor, to leave the set in protest.
Netflix responded to the controversy by telling Vulture —
"The movie has ridiculous in the title for a reason: because it is ridiculous.
It is a broad satire of Western movies and the stereotypes they popularized, featuring
a diverse cast that is not only part of — but in on — the joke."
Perhaps the film's low approval rating proves that Sandler should have listened to what
his coworkers had to say.
The 2022 Netflix sports drama "Hustle" stars Adam Sandler as down-on-his-luck NBA scout Stanley Sugerman.
When he's sent to Spain to recruit a rising star, Sugerman stumbles across an even better
player named Bo Cruz, played by Juancho Hernangómez.
Unable to convince his boss of Cruz's talent, Sugerman quits and focuses on preparing Cruz
for the NBA Draft.
Hernangómez is an NBA star who's previously played for a number of teams, currently for
the Toronto Raptors.
"Hustle" was his acting debut, but he was initially reluctant to take the role.
In an interview with Pop Culture, Hernangómez stated —
"I told them no.
I mean, I didn't want to do it.
I mean, I don't want to waste time in something like this.
It's not my dream."
Eventually, Hernangómez was convinced by his sister to take the role, which he later
described as a great experience, saying —
"I was really surprised how hard they work for making a movie.
I just enjoy the journey so much.
I mean, I embrace it and I enjoy it."
Hernangómez had a blast working with Sandler, feeling an instant connection with the comedy
legend on set.
He continued —
"We enjoy it so much every single day.
We spent two months together.
We didn't have any bad days [...] I feel like that's the reason Bo and Stanley have that
good chemistry because in real life, we got a great feeling."
While Adam Sandler has acted in several dramatic films, none have had quite the same impact
as his portrayal of the gambling-addicted jewelry salesman Howard Ratner in 2019's "Uncut Gems."
Critics heaped praise on his performance, and many believed the film would earn Sandler
his first Academy Award nomination.
While the Oscar evaded the Sandman, he still managed to nab best actor wins from the Independent
Spirit Awards and the National Board of Review.
"This is my f—--- way.
This is how I win.
Alright?"
Of course, he almost didn't take the role at all.
Filmmakers Josh and Benny Safdie initially reached out to Sandler's management in 2015,
but were told he was unavailable.
The brothers made attempts with other actors, including "Borat" comedian Sacha Baron Cohen
and "21 Jump Street" star Jonah Hill.
After struggling to de-age the character, Hill eventually left to work on other projects.
With more projects now under their belt, including the critically acclaimed Robert Pattinson-led
thriller "Good Time," the Safdie brothers decided to reach out to Sandler one last time.
Luckily, this time he agreed to the role, ushering in a whole new era of critical respect
and acclaim for the famously goofy actor.
The animated "Hotel Transylvania" franchise has made over a billion dollars worldwide.
Adam Sandler lent his voice to the first three movies as none other than Count Dracula, who
owns the titular hotel for monsters and struggles to be a good father to his daughter Mavis.
The films also feature a number of Sandler's frequent live-action collaborators, including
Andy Samberg, Kevin James, Steve Buscemi, and David Spade.
When the fourth film, "Hotel Transylvania: Transformania," premiered in 2022 on Amazon
Prime, most of the actors reprised their monstrous roles — with two major exceptions.
First off, Frankenstein was no longer played by Kevin James, but instead by voice actor
Brad Abrell.
More surprisingly, though, the lead role of Dracula was now occupied by Adam Sandler impressionist
Brian Hull.
Director Derek Drymon spoke of the casting change, telling Screen Rant —
"The fact that he turns into a human was a good opportunity to do things a little differently.
He could be a little different than he was in the movies, and it would be natural.
So, it kind of was the perfect movie to have a person come in and fill those shoes."
Though there is no official reason behind Sandler's lack of involvement on the project,
some have theorized that it had to do with his Netflix contract, and another animated
film he was developing with the competing streaming service.