Complete with deleted scenes, gag reel, and a 'Making Of' featurette, "50 First Dates" hits video stores on June 15, 2004. In support of the DVD release, director Segal sat down to talk about working with Sandler and Barrymore, and gave a little preview of his next feature film, "The Longest Yard."
INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR PETER SEGAL:
You're the first director to do three Adam Sandler movies. Why do you two connect so well, and how has the relationship grown?
We have a lot of similar history. We have friends that worked
on "Saturday Night Live," we both come from comedy backgrounds, our Jewish upbringings in New York, and he really does attract a lot of great material. So after having my first opportunity to work with him on "Anger Management," he gave me the script for "50 First Dates," which I really loved. Whether or not he was involved, I would have made the movie because I liked the script so much. Now being able to work on the remake of "The Longest Yard" has given me the chance to work on a great sports comedy. He is lining up the same planets I would visit on my own journey.
Were Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler always attached or did you pull that together?
It was all my doing. No, actually, I had nothing to do with that. Drew read this script many months prior to me getting it. She had brought it to Adam and said that this would be a great project for them to finally re-team on. They were looking for the right thing. Then Adam gave it to me while I was in post production on "Anger Management." Literally, it was the only script I had read while I was in post because normally I agonize over every project that I take. I really liked the script so much, plus I also had to respond quickly. I said, "Okay, let's do it." So it was prepackaged with those two before it arrived on my desk.
What gives Drew and Adam chemistry?
It's interesting. It's sort of like describing why certain things are funny. You can't. They have a natural chemistry that just works. I think it's something that I've said many times you just cannot teach.
It's painful when you watch certain [films] - whether they're romantic comedies or just romantic movies in general - and you don't feel a connection between the two people. It's tough to sit through it. [Drew and Adam] are just so natural together. I think part of the ingredients [is] just their off-screen friendship. They're both incredibly level-headed normal superstars. So they are off-screen what they seem to be onscreen. They don't have a completely different persona. I think they've also been in the business long enough, Adam performing standup 20 years ago to Drew starting at age one, that they know the business. They're relaxed and they want to have a good time. I think that becomes infectious throughout the whole set, and I think it helps them relate to each other on camera.
With cast commentary on the DVD, did you get a word in edgewise?
Actually, it's Drew and myself on there. Adam was busy filming his next movie with Jim Brooks. So Drew and I had a great time reminiscing and talking about things, and it's a lot more fun. There are the real stalwart film students who want to hear what a director has to say, but most people on a romantic comedy would find that pretty boring so it's nice to have someone they actually care about listening to, in addition.
Why are deleted scenes on DVDs such popular features?
There's always a reason why scenes were deleted. The interesting thing about comedy is that a lot of studios don't really meddle too much in the final cuts of comedies because they trust the sick senses of humor that go into making them. So we usually are deleting scenes ourselves because they didn't fit. It either slowed down the story or it was repetitious or unnecessary. Or in our audience testing, it just didn't work. I have always said I will have many more notes about my films than any studio executive or anyone, because we have to be tough on them. So there's a reason why they're out, but it's also interesting to look at them because it's fun to piece together why they were originally made and also to agree in the filmmaking process. "Okay, I can understand why that's not in." Or, to actually lament and say, "I wonder why they cut that?" I find that always fascinating when I look at other DVDs.
PAGE 2: Peter Segal on Remaking "The Longest Yard"
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
"50 First Dates" Photo Gallery
"50 First Dates" Cast Interviews and Movie News
