50 Firsts Dates | Page 3

is the greatest person in the world. I don’t think
chemistry is something you can fake - and if you have to, it’s a bummer. I think the
audience can smell it and sense it.”

According to the film’s executive producer Michael Ewing, who is partnered with Segal
in Callahan Films, “there truly is nobody better to work with than Adam. He’s a
wonderful actor, a brilliant comedian and a terrific producer and businessman. He’s so
smart about story and comedy. When you’re working day-to-day with somebody like
that, you never know what might happen.”

6Rob Schneider, a long-time collaborator of Sandler’s, plays Henry’s best friend Ula, a
role specifically written for him. Ula has tested his theory about sharks several times -
that they’re like dogs and will bite only if you tease them. Unhappily for Ula, the theory
doesn’t hold water.

Schneider jumped at the chance to play Ula because, “Adam is the absolute best to
work with,” he relates. “He creates a real playground, but in a good and structured way.
Because we’ve been working together for something like 16 years, we have a
shorthand. I’ll think of something, then he’ll think of something else and we’ll bounce it
back and forth.”

As for working with Peter Segal, Schneider says, “Pete’s a director who’s prepared and
has a good eye for comedy and visuals. I’ve learned a lot working with him.”

Sean Astin has the role of Lucy’s steroid-popping, body builder brother Doug. It’s a
performance he’s taken to a degree no one anticipated. Says Segal, “Sean is such a
good sport. We’ve really given it to him in this movie. He’s playing a small man with an
inferiority complex who compensates by lifting weights more than he should. And he’s
always trying to pick fights with Henry, who occasionally has to put him in his place.”

“Doug is always working out and doing crunches,” says Barrymore. “He picks up
anything that comes to hand whether it’s a barbell or a fish and starts doing reps with it.
Sean has given him a crazy muscle-man fetish that’s a great source of comedy and
says so much about the character. You get hints of a character in the writing, but the
most exciting prospect is giving them the specific quirks and traits that define the
individual. Sean has taken Doug above and beyond the written word. He’s awesome
and incredibly funny, and at the same time, very touching.”

Astin remarks that finding the key to the character of Doug came through his
discussions with Segal. “Pete explained very clearly how he wanted the character to be,

7very sweet and loving toward his sister. At the same time he’s kind of dopey. All that
contributed to my preparation.”

Changing his body to meet the demands of a film role is not a new concept for Astin. “I
put on 10 to 15 pounds for Rudy. I took that off when I got married. Then I had to put on
35 to 40 pounds for The Lord of the Rings and then just as I was done taking it off, I got
this part and Adam and Peter asked if I could put on some weight. I said to my wife,
‘here we go again’ and headed back to the gym.”

Blake Clark plays Lucy’s father Marlin Whitmore, a fisherman who had to give up his
charter fishing business to care for his daughter. In addition to making his fourth
appearance in a Sandler movie, Clark had previously shot a television pilot with Segal.

Clark met Sandler when they both appeared in Shakes the Clown, a film about stand-up
comedy in which Clark wore a dress, a far cry from his role as Lucy’s tough-with-a-
heart-of-gold father.

“This role is a bit more dramatic than some of the things Blake has done in the past,”
allows Segal, “but there’s almost always a comedic moment that he knocks out of the
park.”

It is a testament to the connection to the character of Marlin that when Wing visited the
set and ran into Clark, "I instantly recognized him as if he had sprung from my
imagination. I had no idea who he was or what his name was, I just said, 'Oh my God,
you're Marlin, aren't you?' It was like talking to one of my characters."

His fellow actors also saw him as the perfect embodiment of the character Wing had
created. “Blake not only challenges the tone of this film but makes it come alive in the
most profound ways,” says Barrymore. “He has so much heart and soul and beauty
coming