Adam Sandler Nearly Got Choked Out During the Filming of 'Uncut Gems'

Adam Sandler may have gotten a Spirit Award and the best reviews of his career from “Uncut Gems,” but the film nearly cost him his life.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Sandler and directors Josh and Benny Safdie revealed that the nearly fatal moment happened while filming the now infamous scene when Sandler’s impulsive, gambling-addicted character Howard is kidnapped by his loan shark brother-in-law, after it’s discovered he had used Arno’s money on crazy sports bets.

The Safdies said that Keith Williams Richards and Tommy Kominik, who played Arno’s bodyguards, had never been in a film before, and while they were professional, they had no idea how physical they should be as they manhandled Sandler during the intense scene.

Also Read: The Safdie Brothers Detail the 10-Year Journey to Make the Adam Sandler Drama 'Uncut Gems'

“Sandler’s so in it, he’s so into the character that it started to actually get a little scary one or two times, because he’s getting choked at one point in the scene and there were all these cues,” Josh Safdie said. “There was one take when Sandler was getting choked and he was trying to tap out, but the actor thought that he was just being Howard so he choked harder, and Adam couldn’t breathe.”

Also Read: 'Uncut Gems' Stars Adam Sandler and Kevin Garnett on Working With the 'Deep, Fresh' Safdie Brothers | Video

Sandler said that he got plenty of bruises over the course of filming “Uncut Gems,” as his character is repeatedly beaten up by Arno’s goons. His own family even thought that they should stay away from him during filming since he was playing such a disturbed character. But despite that, Sandler said he would love to work with the Safdies again.

“We talk about it constantly, man. I love these guys, I love ‘em. I mean, they’re incredible filmmakers,” he said. “I love having these new friends, we talk all the time, and I think they’re just great, great people. Of course, I would die to work with them again, because it’s a brand new feeling. But the funniest thing is when I would say to the Safdies, ‘Your future is so bright,’ they didn’t want to talk about that. They were like, ‘I just like ‘Gems,’ man.’ They just were so deep in it.”

“Uncut Gems” is now streaming on Netflix.

14 Terrible Adam Sandler Movies Ranked From Bad to Worst (Photos)

The critics have not been kind to Adam Sandler over the years -- but see just how unkind they've been to comedies in which he's taken a lead role.
Netflix
"Sandy Wexler" (2017)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 33%

"There's no way to recommend it, yet I wouldn't ask for my two hours back (though I do wish that they could have been sped up somewhat)" New Yorker critic Richard Brody wrote.
Netflix
"The Week Of" (2018)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 27%

"The best that can be said about 'The Week Of 'is that it at least tacks some heart onto an otherwise stale, mothball-scented set-up," EW critic Chris Nashawaty wrote in 2017.
“Little Nicky” (2000)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 22%

“Like spending 84 minutes in Hell,” critic Christy Lemire wrote when it hit theaters in 2000.
New Line Cinema
“That’s My Boy” (2012)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 20%

“Vulgar, trite, sexist, misogynist, hacky, tacky, gross, sentimental and stupid, with occasional flourishes of racism and veiled homophobia thrown in to boot,” TheWrap’s Alonso Duralde wrote in his 2012 review.
Columbia Pictures
“Just Go With It” (2011)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 19%

“An early contender for worst movie of the year. If they were showing this on an airplane, I'd ask for a parachute,” Richard Roeper wrote in 2011.
Columbia Pictures
“Pixels” (2015)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 17%

“A middle finger aimed right at the audience,” The Verge critic Bryan Bishop wrote in 2015.
Columbia Pictures
“Blended” (2014)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 14%

“I felt like it was crushing the soul out of me. But it's still not as bad as Grown-Ups 2,” TheWrap’s Alonso Duralde wrote in his review of 2014 movie co-starring Drew Barrymore.
Warner Bros.
“I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry” (2007)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 14%

“Even unrepentant homophobes deserve funnier,” Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips wrote in his 2007 review of movie about two firefighters who pretend to be gay to get benefits of a domestic partnership.
Universal Pictures
“Grown Ups” (2010)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 10%

“I felt a deep sadness every time the audience laughed and the sounds of their chuckles turned into the ringing of the cash register, and all I thought was a grim, simple truth: This, America, is why we can't have nice things,” critic James Rocchi wrote of the 2010 reunion flick starring some of Sandler’s best buddies.
Columbia Pictures
“The Cobbler” (2015)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 9%

“A movie like this, in which not a single scene comes together, in which almost nothing makes you laugh or cry or think, reminds you that it's truly a miracle when movies work at all,” Pulitzer Prize winner Wesley Morris wrote in 2015 about the surprisingly bad film from “Spotlight” director Tom McCarthy.
Image Entertainment
“Grown Ups 2” (2013)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 7%

“Yes, it's time for another visit to the Adam Sandler Death-of-Cinema Fun Factory, the big-screen version of a terrible sitcom where laugh tracks are replaced by the co-stars chuckling at their own awful material,” TheWrap’s Alonso Duralde wrote about this unnecessary sequel in 2013.
Columbia Pictures
"The Do-Over" (2016)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 6%

"It takes a certain blithe self-confidence to take this Scotch-taped-together plot and run it out well past the 90-minute mark," critic Jesse Hassenger wrote.

Netflix
"Jack & Jill"
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 3%

“Comedy moved on from the mid-1990s, and it's time Sandler did, too. ‘Jack and Jill’ even gives fart jokes a bad name,” critic Jake Coyle wrote in 2011.
Columbia Pictures
"The Ridiculous Six"
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 0%

"Thanks for nothing, Netflix," Chicago Sun-Times critic Richard Roeper wrote.
Netflix