LOS ANGELES — Adam Sandler is flexing his dramatic muscles in a new Netflix film, as a lonely Czech astronaut on a solo mission.
“Spaceman” is mainly set in zero gravity, but it confronts an earthbound issue: marriage problems.
Sandler’s character Januk slips into depression as he travels farther away from his wife Lenka, played by Carey Mulligan. His long journey alone forces him to face the issues they dealt with before he left – as she simultaneously decides to leave the marriage back on earth.
Januk’s life changes when, suddenly, an arachnid-like creature appears on his spaceship and becomes a comforting voice of reason.
Entertainment reporter Kim Holcomb interviewed the stars in Los Angeles the morning after the SAG Awards, where Mulligan was nominated for her role in “Maestro.” (She's also nominated for an Academy Award.)
HOLCOMB: "I really am shocked that you're upright today, given you had another event last night celebrating your role in 'Maestro.'”
SANDLER: “Her role's incredible.”
HOLCOMB: “Unbelievable.”
SANDLER: “Watched it with my wife, we were in bed - Jackie could not stop talking about how awesome you are - that movie is tremendous."
HOLCOMB: "I would need a couple of days to recover from each event that you're going to. Do you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert?"
MULLIGAN: "I think I'm probably more of an introvert, but after a while you do know everyone, and you've probably known everyone for a while, so you walk into a room and you're like, 'Oh there's my friend, there's my friend.' So of course, it's a lot, and putting on the (dress) and wearing Spanx every day is a real fun thing. (laughter) But you do, you see your buddies, you see your mates, and that's nice. And then I do press with him and it's actually really fun."
HOLCOMB: "I've been fortunate to interview you both over the years and, without flattery, you have been two of the nicest people that I've ever interviewed so I was really excited that you would get to work together. Say something embarrassingly complimentary about the person next to you that you learned, working together.”
MULLIGAN: “Don't get us started…”
SANDLER: “Smart, cool, pleasant, amazing actress, great conversations.”
MULLIGAN: “Yeah - I'm usually kind of, I do the job and go home, have a bath and go to bed. In Prague, we hung out - every single night we went out, we all had dinner, we wandered around Prague for hours chatting."
HOLCOMB: "It struck me watching this film that your careers also lend themselves to terms of isolation when you're working. So I wonder, when you're on location, what is the snack that you need that tastes like home?”
SANDLER: “That's a good question. She likes schnitzel.”
MULLIGAN: (laughing) "I do like schnitzel.”
SANDLER: “Pretzels are good, pretzels are nice, they calm me down."
HOLCOMB: "What about an album you need when you're on location somewhere?”
MULLIGAN: “You always have music.”
SANDLER: “I was playing a lot of music, it's all over the place. I like The Beatles all of a sudden. I can't stop playing The Beatles again."
MULLIGAN: "I was running, I would run up and down the river, it was so amazing, and I was listening to music and I had become completely obsessed with Bo Burnham's ‘Inside.’”
SANDLER: “Oh I remember that!”
MULLIGAN: “Remember we were talking about Bo all the time? You obviously were buddies with him. But I was listening to ‘Inside,’ running around the river. Incredible.”
“Spaceman” debuts on Netflix March 1.
Travel and accommodations provided by Netflix.
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