Adam Sandler opens about 'Jay Kelly' role alongside George Clooney

Adam Sandler has been opening about his role in Jay Kelly made him more appreciative of the people who keep him grounded.

In the film, Sandler portrays Ron Sukenick, the loyal manager and longtime friend of George Clooney's title character, Jay Kelly. 

While Jay struggles with an existential crisis after decades as a Hollywood icon, Ron stands by him as a source of perspective and stability.

Speaking to Us Weekly at the film's AFI Fest premiere in New York City, Sandler revealed that the story resonated deeply with his own experiences.

“The most important line to me in the movie, I say to George [Clooney’s] character, ‘Jay, you’re Jay Kelly, but I’m Jay Kelly too,’” he shared. 

“I know the people who work with me feel the same. It’s like, what I’m going after, they’re helping me go after, and they’re trying to block anything that’s getting in the way of that and give ideas to help me do the best I can do.”

Sandler went on to share that joining the project felt almost destined as director Noah Baumbach, who wrote Jay Kelly, had envisioned Sandler for the role from the start.

“Noah called me like a year before I got the script,” Sandler recalled. 

“He said he’s had an idea and he’s going to write it and I’m in it. And then I got to read the script, get affected by it emotionally and say, ‘Thanks for doing all the work, and now I got to make sure I don’t let you down.’”