Adam Sandler is taking on a rare dramatic role in his new film, Spaceman, which had co-star Carey Mulligan a little worried going into production.
In the film, from Chernobyl director Johan Renck, Sandler plays the titular spaceman, astronaut Jakub Procházka, and Mulligan plays his pregnant wife back on Earth, Lenka. The tension in the couple’s on-screen relationship is palpable, even as far apart as they are, and Mulligan admitted to ET’s Cassie DiLaura that she worried the intense role might forever taint some of her favorite Sandler films.
“[I remember thinking] if he’s not nice, it’ll be so sad,” she recalled.
Much to Mulligan’s relief, she said, Sandler was “just the best.” She named The Wedding Singer as her favorite Sandler flick, prompting some classic ribs from her hilarious co-star.
“That is ’cause she liked my hair,” he teased. “It was the wig.”
“It was largely the hair,” Mulligan shot back, also noting that another favorite is one of Sandler’s other rare dramas, 2002’s Punch Drunk Love from director Paul Thomas Anderson.
Both Sandler and Mulligan share that they were inspired to take on their Spacemanroles after admiring Renck’s work on Chernobyl, though Sandler admitted that the role was intense for him both physically and emotionally.
“It was definitely not something I’m like, [doing] everyday of my life. [To be] that concentrated and down — and I had to be down so much,” he said of the somber material.
As for the physicality of portraying an astronaut in zero gravity, the 57-year-old actor ended up having a hip replaced following the filming of the sci-fi drama.
“I had a bad hip the whole time,” he said of being in pain while harnessed up for the space scenes. “I think if I was — I don’t know how much younger, but younger, I would have been better off. The body was aching, I was in positions I’m not meant to be.”
The film also focuses on the sacrifices that people have to make in their lives in order to pursue their careers or passions.
Mulligan, who recently welcomed her third child with husband Marcus Mumford, said that finding the balance as a parent and working actor is “always a challenge,” noting that something as simple as joining a book club can be complicated by the travel and irregular hours required to make and promote a film.
“Maybe at some point I’ll get a job and then I won’t be in the book club and then…I would have to leave the WhatsApp group,” she mused with a laugh.
For Sandler — who shares daughters Sadie, 17 and Sunny, 15 with his wife of 20 years, Jackie — the comedian has made a point to have his family on set whenever possible — even occasionally casting his daughters alongside him.
“Ultimately, you can’t get it perfect every time,” he admitted. “But then you see each other, and life’s good.”
Spaceman is streaming now on Netflix.
