In a 1994 interview, republished in 2020 by Interview Magazine, Adam Sandler sat down with fellow actor Ben Stiller. He said he wouldn't have leaped into the world of show business had it not been for his brother giving him the push he needed. "My brother told me to do it, so I did it." Sandler continued, "If he hadn't said to do it, I wouldn't have thought it was a normal thing to do. I would have said, 'Mom and Dad are going to get mad at me.' But because he told me to do it, and I knew that my parents respected his brain, I was like, 'He said to do it, so it must be okay.'"
Thankfully, this major family influence gave Sandler the courage to pursue his career in acting. He even had to fight to work through his stage fright to climb to the top. He did this through his guitar, as he details in an interview with "60 Minutes" published by CBS. "I was so nervous every time. Then I'd get up there, and I wouldn't remember what I was supposed to say and go blank. And you have the guitar in your hands, and that way, I was at least doing something." This creative approach to overcoming fear led to some of his most well-loved performances. Fans of Sandler can be forever grateful to his brother for giving him the confidence to pursue comedy, as there are things that happen in every Sandler movie that audiences will no doubt continue to love for years to come.
