Adam Sandler Reveals Philip Seymour Hoffman Turned Down a Role in Billy Madison

Adam Sandler has made many great films over the years from Happy Gilmore and The Wedding Singer to the more recent Uncut Gems and his newest film, Hustle, which is currently thriving on Netflix. In fact, Hustle has a 92% critics score and a 93% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. ComicBook.com's Charlie Ridgely gave the new movie a 4 out of 5 and says it marks "the return of the sports drama." Sandler has been busy promoting Hustle, and he recently shared a fun story about making another one of his classics, Billy Madison. Turns out, he really wanted the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman to play the villain, a role that ultimately went to Bradley Whitford. 

"I was in Toronto getting ready to make the movie and it wasn't cast yet and I saw Philip Seymour Hoffman [audition] and I was laughing my ass off," Sandler shared with Dana Carvey and David Spade on their podcast Fly On The Wall (via The Playlist). "I'm like, 'Who the f*ck is this guy?!? He's hilarious!' So I show Universal and I said, 'Can we cast this guy?? Are you good with him? I mean, you said fucking no to [Bob] Odenkirk, are we ok with this guy?' And they were like -and it took some talking into – and then they said yes."

He continued, "Then we offered it to him, and we get this call back, 'Yeah, like he doesn't wanna do it.' And we were like, 'He doesn't wanna do it? What do you mean, he auditioned!' So, I go, 'Let me f*ckin' talk to him, this guy, and tell him how great he is' ... I called him up and said, 'Hey, it's Adam,' and he's like, [imitates Hoffman] 'Oh hey Adam.' I go, 'Hey, I saw your tape, you're so great, buddy, and they said you don't want to do it.' And he goes [imitates Hoffman], 'Aww, thanks man.'"

Sandler added, "'So, do you want to do it?' And he goes, [imitates Hoffman], 'Aww, I can't.' And I go, 'Oh, why not?' And he goes, [imitates Hoffman], 'Awww ... I just don't want to.'" Sandler continued, "'Are you sure? We're gonna have great fun.' And I go, 'I really love you.' And he goes, [imitates Hoffman], 'I know you do,'" 

This caused everyone on the podcast to laugh with Sandler finishing with, "I swear to god!"

Hustle is now streaming on Netflix, and you can watch Billy Madison on Hulu.