Adam Sandler, best known for broad comedies like “Happy Gilmore,” “Billy Madison” and “Big Daddy,” relished in the opportunity to play against type and take on a dramatic role in Noah Baumbach’s dramedy “Jay Kelly.” In the film, Sandler portrays a straight-shooting manager to a spiraling movie star Jay Kelly (George Clooney).
“Being in this movie and not just trying to find jokes and laugh moments, that’s what’s amazing,” Sandler said during the official press conference for “Jay Kelly” at Venice Film Festival. “I’ve done two movies with Noah, and I could not be more proud to be in the feeling it gives you. He knows how to do everything, and then he finds places to make you laugh. All our characters give you a moment to laugh and feel pain. As an actor, when you read a script like this you say, ‘Holy shit, I cant believe I’m getting this gift.”
He and Laura Dern, who plays the publicist of Jay Kelly, joked that they have newfound appreciation for their handlers in Hollywood.
“I’ve always appreciated my manager, my agent, my publicist,” Sandler said. “I know how hard they work and how difficult it is to hear my ups and downs and to back me up, even when I could get loud at times. I was excited to play a man who is devoted; I admire everyone who does that.
Dern, who started acting as a young child and has been a fixture in Hollywood for more than 50 years, called her own publicist was “another mother figure” as she grew up in the public eye.
“I’m playing the role of the people who have helped raise me in a professional life. My publicist had to guide me on how to have self-respect or guide myself or have boyfriends,” she said. “I couldn’t have more respect, especially when they’re in the room when I’m answering questions…”
Later during the press conference, Dern took a moment to praise Clooney, who wasn’t at Thursday’s press conference because he’s been diagnosed with a sinus infection. Instead, Baumbach and Clooney’s co-stars Sandler, Dern, Billy Crudup and Emily Mortimer spoke on behalf of the film.
“Our remarkable George Clooney, who is so devastated that he can’t be here, gave us such a gift in this amazing, raw, true performance,” Dern said.
In the movie, which Baumbach and “The Newsroom” star Emily Mortimer wrote together, Clooney plays a spiraling movie star, Jay Kelly, who embarks on a whirlwind journey through Europe with his devoted manager (Sandler). Along the way, they’ll confront the choices they’ve made, the relationships with their loved ones and the legacies they’ll leave behind.
“Jay Kelly” will have its world premiere in competition this evening at Venice Film Festival. It’s produced by Amy Pascal and David Heyman along with Baumbach. It’s one of three movies that Netflix is presenting in competition on the Lido this year, alongside Kathryn Bigelow’s “A House of Dynamite” and Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein.”
Clooney has a long history with Venice and to a larger extent with Italy, since he owns a house in Lake Como. He first attended Venice Film Festival 27 years ago with Steven Soderbergh’s”Out of Sight” and was back on the Lido with his 2005 movie “Good Night, and Good Luck” which earned him his first best director Oscar nomination. He was also at Venice last year with “Wolfs,” a crime caper in which he co-starred alongside Brad Pitt.
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