It’s a love story: Not just platonically between the two main characters of “Jay Kelly,” but also the stars themselves, George Clooney and Adam Sandler.
The A-Listers stopped by AFI Fest 2025 on Thursday night for the Los Angeles premiere of their Noah Baumbach comedy-drama at the TCL Chinese Theatre, where they promptly praised one another’s acting chops while sharing a bit about their real-life bond.
“It was a lot of work, I don’t mind saying. There were some tears, and that was just when we met,” Clooney joked. “Adam and I have known each other for 30 years, we’ve played a lot of basketball together, we’re buddies. But this was something very different; this was a chance to work with an actor who I greatly admire in a role that I thought he was incredible in.”
“And it’s a funny film. It’s a love story between these two guys,” he added. “It was just an honor and a blast to be able to work with Adam, he’s a wonderful actor.”
Sandler, meanwhile, extended that love to their fellow castmates, Laura Dern and Riley Keough: “Everybody here is tremendous in this movie and Noah worked so hard to make sure it was as good as it could be, with Emily [Mortimer]. We get the script, you read it, you say I can’t believe he gave me this gift. George was right, us getting to be together was amazing. I didn’t get to do anything with Riley, but I loved you in it — I think you’re great in the movie. Laura and I had a ball doing our scenes together.”
“It’s something I’ll never forget,” he concluded. “I loved getting to love this guy in the movie and trying to make his life good.”
The pair was joined at the Hollywood red carpet event by Baumbach, Ted Sarandos, Bela Bajaria, Dan Lin, Michael Nouri and his dog. This comes after the film had its world premiere at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival in August.
“Jay Kelly” hits select theaters on Nov. 14, before streaming on Netflix on Dec. 5.
