Ben Stiller has revealed that he is often mistaken in public for his friend and fellow actor, Adam Sandler, who also gets mistaken for Stiller.
The 58-year-old, Meet the Parents star and Severance director, who recently said that his controversial 2008 comedy, Tropic Thunder, wouldn’t get made today, made the revelation while chatting to Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show.
On Wednesday’s edition of the talk show, Stiller said that he and Sandler have been friends for “30 years or something now,” but fans still confuse them, despite them not looking remotely alike.
When speaking about his role in the upcoming Happy Gilmore sequel, Stiller said: “People always will yell out to me or to him, and he’ll text me and he’ll say, like, ‘I was in Italy and someone said, ‘Ben Stiller, I love you!’ Or someone will say, like, ‘Oh man, Click changed my life’ to me.”
He added: “And then I’ll say, ‘No, I’m not Adam Sandler. I’m Ben Stiller.’ And then they say, ‘Who?’”
Stiller and Sandler have appeared in a handful of movies together including the aforementioned cult comedy Happy Gilmore. Most recently, Stiller had a part in Sandler’s 2020 Netflix comedy Hubie Halloween. Before that they both had prominent roles alongside Dustin Hoffman in Noah Baumbach’s 2017 drama The Meyerowitz Stories.
In September, Sandler revealed that Netflix is working on a sequel to Happy Gilmore. Netflix confirmed that Kyle Newachek, who directed Sandler in Murder Mystery, will oversee the film that’s been written by Sandler and Tim Herlihy. Dennis Dugan directed the original.
“Happy Gilmore 2 is officially in production,” Netflix’s official social media accounts shared, showing a first glimpse of Sandler’s costume from the film. Sandler himself shared the post on Instagram, writing: “It ain’t over. The way I see it… we’ve only just begun.”
The film is also set to feature NFL star Travis Kelce, 34, who has risen to global stardom due to his high-profile relationship with Taylor Swift.
Sandler confirmed to Fallon earlier this year that the Kansas City Chiefs player had reached out to him about appearing in the film and that they have a “nice something” for him.
Sandler added that the footballer is a “very nice guy,” saying: “You guys would love him in real life. What a big, handsome guy. He’s a stud and he’s so funny.”
