Adam Sandler has taken on a more dramatic role recently in Jay Kelly, but his speech at the AARP Adult Film Awards was all comedic. Sandler wowed the crowd with his characteristically humorous speech Saturday when he was honored with career achievement honors at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills.
First, Sandler greeted the audience as “silver-haired daddy” and “salt-and-pepper mama,” and said that many people in his life told him that winning the AARP award meant he was now officially considered old. But “that’s not because of this award,” Sandler continued. “Here are 10 other reasons.”
The first reason? “I had to swallow Viagra the other day just to pee,” Sandler laughed. He jokes that he only has one taste bud left (“Everything I’m eating right now tastes like oatmeal”), his sentences are big enough for “everyone sitting in the window seat on Delta Airlines” to read, and most of his high school reunions were spent with him saying, “I’m so sorry to hear that.” “When I received the Academy Awards screening app, I could press play on 44 different movies and only stay awake for a total of eight minutes,” Sandler said, eliciting bursts of laughter. “For all the accolades, I have to say I loved the first 30 seconds.”
In his speech, Sandler thanked his family for supporting him through the years. “I’m grateful to my lovely wife for being with me even though no part of my body has returned to normal,” Sandler said. “Thank you to my two beautiful children who didn’t laugh every time I walked down the hall shirtless.”
At the end, the actor thanked everyone in attendance, including George Clooney, Kathy Bates, Noah Wyle, Laura Dern, and more. “I promise everyone here tonight that I will make at least 50 more movies before I die. At least 25 of them will be good movies.”
Before Sandler took the stage, his longtime friend Henry Winkler introduced the star. Sandler may have defined a generation with his comedic performances in beloved films such as “50 First Dates,” “Click,” “The Wedding Singer” and “Bedtime Stories,” but “underneath the comedic layer is this wonderfully sincere dramatic actor,” Winkler said, pointing to Sandler’s excellence in “Uncut Gems” and “Jay Kelly.” “During that time, this guy never swapped his Hawaiian shirt for his sport shorts,” Winkler laughed.
Sandler originally rose to fame through stand-up comedy, debuting on “Saturday Night Live” in 1990. Now a global movie star, in 2025 alone Sandler starred in both “Jay Kelly” and “Happy Gilmore 2.”
“He is challenging stereotypes about aging in Hollywood and across the country,” AARP CEO Dr. Mietia Minter-Jordan told Variety about Sandler’s honor. “People know him, people think highly of him. We laugh with him, we cry with him. We’ve seen all the different characters he’s successfully portrayed over the years. And when you think of someone who’s had such a wide range of careers, there’s no one better. His body of work represents everything we can do as we grow older in this country.”
In Netflix’s “Jay Kelly,” Sandler plays Ron Sukenick, Jay Kelly’s (George Clooney) agent and best friend. Sandler was nominated for the 2026 Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe Awards for Best Supporting Actor for this role, and in 2020 he was nominated for the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Actor for his role in the 2019 crime thriller Uncut Gems, directed by Benny and Josh Safdie. Sandler also received the Chairman’s Award at the 2026 Palm Springs International Film Awards for his work in the film “Jay Kelly.”
The night’s winners included George Clooney, who won best actor for “Jay Kelly,” and Laura Dern, who won best actress for “Is This Sing On?” Regina Hall won Best Supporting Actress for “One Battle After Another,” and Delroy Lindo won Best Supporting Actor for “The Sinners.”
For more than 20 years, AARP’s Film Awards for Adults has celebrated entertainment by people 50 and older, combated ageism, and recognized the talent and experience of older actors and filmmakers. Alan Cumming, the Tony and Emmy Award-winning host of “Traitor,” hosted the ceremony. The full ceremony will be premiered on “Great Performances” on PBS and the PBS app on February 22nd.
