Ask anyone to name the most famous comedy actors working today, and I don’t think it would take very long for Adam Sandler’s name to come up. From his Airheads and Saturday Night Live years up through his current Netflix-tethered partnership, the dude has been a household name for over 30 years, and is currently garnering some major Oscar vibes for his excellent work opposite George Clooney in Jay Kelly (currently streaming via Netflix subscription). He’s pretty much living proof that dreams can be achieved.
Because for the Brooklyn-born comedian, hitting a certain level of fame is what it was all about, and Eddie Murphy’s meteoric rise to the top is what Sandler strived for early in his own career. Sure, being funny helped, but as he put it in an interview alongside Clooney for The Sunday Times, it was all about getting recognized. In his words:
