A role for Uncut Gems muse Julia Fox is still TBC
The Safdie Brothers’ Uncut Gems will rightfully go down in cinema history, not least because it was the film that cemented Julia Fox as the One True Muse of the 21st century so far. But it’s hard to imagine that it could have existed at all without Adam Sandler’s Oscar-worthy performance as compulsive gambler Howard Ratner.
So it’s good news that Sandler is set to team up with Josh and Benny Safdie once again, for a film set to start shooting late this winter. The actor teased the project while speaking to Vanity Fair about his basketball film Hustle yesterday (October 11).
“Once that Safdie brothers movie starts – and I love those guys – I know we're going to dedicate ourselves to working our asses off and making sure it’s as good as it can be, and I know that takes a lot of time,” he says. “So part of my brain is going, ‘Wow, once that movie starts I’m in deep and our lives are going to change.’”
If the chaos and intensity of Uncut Gems is anything to go by, then this won’t come as a surprise, but Sandler adds that he and the filmmakers are united by their shared vision. “Ultimately, I know it’s going to be a few months of going after a goal that we all feel the same about,” he says in the interview. “We want to do the best we can.”
Ahead of filming, he also looks back fondly on the whirlwind Uncut Gems shoot, which took place in 2018 – long after the film was originally conceived in 2009. “Boy, I just remember that whole process was fun,” he says. “Getting to know those guys, getting to be with those guys, it kind of felt like the old days, like early Saturday Night Live, hanging out with a group, going places together, believing in a project together. I just felt like I had great teammates there.”
The upcoming film isn’t the first time that the trio have reunited since Uncut Gems. In 2020, they also shared a seven-minute short film titled Goldman v Silverman, which revolves around a showdown between two street performers.
At the moment, it’s unclear where Sandler and the Safdies’ next joint project will take us, or whether Josh Safdie will once again call upon Julia Fox to be his artistic muse. Fingers crossed.