Adam Sandler built his career making a series of very silly comedies, but then he surprised a lot of people when he began to shift into more dramatic productions. It’s been a lucrative move, as Sandler has received a lot of praise for these kinds of performances. Apparently he can thank Tom Cruise for all of that.
Adam Sandler's first dramatic role was in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch Drunk Love. It’s a role that was apparently offered to Sandler in a very odd way, as he revealed during the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (via People). He was on the set making one of those silly comedies when he got an unexpected call from an unexpected movie star. Sandler explained…
I don't remember a hundred percent, but I was shooting [2000’s] Little Nicky … I was on the set. I got a phone call. I knew Tom Cruise a little bit. I get a phone call. My friend who's here tonight, Jonathan, I think comes up to me and says, ‘Tom Cruise is on the phone for you.’ I go, ‘Oh, OK.’ And I go, ‘Hello?’ And [Cruise] goes, ‘Adam, I'm with my friend right now. He's a really wonderful director.’
The same year Little Nicky hit theaters, Tom Cruise received an Oscar nomination for Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia. It seems this connection led to Tom Cruise playing a bit of Hollywood matchmaker, connecting the director with an actor with whom he already wanted to work. Sandler continued…
[Cruise] goes, ‘He wrote a movie for you. He wants to talk to you.’ I go, ‘OK … now?’ And he goes, ‘Yeah.’ I said, ‘I'm shooting a movie right now.’ He goes, ‘He'll be quick.' So I go, ‘OK.’ And then he gets on the phone, and then it's Paul and he goes, ‘Hi. I just want to tell you I really like your movies.’ I said, ‘Oh man, that's cool. Thank you.’ And he goes, ‘And I wrote you a movie. I think it's really good. Would you mind if I brought it over to you so you could read it?’ And I said, 'Yeah, man, anytime.' And that was that.
Sandler says he then went to see Magnolia, more than a little surprised that Paul Thomas Anderson wanted him in a film. Punch Drunk Love isn’t necessarily remembered as well as other films from the director, but it's arguably one of Anderson’s best films. It is also remembered as the movie that showed Hollywood that Adam Sandler could do dramatic roles.
Today, Sandler splits his time between different films. 2025 gave us both Happy Gilmore 2 and Jay Kelly, revealing just what sort of range Sandler really has. Had Paul Thomas Anderson not taken the chance of Sandler, we might have never seen him give incredible performances like Howard Ratner in Uncut Gems. I guess we have to thank Tom Cruise for all of it.
