“WhenBilly Madisoncame out, me and my friend who wrote it [Tim Herlihy], we were just like, ‘Oh yeah, they’re going to write about this in New York!’ " said Sandler, now 56, during a recent conversation withNetflixsurrounding his basketball dramaHustle, perEntertainment Weekly.“We grew up reading the papers, we were going to NYU.”
But after he and Herlihy, 56, read the first review they saw, “We were like, ‘Oh my god, what happened? They hate us,’ " Sandler said.
Initially, the two thought it was just bad luckto see a negative critiquefirst.
“But then 90% of the papers are going ‘This is garbage,’ " he said, admitting the negative feedback “stung,” mostly due to the fact that “you know your grandmother’s reading it.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.
Billy Madison(1995).Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock
The film, released in 1995, follows Sandler’s titular Billy, a spoiled slacker who agrees to return to school and repeat all 12 grades in exchange for becoming manager of his father’s company over the slimy company executive vice president, Eric Gordon (Bradley Whitford).
Billy Madisoncurrently holds a41% rating on Rotten Tomatoesbut boasts a higher Audience Score of 79%. The comedy was moderately successful in theaters, raking in more than$25 million at the box officeworldwide on a $10 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo.
Aside from Sandler and Whitford, 63,Billy Madisonalso starred Darren McGavin, Bridgette Wilson-Sampras, Larry Hankin,Chris FarleyandNorm MacDonald.
“When I was 17 and I got into [the industry], I didn’t think about critics,” Sandler said in his conversation with Netflix, perEW. “I didn’t even realize that stuff was coming. I just thought you made movies, people go see it.”
He also said that he and Herlihy thought of the reviews, “Maybe we shouldn’t read this stuff because it’s so harsh.”
RELATED VIDEO: Adam Sandler’s Daughters Shine inHubie Halloweenbut Want to “Do Their Own Thing One Day”
Sandler added that he and his writing partner “would still kinda hear about it” during the time they made their next few comedies that would — likeBilly Madison— go on become cult classics, includingHappy Gilmore(1996),The Waterboy(1998),The Wedding Singer(1998) andBig Daddy(1999).
“People would call us up [like], ‘Can you believe they said this about you?’ I’d be like, ‘I didn’t read it, man,’ " said the actor and comedian.
But “everything has turned out excellent” for theSaturday Night Livealum, whose decades-spanning career has included comedy, heartstring-tugging roles and more.
“And it’s okay, I get it,” Sandler added. “Criticsaren’t going to connectwith certain stuff and what they want to see. I understand that it’s not clicking with them.”
source: people.com
