Adam Sandler recently got his best-reviewed movie yet with Netflix’s You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, which is a coming-of-age story about young girlhood. Sandler stars alongside his daughters, Summer and Sadie Sandler, who take center stage in the comedy film. At this point, the SNL alum is a movie vet, starring in dozens of comedy movies through his production company Happy Madison. According to the director of his latest film, she learned a lot from the comedian, and one piece of wisdom really stuck with her.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, director Sammi Cohen opened up about working on the middle school-centric teen comedy and collaborating with comedy legend Adam Sandler. As a Netflix movie pro, he passed on great advice to the filmmaker while shooting You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah that sweetly communicated the actor’s moviemaking philosophy. Cohen revealed:
I’ve learned a ton from Adam — more than I could ever put into words — but the biggest thing is, success is not just making movies. Success is making movies with people you love, and it’s a really different experience, and it really just lends itself to the making of better movies.
This certainly has reigned true for the Uncut Gems star, who has always put his friends at the center of his movies. He is famous for casting the people he loves most in movies, like frequent collaborators Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore and David Spade. He has also cast his family members in movies, as his wife Jackie Sandler frequently appears in movies starring the Hustle actor. He has now taken the family-centric nature of moviemaking to the next level by casting his real-life children in the latest Netflix film.
This philosophy has also extended to the locations Sandler movies are set in. The Punch, Drunk, Love star frequently centers his movies in tropical locations in order to make the filming experience like a family vacation, as he often takes his family with him when shooting remotely. The practice has become somewhat of a trope, but the purpose is clearly to make the production process as special as possible for his family, and clearly he enjoys what he does. Sandler has spoken out about criticisms over the quality of his movies, but has always maintained that having a good time making films is his ultimate goal, which is truly admirable.
This seemingly was an incredibly memorable piece of advice from the comedy star, and maybe this practice will influence the kinds of projects Cohen takes in the future. The director also spoke about how her connection to her Jewish heritage was a factor in why she decided to join the project, so personal stories are seemingly already important to her. She seemingly had a great time working with the Sandler family on the 2023 film, so hopefully we’ll see her reunite with the actors in the future. I look forward to seeing what she does next.
Fans can check out Adam Sandler and the rest of his tight-knit family in You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, which is currently available with a Netflix subscription. You can also check out Sammi Cohen’s previous coming-of-age flick, Crush, which is streaming now for Hulu subscribers.