No compensation was received for this post. Courtney attended a screening and press junket, which facilitated the writing of this post.
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. These are all couples America loves to watch fall in love again and again on the silver screen. We can also add Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore to that list as the dynamic duo returns with the family-themed romcom BLENDED. In the film, after a disastrous blind date, Jim (Sandler) and Lauren (Barrymore) are once again thrown together – this time at a posh African safari resort with their kids in tow to witness the pair’s I love you/ I hate you shenanigans. After successful hits like THE WEDDING SINGER and 50 FIRST DATES, I think these two are a match made in cinematic heaven.
Since I had so much fun at the film’s recent press day in Los Angeles (which included a hair braiding bar and makeup stations furnished with products from Barrymore’s Flower cosmetics line), I wanted to share with you a few fun facts I learned about the film from Barrymore, Sandler, and co-star Wendi McLendon-Covey.
6. Barrymore sings ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ in BLENDED. She told us, “When he sent me that, I was like, ‘Adam, really?! The most beloved song on the planet. Fine, I’ll just read it at the table read, and I’ll do it.’ I thought that it was going to get cut, and that’s going to save us all from going down sinking ship style and then he kept it. I was really nervous about it.” Sandler added, “I know you were. That was the only time I’ve ever seen you think about something a lot.”
5. Dick’s Sporting Goods remained open to the public while Shaquille O’Neal was shooting his scenes. In the film, the basketball champ plays Jim’s co-worker confidant Doug. Sandler said, “There were, like, a thousand people walking around buying things, and they’re like, ‘Is that Shaq?!’ He’s just kind to everybody who came up to him and took pictures with them all. And he’s just a great man.”
4. There’s quite a few emotional sequences in BLENDED. Barrymore said of her director Frank Coraci (who directed the pair in THE WEDDING SINGER), “Frank’s not afraid of emotion. For being a really good comedy director, I feel like sometimes that emotion gets lost. And if you’re tuned into emotionality, sometimes you’re not as good with the funny. Frank is good with both. That takes a skill set to be able to balance those two things, and bring them together cohesively.”
3. Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore are occasionally called to approach scripts differently. While both actors have found great success in behind-the-scenes roles (Barrymore producing through her Flower Films banner and Sandler producing through his Happy Madison Productions), when a script is initially sent to them, they approach each project with a clear intent – either as a producer or an actor. Sandler said, “I usually go actors. Because I’m more excited about me – what do I get to do? But, then when I realize it’s written for a 25-year-old handsome guy, I go, ‘All right, let’s produce this thing.’” Barrymore added, “I think it depends. Sometimes when you’re given a script, you’re behind how it was even written in the first place. So, then you’re definitely thinking producer. ‘Oh gosh, we were in meetings for a year on this thing. How did it turn out?’ But, then if you’re given something by your agency as an actor, then I think you read it more like that.”
2. Wendi McLendon-Covey only improv’d two scenes. You would think since she’s playing Lauren’s best friend Jen in the film that all her hilarious scenes with Barrymore really lent themselves to some off-the-cuff riffing. However, McClendon-Covey says, “We didn’t do a lot. They did let us at times. There’s a scene where Drew and I are in the stands with the little league dads, and they’re being complete jack asses. Drew and I kind of kept going, and going, and going. We figured, well, they’d stop us when they’ve had enough. And then, they just didn’t stop us. We just kept going and going. And that was very therapeutic. When Adam and I were trading insults, we riff a little. When I was trying on the different outfits in the closet too. The script was pretty tight, it didn’t need a lot of embellishing really.”
1. There are two cameos from characters in Sandler and Barrymore’s canon. Sandler’s longtime producing partner Allen Covert told me in an exclusive, “It was Drew’s idea to get Alexis [Arquette] back. She said, ‘If Ten Second Tom is back, we gotta get Alexis!’”
BLENDED opens on May 23 and is rated PG-13. You can follow BLENDED on their respective social channels:
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Follow @BlendedMovie on Twitter #Blended
Release Date : May 23, 2014
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Courtney Howard is the Senior Editor/ LA Correspondent for VeryAware.com. She also is a contributing writer for ReelVixen.com, ThatsItMommy.com, and SassyMamaInLA.com. She resides in Southern California with her husband and perfect little dachshund.
Images: Warner Bros.
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