![\"Adam](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Adam-Sandler-Daniel-Day-Lewis-Split-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ YouTube Stills)<\/p>\n
Sat 30 August 2025 19:45, UK <\/p>\n
I\u2019d wager there aren\u2019t many Hollywood actors who have received a personal phone call from the reclusive Daniel Day-Lewis<\/a> telling them how much he loved their latest performance. Brilliantly, though, one star who can lay claim to that very phone call is Happy Gilmore himself, Adam Sandler.<\/p>\n Admittedly, the idea of Day-Lewis, the only man in history to win three \u2018Best Actor\u2019 Oscars, and Sandler, the only man in history to wear basketball shorts to every glitzy industry event on the Hollywood calendar, being mentioned in the same breath sounds absurd. Their filmographies couldn\u2019t be more different, and their approaches to their craft are poles apart. In fact, I\u2019d be willing to bet that if you asked Sandler about \u2018craft\u2019, he\u2019d adopt a silly voice and make a fart joke.<\/p>\n Having said that, though, it is a matter of public record that Day-Lewis, the platonic ideal of a method actor, is a big fan of at least two Sandler pictures. The first one is Punch-Drunk Love, a quirky dramedy made by director Paul Thomas Anderson five years before he first collaborated with Day-Lewis on There Will Be Blood. <\/p>\n Perhaps the Gangs of New York star decided to dive into Anderson\u2019s back catalogue when he signed up to play the terrifying Daniel Plainview, or maybe he\u2019s always been a Sandler guy. Either way, he told Movies, \u201cOf all his films, I feel it is his [PTA] most personal. What a great film. And Adam Sandler\u2019s performance is one of the best I\u2019ve seen in years.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n That was high praise from a man often considered the greatest actor of his generation, especially considering Punch-Drunk Love was the first time Sandler attempted anything even approaching \u2018serious\u2019 acting. However, Anderson saw something in the star of mainstream laughers like Billy Madison and The Wedding Singer that he felt could be applied to drama, and even though Sandler was intimidated at the prospect of anchoring such a film, he trusted the director\u2019s judgment. <\/p>\n Anderson\u2019s trust was obviously vindicated, and after delivering his greatest performance up to that point, critics expected more dramatic work would soon follow from Sandler. Over the next two decades, though, the \u2018Sandman\u2019 dabbled with drama on occasion (Reign Over Me, Spanglish, The Cobbler, The Meyerowitz Stories), but the vast majority of his career was still devoted to making the critically reviled comedies<\/a> with pals like Kevin James, Rob Schneider, and Chris Rock that audiences love or love to hate so much. <\/p>\n Then, in 2019, Sandler made a scintillating return to dramatic filmmaking in Uncut Gems, a breathless, frantic, heart-pounding thriller from the Safdie brothers. Cast as a jeweller in New York\u2019s Diamond District beset on all sides by the criminals he owes gambling money to, Sandler was a taut revelation in this onslaught that had viewers on the edge until credits rolled. <\/p>\n Oscar buzz is a troubling thing, in general. More often than not, it is generated by the studios that made the movie as they add fuel and cash to the embers of a picture to try and capture a few more dollars at the box office. For Sandler, the hubbub seemed to be more authentic. The entire world had seemingly been waiting for Sandler to shake off the pink and fluffy shackles of comedy and embrace acting\u2019s serious side. Now he was fulfilling those fantasies and enthralling everyone. Everyone, that is, including a certain Mr Day-Lewis.<\/p>\n During an appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast, Sandler revealed that he was shopping for basketball gear (how fitting) in the wake of Uncut Gems\u2019 release, when he received a phone call. He answered it and was shocked to discover it was Day-Lewis on the other end. \u201cHe starts talking about grabbing the seat in front of him,\u201d the almost-pathologically humble star revealed with barely restrained shock, \u201cI couldn\u2019t let go of the seat in front of me.\u201d <\/p>\n![\"Adam](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Adam-Sandler-Punch-Drunk-Love-Paul-Thomas-Anderson-Far-Out-Magazine-1024x695.jpg\")
<\/a>(Credit: Press \/ Columbia)<\/p>\n