The Role: Sandler was originally pipped to play Michael Berkow, a pivotal role in Peter Berg's black comedy, the catalyst who kicks off the drama by having sex with a prostitute and accidentally killing her by slamming her head against a towel hook. This leads to the gang of men progressively turning on one another, with the Michael part being played superbly by Jeremy Piven. Sandler passed on the role to play Bobby Boucher in The Waterboy, and considering that the movie both grossed $185.9 million (more than eight-fold its budget) compared to Very Bad Things' commercial failure (not even grossing one-third of its $30 million price tag), it seems like the actor made the right choice. Why He Would've Ruined The Movie: Very Bad Things asked its all-star cast, including Christian Slater and Cameron Diaz, to go to some very dark places, and there's not a lot of confidence that Sandler, in 1998 no less, would've had the chops to convince as the guy who accidentally kills a hooker and starts going crazy. With only a few starring roles under his belt at the time, all of which were goofy comedies, it's just as well that the studio opted for Piven instead, because though he wasn't exactly a household name himself, he didn't bring with him the same creative baggage that Sandler did. If Sandler had taken the part and gone too loud with it, it would've sunk the entire dark tone the film was shooting for.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
