Adam Sandler goes from Sandman to Spaceman in a never-before-seen clip

Netflix’s new Adam Sandler movie is unique in the Sandman canon: despite sending the comedic actor into space to meet an oversized alien spider, most of its potentially corny laughs are exchanged for melancholic tears. Like it Solaris, The fountainAnd Advertisement Astra before that of director Johan Renck Spaceman is a meditative intragalactic drama centered around a heartfelt performance by Sandler. It’s not the first film to feature the kind of visual effects that require an actor’s unbridled imagination, but filming Spaceman was a test that took him outside his comfort zone.

“In Jac & JillMy twin sister was a tennis ball,” Sandler joked to Polygon earlier this month. “I’ve had moments (with visual effects), but not a full-length movie, and not a movie where I was on the phone, and not a movie where I cried. I’ve never cried in front of a tennis ball. I mean, one time at the Jewish Community Center when we lost the game. But that was when I was seven. Long ago.”

Adapted from Jaroslav Kalfař’s 2017 novel Astronaut from BohemiaRenck’s film stars Sandler as Jakub, a Czech astronaut who is eight months into his solo journey to Jupiter. As if isolation wasn’t enough, his wife no longer talks to him at home. Luckily, a talking spider (voiced by Paul Dano) has appeared aboard the ship.

Unlike its dramatic twists Stupid-drunk love And Uncut gemstones, Spaceman requires Sandler to dig deep while running around in zero gravity, an effect achieved with an intricate system of wires and mechanical arm rigs. It’s not a surprising method, but it does seem like an absolute pain in the ass – a form of movie magic I can never get enough of. This exclusive look at the making of Spaceman gives you a glimpse into how Sandler made it all work, from crying into tennis balls to the more elaborate choreography required to navigate his claustrophobic set.

Spaceman is currently streaming on Netflix.