Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler are happy to be back together, on screen.
Credit: Getty Images
Now that they’re on their third romantic comedy together, Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore are obviously big fans of each other — though Sandler says that until their latest, “Blended,” it was all an act. “I love Drew. I’ve known her a long time. In all three movies, we have the pleasure of falling in love. The first two I faked it. But this one I really did,” he jokes about his “The Wedding Singer” and “50 First Dates” co-star, to which she responds, “You fake it good.”
The secret to their long-standing partnership? Timing and patience, according to Barrymore. “Every eight years, I call [Sandler] up and I say, ‘We need to meet for lunch,'” she explains. “And then I say, ‘It’s time.'” And this time, with “Blended,” they take on a rather unique set of dating circumstances: a widower and a divorcee, each with multiple kids at home, who initially meet on a disastrous blind date and then end up accidentally sharing a family vacation to Africa, where being forced to spend time with each other gives them a chance to reconsider each other’s faults.
The third film for these cute kids is the African vacation picture “Blended.”
Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
For their third go round together, Sandler and Barrymore find themselves playing parents, which might have as much to do with their age as it does with the fact that both stars now have kids at home. “I am now a mom. I’m going to be there for my kids. Moms are my Achilles’ heel, emotionally speaking,” Barrymore explains. “What really got me about reading the script and what gets me when I watch the movie is I want funny because I need to laugh, but I need heart and I need emotion. I want to laugh and I want to cry, which is like they’re twins, laughter and crying. When these two people quietly talk about how they just want to be good parents and what is going to make their kids happy and how are they going to function in this world, that just gets me. It made me cry in the script and it makes me cry in the movie.”
And as far as how she’s doing as a new mom? Her co-star gives her high marks. “You’re all about your kids,” he says, smiling. Not to be outdone in the mutual appreciation society, Barrymore has some nice things to say about Sandler’s parenting skills as well: “You’re a good, patient, loving, awesome parent much like your character in the movies. That’s always what I’ve taken away from it,” she tells him. Get a room, you two.
Follow Ned Ehrbar on Twitter @nedrick
