Washington, Mar 19 (EFE).- Actor Adam Sandler received recognition for his career as a comedian this Sunday in Washington at a gala in which he was surrounded by colleagues to pay tribute to him.
At the age of 56, Sandler was recognized with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, which the Kennedy Center has awarded for 24 years in the US capital.
On the red carpet prior to the gala, Sandler reminded EFE of his first humorous monologue when he was 17 years old: “I wasn’t very well that night. Nobody liked me, but he gave me the rush of being on stage and trying to make people laugh. It didn’t work out, so I said to myself, ‘we’re going to be good at it.’
He also recalled how a woman congratulated him this Sunday and thanked him for the good times he had with his family watching his movies. “Having families have a good time together is the best feeling,” she said.
Sandler became known when he became part of the cast of Saturday Night Live and has since starred in well-known Hollywood hits, such as “Big Daddy” (1999), “The Longest Yard” (2005), “Click” (2006), “Grown Ups” (2010) and “Hotel Transylvania” (2012).
His films on Netflix are some of the most viewed on the platform, such as “Murder Mystery” (2019) -with Jennifer Aniston, who also attended the event-, “The Meyerowitzes: Family is not chosen” (2017) -with Ben Stiller , also invited- and “Hubie’s Halloween” (2020).
Some of his co-stars, such as Drew Barrymore, among others, have wanted to participate in this tribute to humor at the Kennedy Center.
“She is the person who deserves it the most of all the ones I know. All the awards that have been created on the planet should be for Adam, because he is a national treasure”, Barrymore claimed to EFE, after dancing the movements of the series “Wednesday” that have gone viral on TikTok, alluding to her dress .
Actor Rob Schneider described to EFE that Sandler “never lost his inner fourteen-year-old boy” or his passion. “You can’t do comedy very well without a dramatic structure,” he defended, something that Sandler does capture in the drama “Garra.”
The film “Garra”, released last year, highlights his versatility, which goes beyond satire, and which earned him the Gotham Award for playing Stanley Sugerman.
Political personalities such as the former speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi also attended the event; the White House spokesperson, Karine Jean-Pierre, and the Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona.
Jean-Pierre influenced EFE on the “importance of honoring careers like Sandler’s.” “There are places where you can find some comedy in politics, but there are things that are incredibly important to Americans and you have to be aware of that as well,” he said.
The Mark Twain Prize places Sandler on a par with artists such as Eddie Murphy, Carol Burnett and Steve Martin, for his success as an actor, comedian, writer, producer and musician, among other facets.
Sara Soteras i Acosta
