Even with a 5 o’clock shadow and a blank stare–that can happen after a slew of interviews–Adam Sandler still had a new daddy glow about him when he recently faced even more questions about his new film, “Click.”
It’s difficult to imagine that Sandler, 39, is anyone’s father, what with his playful persona and youthful looks. And remember him in “Little Nicky”? But recently, the “Big Daddy” star became a real dad with the birth of his first child, daughter Sadie.
Even though she’s just under 2 months old, Sadie already has her daddy helpless. “The baby situation is fine,” Sandler said during the interviews in L.A. “I love that kid. Every day I get more and more excited, and I feel comfortable with her. I just want her to feel comfortable with me. I’m a little bit clutzy.”
Sandler appears more at ease when handling his two fictional children in “Click,” which opens Friday. In the comedy, he plays Michael Newman, an overworked architect who is married to Donna, played by the out-of-his-league Kate Beckinsale. Michael’s got time-management issues when it comes to his family, so when he acquires a universal remote that does more than change the TV channel, he takes advantage of it. Michael no longer has to stress about his grown-up responsibilities, because he can fast forward to avoid arguments or rewind to a good memory from his childhood.
The film also stars Christopher Walken, Henry Winkler and David Hasselhoff.
When asked what he’d use the magical remote for most often in real life, Sandler said the same thing his co-star Beckinsale said: “I could definitely use some more sleep.”
Sandler joked that he and his wife want at least 16 more kids, which should be best for Sadie. She might need a sibling’s help to help her with Dad’s attitude about dating. “Oh, that’s going to be ugly,” Sandler said.
Beckinsale thinks that Sandler will be the ultimate fun-time daddy.
“If I [were the mother of a] child actor, I would wish for it to be in an Adam Sandler movie,” the actress said. “Because he just comes in and makes them so comfortable and is so brilliant with them. … My daughter has decided that he’s a relative. He’s just generous and brilliant to work with.”
Although Sandler broke big in movies that appealed mostly to high school boys, he’s had success beyond “Billy Madison” and “Happy Gilmore.” He moved into romantic comedies such as “The Wedding Singer” and edgier films such as “Punch-Drunk Love” and soon, “Empty City.”
Sandler seems to do his best work in G-rated, family-friendly comedies such as “Big Daddy,” his biggest box-office hit, grossing more than $163 million. He also showed a paternal instinct in the film.
And now there’s “Click,” in which he learned a few things that he can use as Sadie’s dad: No more fast-forwarding through life.
“It’s an amazing thing that we get to do what we get to do, but you definitely are away from the family more than you’d like to be, and time keeps passing,” Sandler said. “… Looking back on the past 10 years of my life, I’ve been at work more than I’ve been at home. So, I connected with this movie, the message of this movie.”
“[After] I watched it on the playback the other day, I went home,” he said. “I was excited to get home and do the right thing and be with the family.”
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DMIKI@AOL.COM
