If Saturday Night Live, both the history of the show and the actor's career would look incredibly different. He may currently be one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood, but Adam Sandler got his big break as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. After a stint performing stand-up comedy and a few minor movie roles, Sandler landed himself a landmark gig on the long-running NBC sketch comedy. Starting out as a writer for the show in 1990, Sandler became a cast player the following year, and was later fired (alongside friend Chris Farley) in 1995.
In the years that followed, Adam Sandler's 1990s comedy movies catapulted him to global stardom. Sandler went from an SNL cast member to one of Hollywood's most bankable comedic stars. Throughout the '90s and '00s, Sandler continued to make successful comedies and romantic comedies, carving a specific niche that saw his net worth steadily rise. Sandler's sporadic dramatic roles demonstrated his talent as an actor, dispelling any misconceptions about his lack of range in the process.
Had Sandler never been fired from Saturday Night Live, his career would have looked very different. His continued role on the show would have likely kept him too busy for the movie roles he eventually took, preventing him from fully demonstrating his acting talent. However, Sandler's continued presence on SNL would have been a blessing for the sketch comedy, even if it wouldn't have been ideal for his career. Here's what could have happened if Adam Sandler hadn't been fired from Saturday Night Live.
Adam Sandler Would Have Been One Of SNL's Best Assets
As Adam Sandler could be considered a perfect entertainer, his presence on Saturday Night Live was excellent for the show. Sandler's particular brand of comedy lent itself perfectly to the show's established format: fast-paced, marginally chaotic, and always featuring a handful of familiar faces. This essentially means that Sandler and Saturday Night Live were a match made in heaven, and had things not soured, Sandler would have been one of the show's biggest assets.
The fact that Sandler's own comedic style is so in tune with Saturday Night Live's format and tone would have ensured that he would have continued to be an invaluable part of the show. What's more, Adam Sandler loves working with his friends, many of whom are also Saturday Night Live alums, so his place on the show would have suited his preferences, too. Assuming Sandler remained comfortable in his role on SNL, he potentially could have continued to contribute to its sketches as a writer and a performer for the rest of the '90s and into the '00s, becoming one of its longest-standing cast and delivering many years of his characteristic comedy in the process.
Sandler's Movie Career Wouldn't Have Been So Successful
Sandler staying at Saturday Night Live wouldn't have been entirely positive, though, because it would have affected his chances for success in Hollywood. Ultimately, it was SNL that prompted the launch of his movie career, so if he had stayed, it would likely not have gotten off to such an impressive start. The late '90s alone were stuffed with Sandler classics: Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, The Wedding Singer, The Waterboy, and Big Daddy were all released within five years of Sandler's SNL exit. Had he stayed even just a few more years at Saturday Night Live, these movies likely wouldn't exist in the same way - and as they're the titles that established Sandler as a Hollywood star, this would have affected his movie career.
Of course, Adam Sandler's career hasn't been a major hit with critics, but it's still been a success. Staying at Saturday Night Live would have kept Sandler busy with writing and shooting for a significant portion of the year, making it far less likely that he'd be able to schedule as many movie roles. With less availability for Hollywood roles, Sandler wouldn't have cultivated the image of a consistent and bankable leading man that he ultimately did, meaning that Saturday Night Live would have hampered Adam Sandler's ability to reach the same heights of comedy and fame that he did by getting fired.
How Sandler's Collaborators Would Have Suffered
Making movies with roles written specifically for all of his friends has become a common criticism of Adam Sandler's work. However, in doing so, Sandler has boosted the career of a number of other actors and comedians: Rob Schneider, David Spade, and Kevin James all owe a certain debt to Sandler's insistence on creating roles for them despite many of their collaborative efforts being critically panned. Had Sandler not been fired from Saturday Night Live, the careers of his friends would likely have suffered significantly.
David Spade and Rob Schneider were both Sandler's SNL co-stars before becoming better known for their appearances in his movies, meaning that they'd still have been collaborating with Sandler on more equal footing at Saturday Night Live. However, Kevin James was a relatively little-known sitcom star when he became friends with Sandler, and it was the actor's roles in a number of Happy Madison movies that gave him a significant career boost. Without Adam Sandler's , Kevin James' sitcom roles may well have proved to be the height of his career, meaning that Sandler staying at Saturday Night Live would derail more than just Sandler's own movie career.
SNL Would Have Prevented Sandler's Critics War
One of the most significant ways that staying at Saturday Night Live would have changed Adam Sandler's career is that he almost certainly wouldn't have faced the same level of undue criticism. Since becoming one of Hollywood's biggest comedic actors, Adam Sandler's movies have been subjected to routine critical panning, some of which has been arguably unjust. However, had Adam Sandler not been fired from Saturday Night Live, this would likely not have been as much of an issue.
The amount of exposure that being a Saturday Night Live cast member provides is a significant boost to a comedian's career. Sandler's role on the show would also have forced him to be more selective about his movie roles, and would possibly have prompted him to favor slightly more dramatic fare when not engaged with SNL. This subtle shift would likely have been enough for Sandler's acting talent to be appreciated years before, because the juxtaposition of being known as a Saturday Night Live cast member and delivering a sound dramatic performance would have highlighted Sandler's ability. Ultimately, if Adam Sandler hadn't been fired from Saturday Night Live, both his career, and the trajectory of the sketch show itself, would almost definitely look incredibly different today.