Adam Sandler Talks About His Emotional ‘SNL’ Tribute to Chris Farley
Written by SOURCE on May 6, 2019
If you tuned into this past week’s Saturday Night Live, you saw a very nice moment where host Adam Sandler paid tribute to his late castmate and friend, the great Chris Farley, through a song that featured several of Farley’s memorable characters and sketches. For those wishing to see the moment for either the first time, or again, here it is courtesy of SNL’s YouTube channel:
Less than 48 hours later, Sandler talked to Dan Patrick about the feelings that he felt throughout the week leading up to the song’s performance. Not surprisingly, the entire ordeal, which also included Sandler’s first return as a host since leaving the show in the mid-’90s, was an emotional one.
“It was scheduled, but it kind of got sprung on me quick,” Sandler said of the performance, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “I had to mentally get ready because when I was singing the Farley song in the studio in rehearsals, I kept getting really upset because I loved just being in 8H — the studio. It was making me upset.”
In addition to talking about Farley’s performances on the show, Sandler’s song also had lyrics about his own kids seeing clips of Farley.
“I couldn’t really sing it out loud. I was kind of mumbling because his image and stuff was making me off and upset,” Sandler said of the rehearsals. “I was like, ‘Oh man, I got to prepare for this — for the show — to try not to break down.'” He went on to say that he didn’t want to let any of the current cast down by becoming a wreck when the show went to air. “They were probably thinking, ‘Oh man, you gotta stay calm. Stay calm. Nobody wants to see you cry like an idiot the whole song, you know?'” he said.
Sandler ended up telling Patrick that he got through the number by using his family to distract him prior to going live. He said he pointed out his wife and kids to the audience, which calmed him down. “Then I got on there and strummed the guitar and was just trying to calm down and then they pointed to me […] Okay, let’s do this. Just stay steady,'” he said. “It was really cool.”
Should you be interested, you can check out the entire interview in the embed up top.
Thanks @nbcsnl for everything. I had the time of my life and I miss you all already. Have a great show with Emma this week and I’ll be thinking of you. Love, Adam
— Adam Sandler (@AdamSandler) May 6, 2019
