George Clooney and Adam Sandler tell us what it’s like to live with success, the subject of the film “Jay Kelly”

“The universal theme of this film is not about being a movie star,” Clooney said. – It’s practically about everyone who works and the sacrifices they make to achieve success.

• review: “Jay Kelly,” with George Clooney and Adam Sandler, is a fun romp that should please audiences
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When I met Clooney, Sandler and Baumbach last month, they each brought a unique perspective on fame and ambition.

Clooney was a television actor before ER catapulted him to international stardom and a successful film career, while Saturday Night Live helped establish Sandler as a comedic star in film and broadcast. Baumbach’s fame even grew exponentially after directing the Oscar-winning film “Marriage Story” and co-writing “Barbie” with his partner Greta Gerwig.

For all three of them, “This is something we started at some point, at a very young age, right?” Clooney said:

We had to have the audacity to believe that we could write something, produce it, and that people would care about it. It’s crazy to think it will work, and if it does, you are the luckiest person in the world.

Below, edited excerpts from our conversation.

What did you imagine fame would be like before you got it?

George Clooney: I saw it from my aunt’s point of view (Singer Rosemary Clooney). She was a Hollywood star in the 1950s, but then pop music changed and she lost everything. She did not cope well and wasted about 30 years on drugs and drink, and was extremely disgusted with life. So, I saw fame from a negative side. It’s a great lesson because you understand how little fame has to do with you and that there is no success without a great deal of failure. Adam, how many auditions did you do before you got the role?

Adam Sandler: countless. But it never bothered me. Because I was young and I was like, “Okay, keep going. Go, go, until it happens.”

Clooney: For most people, the first “no” is devastating. The difference between what we do for a living is that the product you’re selling is yourself, not a set of encyclopedias. So when they say, “No, thanks,” it’s personal. You have to have thick enough skin to say, “I’ll try again.”

Noah, did your experience with fame influence this film?

Noah Baumbach: I thought about this when I was writing the script, that a lot of my films are about people who are considered failures because, for them, not succeeding is equivalent to failure, which is not true. But defining yourself as successful does the same thing: it’s just another way of not seeing yourself as you really are. This is the case with Jay.

Adam, you were hired by “SNL” just two years out of college. What does early fame look like?

Sandler: It was everything I wanted. I joined MTV when I was 18 years old. And I started walking around New York and people were like, “What’s up, man!” They didn’t always know my name.

Clooney: When I moved to Los Angeles, my cousin Miguel was close friends with Sean Cassidy, who had just left “The Hardy Brothers.” He’d say, “Come on, guys, let’s go to the mall and get famous.” And you and everyone went… The audience cheered and screamed. I thought: “Oh my God, this is amazing!”

Sandler: I was looking for that when I was young. I remember telling my dad that someone recognized me, and my dad asked, “Did that make you feel good?” I answered: “Yes!”

What’s the downside to this?

Sandler: Sometimes you feel like you need to act a certain way in public because of the image people have of you. So, if I make a mistake, the person says, “What the hell happened? I didn’t think Adam would act like that.”

Do strangers often say: “Tell a joke, be funny”?

Clooney: Comedians aren’t known for being the happiest people when they’re not on stage.

Sandler:And the truth. There is no guarantee that you will see us at our best.

The film deals with how the life of a famous person can be somewhat limited. Some celebrities, like Jay, stop going out in public. But Adam, you seem to have figured out how to handle this.

Sandler: I like to expose myself. Sometimes it gets really stressful, but that’s my instinct.

Clooney: I’m not as good at exposing myself as you. I tend to think: “If I go out, I’ll spend another hour talking to people.” Paul Newman even mentioned this to me. When I met him, he was at Warner Bros. He’s filming “A Love Letter” and I was in “ER.” Newman was sitting there, so I stopped the golf cart and said, “Hey, I just wanted to say hello.” He had no idea who I was, but everyone who passed in the golf cart said, “Hey, George!” Then he said: “George, don’t let them lock you up in the house.” He was specifically referring to this tendency toward isolation to maintain privacy. At that point I was inclined to stay home, and hearing Newman say that made perfect sense.

We have seen actors become very wary of losing their place in the pecking order.

Baumbach: The film is also about time, and it was interesting to have an American movie star play someone his own age, because part of what we expect of them is that they never grow old.

Jay watches a tribute with excerpts from George’s films. George, what impression do you get from watching these videos?

Baumbach: His impression is in the film, because he is watching the recording for the first time.

Clooney: I didn’t know Noah was doing this, I was shocked. When I held Adam’s hand, it felt very real – we were kind of emotional. There’s that thing that makes you think, “I remember this was my big break, and it fell through, and it changed the course of my career.” All these things keep running through your head.

Baumbach:And you also see yourself getting older.