
From “Saturday Night Live” to Happy Madison Productions to sharing the spotlight with his wife and daughters onscreen in “You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah,” Adam Sandler is one of the top comedians in Hollywood. That’s probably why so many actors want to laugh with him in one of his projects—especially his upcoming sequel to the fan-favorite comedy “Happy Gilmore,” due on Netflix in 2025.
But what does it take to land a role in one of Sandler’s box-office hits? Our guide has everything you need to know about getting cast in one of Sandler’s movies—and it’s not all slapstick silliness, either. Sandler flexes his dramatic chops every now and then, so you’ll want to exercise more than just your funny bone, too.
JUMP TO
- What are Sandler’s most famous movies?
- Who are the primary casting directors behind Adam Sandler’s movies?
- How does the casting process work for a Sandler movie?
- Where can you find casting calls and auditions for Sandler’s projects?
- What are the best audition tips for landing a role in a Sandler movie?
Sandler first skyrocketed to fame amid his run as a cast member on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” from 1990–1995. It was this exposure that allowed the young comic to parlay his success into a lucrative movie career. Following the success of his comedies “Billy Madison” and “Happy Gilmore,” Sandler founded the film and TV production company Happy Madison in 1999 to have more control over his projects. Sandler has starred in, written, and produced many comedies, but his most notable are:
- “Airheads” (1994)
- “Billy Madison” (1995)
- “Happy Gilmore” (1996)
- “The Waterboy” (1998)
- “The Wedding Singer” (1998)
- “Big Daddy” (1999)
- “Little Nicky” (2000)
- “Mr. Deeds” (2002)
- “Eight Crazy Nights” (2002)
- “Anger Management” (2003)
- “50 First Dates” (2004)
- “The Longest Yard” (2005)
- “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” (2008)
- “Grown Ups” (2010)
- “Just Go With It” (2011)
- “Blended” (2014)
- “Murder Mystery” (2019)
- “Hubie Halloween” (2020)
- “You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah” (2023)
- “Happy Gilmore 2” (2025)
Sandler’s talent reaches beyond comedy as he’s also found critical acclaim for his dramatic roles. Here are some of those projects:
- “Punch-Drunk Love” (2002)
- “Reign Over Me” (2007)
- “The Meyerowitz Stories” (2017)
- “Uncut Gems” (2019)
- “Hustle” (2022)
“Hustle” Credit: Scott Yamano/Netflix
Roger Mussenden has cast a great many titles in Sandler’s catalog, including “The Wedding Singer,” “The Waterboy,” “Mr. Deeds,” “50 First Dates,” “Grown Ups,” and “Just Go With It.”
Sandler has worked with other Hollywood heavy-hitters, as well, including Sarah Halley Finn and Randi Hiller, who cast “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan,” and Angela Demo and Barbara J. McCarthy, who worked on multiple films, including “Pixels” and “Blended.”
As Hiller told us, “I want casting to have a less negative connotation. Actors need to know that somebody wants them to get the job. We are not the enemy. In fact, we’re the converse of that.” For Finn, “finding interesting, fantastic actors” that thrill the team because “they’re so brilliant, fresh, and exciting” remains her favorite part of the gig. And as Hiller noted, “When I’ve believed in somebody for so long and I finally see them get the break they deserve—whether I’ve cast them or someone else has and I see them working—it’s great to see a good actor get a good job.”
Similarly, Demo told us that she loves when she’s able to find just the right person for a role. “My favorite kind of casting is out of the box—someone that you’re not expecting,” she shared. “I love to cast real-looking, accessible people. When someone’s watching a film, I want them to feel like they’re watching a real person’s life. I don’t want them to think they’re watching actors. It’s a little bit like a painting—you have different elements. Until you have one cast member, you can’t build to the next one.”
“Murder Mystery 2” Credit: Scott Yamano/Netflix
With dozens of movies in his catalog, there’s no singular approach to the casting process for a Sandler project. When it came to casting “Uncut Gems,” however, one of Sandler’s rare dramatic roles, Benny and Josh Safdie knew the comedian would be the perfect person to bring this multidimensional character to life. “Howard is somebody who does some bad things, but we knew he had to be lovable, that you had to root for him,” Benny Safdie told us. “From the beginning, we always wanted Sandler, and when we asked for him, it was after our first movie. Of course, we weren’t going to get to him. We were nobodies. So, we made movies. We eventually got to the point where he saw ‘Good Time’ and loved it, and then it was like, ‘Let’s do this.’ ”
Beyond roles offered to established stars, “Uncut Gems” CD Jennifer Venditti took to street casting to find people who could bring a certain authenticity to the NYC in which the story was set. She told us, “When we’re street scouting, we’re looking for someone who has a cinematic quality; you want to look at them, and after you talk to them, there’s something they give off that this character would have. You see them being able to bring that to fruition in a scene. We’re not looking for someone to be something other than who they are. We’re looking to bring out what we see in them. The first thing that attracts me to them is the visual. We might find a lot of amazing character-looking people, but they can’t bring the performance. We have to see how they talk, if they’re comfortable with themselves, and how they tell stories. You still never know until you get them in the room.”
And to ensure the movie maintained its genuine NYC vibe, the Safdie brothers advised actors to become their characters and take them back out onto the street. “The best practice for an actor to create any character is just go into the public and be that character,” Josh Safdie said. “Maybe do a little costume design, go out, and be them, because the stakes of real life are bigger and better and harsher than any on set. If someone thinks you are faking a personality, the failure isn’t a bad review, the failure is getting punched in the face.”
“Uncut Gems” Credit: Julieta Cervantes
Though “Happy Gilmore 2” wrapped in November, the film had issued a casting call via Backstage, seeking a white male with dark hair as a photo double. NorthJersey.com also shared a call for extras from Grant Wilfley Casting Inc., as the movie filmed all over the state and needed people to portray partygoers. The talent agency held an open casting event in August, ahead of filming, in Morristown, New Jersey, which drew approximately 12,000 hopefuls looking for a role as an extra.
We suggest staying up-to-date on what might be filming in your area, as casting teams often seek out locals to do background work. We also recommend bookmarking our main casting page, which updates regularly with the latest opportunities available.
“Hubie Halloween” Credit: Scott Yamano/NETFLIX
Perfect your headshot. While Finn notes having “a good résumé and great training” are important tools for any actor to have in their arsenal, an exceptional headshot should not be overlooked: “Your headshot needs to capture your personality—an essence of who you are, your attitude. It should have a point of view.”
“And no retouching,” Hiller added. “You could retouch yourself out of a job because you don’t look like a real person. Why waste your time trying to look like a 22-year-old in your picture when you’re going to come in the room and compete with 22-year-olds and not get the job because you’re 35?”
Become your character. Whether you’re preparing for an audition or you’ve landed your dream role, Drew Barrymore—Sandler’s leading lady in “The Wedding Singer,” “50 First Dates,” and “Blended”—shares wisdom from the one and only Steven Spielberg. Having worked with the top director on “E.T.” at age 6, Barrymore told Us Weekly what he told her: “Don’t act your characters. Be your characters.”
She continued, “I don’t think I’m a good actor. I feel like it’s fake and yucky and it doesn’t ring true. But if you research and you study and make it personal, you just become that person, and it’s your truth and everything else around you falls away. Then you’re telling the truth, it’s not lying, it’s not fake…. Once I got older and kept continuing acting, I don’t know if I would have succeeded without that advice, because that’s the thing that saved me. I’m not an actor; I’m a pretender.”
Ignore others’ judgments. After nearly four decades in entertainment, Sandler now faces the challenge of welcoming his daughters to the industry—but his advice applies to actors at any stage. “I tell [my daughters] to make sure you feel good about what you do and how hard you worked, and you judge yourself,” he told People. “Don’t let too many people try to get in your head. If you feel like you gave it your all, that’s all you can ask.”
Of course, Sandler’s advice echoes that which his father once gave him. “I recall one time that something didn’t go right for me. I bombed onstage or didn’t get an audition,” he told AARP. “I was upset and probably embarrassed. And he said, ‘Adam, you can’t always be happy. People aren’t always going to like you. You’re going to fail.’ I said, ‘But I just want to be happy, man. I don’t want all that other crap.’ He said, ‘You won’t actually know you’re happy if you don’t feel that other stuff.’ ” And gauging by Brad Pitt’s favorite Sandler story, the comedian took those words to heart.
Find a community. When Jennifer Aniston—Sandler’s leading lady in “Just Go With It” and the “Murder Mystery” films—moved to Los Angeles, she became friends with women who were unlike her New York City circle. “When I landed in Los Angeles at 20 years old and I fell into those girls who are still sitting around [my dining room] table today, they were on a different path. I’d never had a circle of women who got together and talked forever,” she told us. “I was like, ‘God, these California people don’t shut up. They talk about their feelings and cry in front of each other.’ I said to myself, ‘Here I am, a girl who grew up in New York City, and now I find myself in Laurel Canyon, wearing a flowery dress and someone put a crystal around my neck and is burning sage around my head. I have landed on Mars.’ But I really think it was something that saved me.”
Aniston continued, “This is a really tough business that we’re in that is not always kind or inclusive or supportive. A lot of the time, it’s the opposite.” But with a community that supported her ambitions instead of sabotaging them, Aniston learned to enjoy the moment rather than developing an “attachment to a result.” She added, “I think that’s a real key to success in life, to not worry about the landing, but enjoy the experience.”