Adam Sandler - Don't mess with this comic actor

6:50am Saturday 16th August 2008

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AS Adam Sandler chases a terrorist along an Israeli beach, his hairy, muscled torso glistens in the sun.

While the Jewish-born comic actor will always be more Austin Powers than James Bond, there's no denying those muscles are real.

America's favourite goofy guy has clearly been working out for his latest film, You Don't Mess With the Zohan.

He may be famous for his slapstick schtick, but this time Sandler - the film's lead actor, producer and writer - has decided to push both himself and the boundaries of comedy to the limit.

In You Don't Mess With the Zohan, Sandler plays Zohan Dvir, an Israeli commando who wants to become a hairdresser. After faking his own death, Tel Aviv's finest counter-terrorist heads to Manhattan, armed just with a book of 1980s hairstyles and a desire to make all hair 'silky smooth'.

Although many of Sandler's 20 films over the last decade, such as The Waterboy, 50 First Dates and Spanglish, have catered for a mainstream audience, his more recent movies have had certain critics gnawing at their hotdogs.

Last year's I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry delved into the subject of gay marriage and You Don't Mess With the Zohan focuses on the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Adam says the idea for the movie - which features a disproportionate amount of jokes about Jews, terrorists, Arabs, goats and hummous - came to him many years ago.

"I had this Israeli guy who used to cut my hair and I always used to ask him questions about the Israeli army. And he would fix my hair while mentioning missions he was on and stuff."

But although he wrote the movie almost 10 years ago, the events of 9/11 pushed the script to the bottom of the pile.

It was only when other comedians began poking fun at sensitive subjects that he thought the world was ready.

"We were consciously trying to do our own thing," he says.

"But I do think Borat is one of the funniest movies. I tried to make sure we didn't do Borat but I'm sure on occasion we went a bit 'Boraty'."

Adam's character, 'The Zohan', has a legendary reputation for thwarting terrorists, womanising and disco dancing. The 41-year-old followed a strict workout regime to bring his alter-ego to life.

"He worked out for five hours months every single day," says director Dennis Dugan. "And moaned about it every single day. Then when we shot for 100 days and he worked out every single day of the shoot and moaned about it every single day."

It's clear from his friendly, intimate tone that he and Adam get on well. Adam is well known for working with his friends; and luckily the famous actor can count some of the best of Hollywood's comedy talent among his mates.

The You Don't Mess With the Zohan production team includes writers, Robert Smigel and Judd Apatow (Knocked Up) and actors Rob Schneider and John Turturro.

"Many years ago I lived with Judd Apatow, and Rob [Schneider] was right across the street," Adam explains.

"Apatow was best friends with Jim Carrey and we all hung out. Ben Stiller and all those guys - we all hung out in the same crappy apartment."

Adam started his career on the Los Angeles' stand up comedy circuit and says he has his brother to thank for his choice of profession.

"I was applying for colleges and I said to my brother, 'What should I major in and he said: 'Why don't you be an actor'. And I said, 'Okay I'll do that'. It was a good move on his part."

Obviously becoming an actor does wonders for a young man's sex life. But Adam says his character on You Don't Mess With the Zohan attracted a totally new set of female fans.

"I had this fake crotch bulge for the shoot," he says. "And younger women did not look that much but the older women did. It was all...'Good Morning Adam'."

During the film, once Zohan hits New York he lands a job at Dalia's [played by Emmanuelle Chriqui] hair salon in downtown Manhattan, where he treats her older clientele to an orgy of hairspray, sexy talk and disco dancing. Sandler says that playing a young man with an intense sexual appetite meant that he had to make rather extreme requests of his co-stars. Lainie Kazan who plays Gail - a mother with whom he has intimate relations - got cold feet half way through.

"She came in the first few days and was like, 'This is so funny. The script's incredible everybody. And then I think her granddaughter slept over and she was in a whole new mood the next day. She said: 'I have a granddaughter - I can't do what you're asking me to do'. And I was like, 'You've done two days of it all ready!'. She liked the movie when she saw it but she definitely got nervous in the middle."

But one cast member who took it all in her stride was Mariah Carey.

"She was a great, great girl," Adam says.

"I met Mariah a long time ago on Saturday Night Live. Then when we wrote in the original draft, we thought it was cool that the only thing that the Israelis and Palestinians could agree upon was that Mariah Carey was hot. While on set, she worked hard and I got to listen to her new album. I was in the room with her deciding which should be the first single."