Timothée Chalamet & Adam Sandler Rewatch 'Dune,' 'Uncut Gems,' 'Marty Supreme' & More | Vanit Fair

It's very strange for me to watch that with you because you're obviously attached to play Oliver for a long time. Yes. And then you dropped out at the last second. Clip time everybody. Let's hear it. Come on. Hell yeah. Let me bring the mail in the house for you. Come on. I'm already going to be watering your plants. Just say yes to me bringing in your mail, please. Don't look away. Look at me. That guy I did on the show was the Herlihy boy. I wrote that skit. My buddy Tim Herlihy used to write all my, he wrote Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore and all the stuff. He was my college roommate. But that one in particular, I wrote late night, one night, I wasn't on the show and Lauren, sometimes this happens, I wasn't on the show at all. And Lauren said, Hey, do you have any ideas on a Thursday night? I said, Holy cow, I got a clean slate to write something. So I wrote that. And I wrote Farley in there because I love Farley like the whole world did. I think that was the most I ever laughed on air at another guy. Anything Farley said, I was just laughing and laughing. Why? He just had that instinct? He just tried to. He'd say before a skit, he'd go, Edsy. He called me Edsy. I'm going to get you. And I'd be like, Oh, no, no. And he would look me in the eyes and just try to be funny. He'd want me to break every time because then he won. Then he knew, he knew he could whoop me. He was by far the funniest dude on the planet. He walked into the room, but everybody just went, all right. Every comedian, the best thing about Farley, it was unanimous that we all said he was the funniest. Can we stop the one shred of dignity? Would Lauren give you a hard time if you broke in a scene? Oh, back then he didn't like that. Yeah. Oh, really? You weren't supposed to break. I think like the first cast, you know, Dan Aykroyd, Belushi, Jane Curtin, Gilda, they never broke. They kind of frowned upon it. They mentioned like Carol Burnett, that show when they would laugh, we were kids. That was like a big show for me when I was a kid. And Tim Conway would make them laugh. And Harvey Korman would laugh. And Carol Burnett would laugh. And you at home, you'd say, this is the greatest thing I've ever seen. They were like having a ball together. And so I thought it was cool. But then the first cast on SNL was like, we're not the Carol Burnett show. We take this serious, man. If you laugh, you're out. And it was kind of a rule. And somehow that rule got broken. And now everyone's laughing all the time, you know? How about you, Timmy? Did you ever laugh? Did you get caught off guard and laugh? You go pretty hardcore. You are committed. That was ridiculous. That one was hard not to laugh through. But I missed that feeling. You get that feeling all the time growing up where you're in situations where you're not supposed to laugh, like in school. To all the kids in this audience, that goes away, man. You don't realize those are the most lucrative comedic opportunities of your life. I remember seeing that the first time. I loved it. Love it. You're smooth out there, man. You're on SNL. You're so calm and cool. It's crazy. I remember the last time I saw you in the hallway between sketches. It made me feel good, man. You gave me a pat on the back. You were like an apparition. Tell me, man, how has Saturday Night Live changed procedurally or backstage or the vibe since you started? It's always been the same. Like when you were there, that same energy where you're having the best time of your life and you're also panicked out of your mind. You're like, this is a one-shot opportunity. Is that Eminem? Yeah. You got to do the best you can. You try to stay focused. Sometimes your brain spins and you're like, oh, let's get back in it, man. It can go away. It comes back. It's that energy. I think it'll always be there. You just go, let me enjoy this moment, man. Do you get nostalgic for that rush ever or no? When I left the show the first year, I couldn't watch it. I couldn't watch it. It just breaks your heart. I guess it's like when you play sports or whatever and all of a sudden you leave and you see the game keeps going. You go, oh, they didn't need me, man. It breaks your heart a little bit. I don't say I want to get back out there and do one of those again, but I do remember the times. I remember the friends I met. All of us became so close and I love them all so much that I'll never forget it. It's like being on a team. It's like you guys got this little weird connection the rest of your life. It's cool. I'm Scuba Sam, Scuba Steve's father. You see, my boy needs to take a bath. The only problem is he's afraid to bathe alone. So I was wondering if maybe you could keep him company in the tub. Amazing movie. I'm happy for Dylan and Cole, but I feel like that should have been me because I would have been the same age. Did you come in and audition for that? No. Now, when you were making Big Daddy, did you have a sense that it was going to be as huge as it was or no? We had a low, low budget and we made some good old cash on that one. That was a good time, man. Immediately spent it all, but that's okay. But honestly, it was one of the best times ever. Actually, that was my wife, Jackie. That was the first movie. Me and Jackie was my waitress in that movie. It says on the internet we met during that movie, but that ain't true. We met at a party and we fell in love. That was fun. But then she was in Big Daddy and we had fun flirting. But honestly, take it easy, Timmy. I'm flirting with my wife right now. But that movie was really... I didn't know if it was going to do good or bad, but I had the best time making it. All you have to do is work hard and don't tell a soul about the scuba squad, because then everybody's going to want to join. And that scene in particular was from my real life. I loved this doll called Diver Dan when I was a kid. And I lost Diver Dan, and apparently I was very upset, Timmy. And my father had a scuba suit. In real life, my dad, Stan the man, dressed up as Diver Dan's father. I lived in an apartment in New York, and he knocked on the door. My mother said, somebody's here to see you, Adam. And it was my dad dressed in this thing and he had a mask on. And he was like, are you the boy who is taking care of my son? And I go, yeah. And he goes, I just want to say thank you. He's back with me now. And he came back with me. But I want to just personally thank you. He really had a great time with you. And I was like, yeah, no problem. And that was it. And I always loved that. And then my family talked about that story forever. And so when we were doing Big Dad, I tried to make sure we put something like that in there for my pop. Wow. That is so sweet. Yeah. Thank you. That sounds different. Did you change it? I changed it a little bit. Why? I just played it the way List would have played it if he'd altered Bach's version. Play that again. Play what again? The thing you played outside. It's very strange for me to watch that with you because you were obviously attached to play Oliver for a long time. And then you dropped that at the last second. Well, the only reason I didn't do it, when Timmy kissed me in the audition, I went, I don't like it. It's weird watching that. I mean, just even in the setting, that whole summer was like a fever pitch. And there was no clue that movie was going to have any reception. I remember that Luca wanted to do it in one shot. And it was the thing I'd worked the most on the piano. I had a piano teacher named Roberto Solchi, who lived in a cavernous apartment right below Luca in Italy. And that's what I remember the most. It was like one shot and there was one crack at it. Crushed it. I appreciate it, man. Speaking of one shot, the very end of that movie, when you are looking in the camera, you're heartbroken and that tune is going on and it's like three minutes of you being devastated and then the feelings you were feeling. I couldn't believe how phenomenal you were, man. Thank you. Breathtaking. You're the best, kid. I appreciate it. Thank you. I mind my own business. So you tell me that's that before I beat the hell from you. I have so much strength in me. You have no idea. I have a love in my life. It makes me stronger than anything you can imagine. Really, before I ask you anything, I will say to actors across all ages, but really to my generation, it is one of the most important performances. Important is not the right word. It's impactful, deeply moving. I think because you've ascended to such commercial heights, and I hope I don't make you uncomfortable by talking like this, that the people that aren't really in the know don't understand how impactful that performance was and how incredible and nuanced and deeply lived in and heartbreaking it is. And just thank you before I ask you anything about it, because really, as a young actor, and knowing you for your comedic work and then seeing that thrown against the context of your other work, I'm like, wow, this is a ******* incredible actor. I hope I can give a performance like this. Let's let's let's figure something out. Like I said, I'll be home. I'll be home shortly. Give me a call. OK, thank you. That was like as a 19 year old, that was deeply, deeply moving to me. And I risk repeating myself in the context of all the comedic work you did. I went, holy ----, this guy's one of our greats. I know it's not about awards, blah, blah, blah. But you should have a golden man in your hand because, man, you're one of the best ******* actors on the planet, man. I love you, man. Thank you for saying that. Thank you all. I mean it. I mean it. When PTA gave me the script, I'll never forget. He came to my house and he had it in his hand and he had it like a ribbon around it. And he said, I'd like to give you this gift. And I said, he goes, I really think you're going to do good. And I said, oh, thanks, man. He goes, and I think he said, you mind if I stick around while you read it? Oh, wow. Yeah, it's intense. It was cool, man. Maybe he went for a drive or something, but I read it. I was reading it and I remember kind of being nervous and going, holy ----, this movie's good, man. Holy ----, like scene to scene. You know that feeling that I'm sure you had with Marty Supreme. Everything, you go, I get to do that. I get to do that. Holy ----, like this is as good as it's ever going to get. And I just remember. And in the context of where you were at in your career then, did you give any thought to like, every movie I'm doing is a commercial smash. Is this a risk in any way? Did that deter you? I think I just got excited even more. I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, let me give this a shot. This guy's presented me such an opportunity that I didn't know what was coming. Maybe in the back of my head when I was studying acting in college, I was like, I'm kind of prepared to get to do something different than comedy, but maybe I'm just going to be a comedian. I don't know. I didn't pursue it. You know what I mean? PTA just kind of like dropped that on me. And I said, ----, let me try to do the best I can do. And then every day was special. Every day that guy, Paul Thomas Anderson, you know, he's one of the greatest of all time. He was just so sweet about it, pushing you in directions. But he just saw, he saw the movie in his head. The whole, he was like tapping his hands. He knew the music in his head. He knew the cut. He always just kind of said, maybe just move an inch more this way. I think I'd like it a little more. Stuff like that. He was just all over every nuance. And I knew it was going to be one of the best times of my life. You don't have a boyfriend or anything, do you? No, what do you mean? I just wanted to know. The Hawaiian, the phone call scene. Did I read that was unscripted or something? That was just on the day we were at a phone booth in Oahu and nobody knew we were shooting there. And they kind of just brought a few crew members. He just said, just kind of sneak in there and try not to be seen. And there were all real people around us. And I did that scene. And I was, I think I was. Just trying to lose your ---- in that scene. I was losing my ----. Yeah, exactly. Mad at my sister in the scene. And then I was calling the girl I loved in the scene. And then this light turns on when she gets on the phone. He just had it perfectly rigged, the whole thing. But it was cool. That intense feeling of you're not supposed to be somewhere and you're doing a movie and you don't have permission. It was a real parade going by. It was a real parade and you want to get it right. Exactly. You know, man. No, I've seen that movie maybe 30 times, you know. I love that. It's a remarkable performance. And I say that like it has its fireworks, but it's a deeply human performance. When I say it's remarkable, it's not like Adam's sniper crawling on the floor and screaming. It's like really just a very human movie, you know. And it just makes you reflect on your own sensitivity. And the people you see in the street or whatever, and you don't know their story. And it might be someone that's passing the street that's connecting with absolutely no one that has a shitty relationship with their family that, you know, is venting to a dentist in a closet as he's peeping. So it's beautiful, man. Thank you. That was a hell of a thing to memorize. I mean, you're memorizing something in a made-up language. So I'm always very proud of that. And Denis had me memorize it in English, too. So there's versions of that that are normal spoken word. But that sequence I'm so proud of. And I basically wrapped filming part three, four days ago, three days ago in Abu Dhabi. Congratulations, Timmy. I appreciate it. And it's moving to me that something as out there as Dune, I'm talking about the themes even in the book, what a psychedelic story it is, has taken this personal resonance on for me. Even like almost tearing up a little bit watching that, because I've just finished like four days ago this. I've grown up through those movies. And that sequence in particular, you know, a movie like Marty Supreme or A Complete Unknown, every day it feels like, OK, I really got to bring it. And on Dune, by nature of how huge the production is, you might have two days or three days where there's not much is demanded of you. But I always circled that scene. I was like, OK, this is my shot. And I wanted to prove to Denis and myself, OK, in a movie of this size, you know, doing a speech in a made-up language in front of 800 people, you know, whatever, that I can own it. And I'm so proud of that, because I remember even calling a good friend of mine the night we shot that. I mean, man, that went ******* awesome. And that was awesome, man. Words don't do it justice. Yeah, that was just watching you take over. You can get to that level in real life. You're a strong bastard. But it was just nice to watch that in disco. Every extra, every person there on the set must have been like, what the **** is happening right now? This guy is strong, badass, smart. I'm going to follow this guy. You are. You look like a leader, just a powerful leader. You are so cool. I appreciate it, Adam. And badass. And also, it was satisfying because the, you know, the first film didn't have for Paul Atreides that climactic moment. So it felt like I was building to it for years. And now, you know, if I'm in the streets and we go, Lisa LaGaim, you know, which which is more humiliating than it sounds. Look at that. Right out the ******* gate. The man, the man's feeling the gym. Dr. Rivers wants to see. Go, get it, get it. Go, go, finish it, finish it. Hey, yes. All right. That's ******* it. Yeah. That's that was like what you felt with Dune 2 when you ******* went, that's my day. I remember that, that and the script going, holy ----. This is the big one. Let's go. This is as much a question for you, but as much as for your family. But do you do you react to sports live like that or in the ballpark? Yeah, I'm a little nuts. Little nuts. Right. Josh has seen me watch a game. I get kind of worked up with the Yankees. I am very, very loud. Did you have someone in mind when, you know, because he's such a degenerate gambler, if I could say that. Did you have someone in mind in the public sphere, in your personal life? I mean, you guys wrote it. Ronnie and Josh. And I got to say, like, we did so much research on it and met so many jewelers and so many people throughout the process that I was taken from everybody. We hung out a couple of nights with guys with gambling problems who were fighting with being gamblers who went to Gamblers Anonymous or who were going through it at the time, trying to quit. And we had like full on hangs. And I talked to them and got what they were feeling and what, you know, the ups and downs of their lives and how high they get and how down it gets and how much it spoils their family's lives. And just I brought all that into it. And also being a sports fan did help. Tell me about your working relationship with Josh. Did you feel like he pushed you outside your comfort zone? Yes, yes, yes, yes. 100%. I gave myself to Josh, Ronnie, Benny. I gave myself to them. I mean, I was older than them. That went out the window. They knew exactly what they wanted. We were kind of teammates on it. I'm sure you guys became teammates. We were teammates. We started seeing the same movie in our heads. But they saw ---- I never could think of. And Josh would lead me and Benny and Ronnie. We would have all these talks throughout the process. And I would just say, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's cool. What a great idea. Let me try that. Go for it. And yeah, I'd be scared to do some ---- and feel like I couldn't do it or I felt foolish or felt like maybe I don't want to be seen like that or maybe... But I just dove in and just... It was an awesome performance, man. I was scared. I read it and Jackie read it. We were in bed. I was like, I'm ******* a little nervous being this guy. And she's like, do it. This is so good, man. You get to really try something different and go hard. And it's different than anything you've ever done. We talked about the whole script and we were just discussing ----. I just got more and more excited. Just how ******* excited they were. These guys just make you so comfortable because there's just nothing they're not thinking about. You never say something and you see them go, oh, I never thought of that. They're just like, yeah, yeah, yeah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. They got an answer and we just jammed. We jammed. It was fun, man. First of all, the shirt off is fantastic. Every movie, your shirt's off. I'm like, there he goes again. Did you play guitar growing up? No, but I had five, six years to get ready for that. And there's COVID and all sorts of stuff. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. You were just confident. I appreciate it, but I really can't. Even I picked one up the other day and it's not like 100% fresh level by any stretch. But you remembered it when you picked it up? Yeah, but I could do chords. I can't do like, you're doing like solos. Yeah, but you're picking like a guitar player. You look good. Yeah, there was some finger picking patterns I picked up. It's weird to see that back. I remember that scene in particular being an extremely hot day, but something about doing a biopic and also being deeply a fan of who you're playing. I feel like I love the movie. I'm deeply proud of it. But it's one of the few things I'm in where like the experience I had doing it. No, it could be the best movie made of all time. It'll never match the experience. I had this weirdly, also because Bob's just an incredible artist. And it was this weird thing, man. Like the cry I had at the end of that movie was heavy. What were you feeling? What was it? I felt sad. I felt like it was five, six years coming to a close. And I felt like this man's great work had passed through me. And I felt really humbled by it and also gave me confidence at how to approach even stuff like this. And you watch Dylan's interaction with the press, the way he carried himself, things that are very hard to do today because we live in such a fractured media environment. So everyone's clamoring. But I try to remind myself of this. He's like this North Star, man, like these people that break through and become icons of pop culture, but they're not vain. And it's like you got to cherish them. Like Frank Ocean, I've said that a million times. You're like, when these people break through, you got to cherish them. Your songs are like an oil painting at the dentist's office. You're kind of an asshole, Bob. I love Dylan. I loved it. I loved your performance. And I love getting to see his world and what you gave us and the depth of what Dylan was and relationships and knowing that he was just a guy. I loved her saying, you're an asshole. And he's like, thinks about it like you did it. And it's like, yeah, you're pointing out something that's kind of true. Playing someone where the other character declares you an asshole, you know, and lead characters, especially in commercial movies, those are kind of hard things to come by. I think back to some of the early Pacino movies, almost every early Pacino role. And you're like, the ambiguity of, or even like Killers of the Flower Moon, that's maybe a weird reference in regards to what I'm talking about. But the moral ambiguity of the thing, I'm so proud of that. Maybe your memory is trying to tell you something about your present. Like what? I don't know. I'm tired. I just had a fight with Daisy. I wish I was there to help him. What'd you say? What? Nothing. The second movie I did with Noah Nobombeck is awesome. He's one of the greats, a great human being, great writer, great director. And he called me a couple of years ago and said, he's writing this movie. He said, he's writing me as a manager. And I just said, okay, great. I can't wait to see it. And then in the back of your head, you go, ****, that's coming. That'll be good. And then he handed me the script and told me Clooney was playing Jay Kelly. And I was just kind of excited. It had so many scenes in it that were exciting to do and get deep on. And I didn't know Clooney. I knew him a little bit. You know, I played basketball when I was young with him, but I never really- No way. He balls? No way. He's great. Actually, really. Oh, he's freaking. He's good. He's a real athlete. He's a tough dude. And then we played ball when he hosted SNL. He took the whole cast. I think we rented out like a YMCA or something. And Farley and me and Neal and a bunch of goofy comedians, we all went out and played ball with Clooney. And he was fantastic. So we knew each other from there. Then I went to a Knicks game with him. I just got to know him through the SNL week. And then throughout my 30 years here in LA, I'd bump into him and we'd have fun saying hi. But I never really knew him. Like, you know, when you do a movie with somebody, it's a daily event. You become family. And this guy was so cool, such a great spirit, such a smart bastard, never gives up every scene. He's so involved, wants to do the best scene possible. So my job in the movie was to love him and try to protect him as his manager. What are you getting at? I'm just saying Ben, for instance, flies home every weekend from the show to see his family. Ben. Ben Alcock. I'm not comparing him. It's hard not to feel like you do. I'm just saying these are the decisions we make. I've worked with millions of great people over the years. I have agents, managers, publicists, all that stuff. So I took it all in there and wrapped it up. But I was just trying to make sure Clooney knew no matter what I had his back and his character. And that was my job. And then in the movie, it's kind of messing my family up the amount of time he's taken away from me as a superstar and doing his whatever the hell he wants to do. My character had to kind of say, OK, I guess we're doing that. The movie's about, for me, it's his life and what he's done and what he's done right and what he's done wrong and how it's affected his kids. And I see that it's affecting my family the way he wants to live. Hey, it's Marty Mouser. I'm in the Royal Suite. I saw you in the lobby yesterday. OK. Yeah, we made eye contact. I was being interviewed. I don't recall. Well, I'm a huge admirer. Josh gave me this opportunity, man, where I'm not going to look at him when I'm saying this, but where I feel like he empowered me to be something I would almost be wary of being of in this world, in this day and age, which is to be sort of openly aspirational. To your point earlier, you know, I feel like the gift of my life is to focus on this acting thing the way Marty Mouser is locked in on ping pong. There's a path of living in fear. There's a path of coasting. And then there's the path of being locked in. So this movie's the opportunity to do that. I'm so proud of this. I'm grateful to Josh, man, that he gave me this opportunity. OK. Can I help you with something? Maybe. I just ordered one of everything off the room service menu. There's no way I'll be able to eat it all alone. It is ridiculous. It's so fresh. Your character is so fresh. He's the coolest, most confident bastard. He's just never going to take no for an answer with anybody, but so sweet about it and charming and still a family. Nobody's seen a movie like that. I love that. I saw it with my family in the cutting room. Josh and Ronnie let me watch it, and I watched it when he was putting it together, buddy. You're hysterical in the movie. You're funny as ----. Man, I appreciate it. And it was an opportunity that Josh and Ronnie cooked up that's playing a morally questionable person, but that Ronnie and Josh never took a judgmental attitude on. So on set, even in the questionable moments, they're never going, oh, you're playing a dick, or this guy's compromised. Perhaps I should send my husband instead. Oh, sure. He can come up here, and I'll come down and meet you. OK, wonderful. Thank you. Whoa, I want to keep talking. Josh said someone had said this to him. Marty Supreme is really a movie about being an idiot in your 20s and having that false confidence to go after a married woman in the moment you just saw. And the responsibility lists life that you can lead in your early 20s, especially if you're driven and out of your mind and egomaniacal at times. And I think that's what you see in that scene. Again, I don't want to say too much. But it was just thrilling to not play a role that's supposed to be ethically redeeming, necessarily, and not that either. And that's not social commentary. What about that look, though? How did that happen? What do you mean, what look? Just the way you looked in the movie, that face, the decisions on the eye. Well, that was Josh. That was like two hours of fake pockmarks every morning. And Josh wanted my eyes beatier in the movie. So I'm wearing contacts, negative four, negative six, that offset my vision. So I wear real glasses on top of the contacts, which is like a huge fishbowl effect. But Josh wanted that, and it was well worth it because it drives the look of the character. It allowed me to rush Darius, our brilliant DP, because I could say to him, I got these contacts in, man. My eyes are burning. We got to set up the shot. Yeah, man, that makes sense. This can feel like, you know, sort of pretentious, patting each other on the back kind of thing. But to get it to do this with Sandler, this is like a man who's actually kept American cinema. He's actually put it on his back, you know? So... Love you, Timmy. Thank you. Thank you, guys. And what you are doing and what you continue to do for cinema and for all of us, you just are beyond, beyond it all, man. You just cannot wait to see what you bring in the future. But let's just enjoy Marty's Supreme when it comes out. It's a 10. It's a 12. Yeah.