10 Actors Who Improved At Something They Were Terrible At
3. Adam Sandler - Balancing His Career
Sometimes an actor's weakness lies not in their inability to turn down a role or their pickiness, but their difficulty in finding a balance between blatant paycheck parts and more for-the-art dramatic fare.
Adam Sandler is surely the poster child for this - he's of course beloved by mainstream audiences for his mega-successful studio comedies, yet by the time he began appearing in bottom-rung fare like Jack and Jill, fans lamented that his genuine acting chops were being left dormant.
After all, Sandler confirmed himself to be a richly compelling dramatic performer in the likes of Punch-Drunk Love, Spanglish, Reign Over Me, and Funny People, but by the start of the 2010s, Sandler was firmly in no-effort paycheck mode.
To be fair, Sandler rode the gravy train and took many of his actor friends along for the ride, and let's be honest, who among us wouldn't accept gigs where we got paid to goof off with our pals in far-flung locations?
Even so, throughout most of the 2010s Sandler really doubled down on the wretched comedies, especially after signing a lucrative deal with Netflix which meant he didn't even need to worry about box office performance anymore.
Yet in recent years Sandler seems to have found a more comfortable balance of movies that keep the lights on and those that fulfill him creatively.
In 2019 he earned the best reviews of his career for his performance in Uncut Gems, and has since found himself alternating between more broad comedy vehicles - like Hubie Halloween and Murder Mystery - and films that will stretch him as an actor, such as Hustle and the upcoming Spaceman.
Moderation is the key to a happy and healthy life, and Sandler finally seems to have ended up in a place where he can please both casual audiences and those who crave more from him.