Adam Sandler’s Biggest Near-Miss Casting Would Have Been Secretly Perfect

Comedy superstar Adam Sandler once almost landed the role of Willy Wonka, and it actually would have been a perfect fit for the actor. Unlike many actors, Adam Sandler’s career wasn’t launched or defined by a single role. Rather, Sandler’s career success was built upon his consistent output of movies, the vast majority of which he helped to write and produce as well as star in. Though Adam Sandler has only rarely tasted critical praise for his work, his ability to entertain cannot be understated, and it has led to a hugely successful career so far.

One of the most common criticisms of Adam Sandler is that many of his characters are incredibly similar. Most of them are immature or emotionally stunted in some way, leading to Sandler often screaming angrily in most of his movies. Despite this contributing to the cries of his detractors, Adam Sandler’s ability as an entertainer has shined through, leading to something of a career resurgence and critical reappraisal in recent years.

Although Sandler’s consistently busy career might suggest otherwise, there are actually a number of roles that the actor narrowly missed out on. Sandler famously turned down a role in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds due to his commitment to Funny People, and he was a top contender for the role of Willy Wonka in the 2005 adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Though Sandler lost out to Johnny Depp on that occasion, Sandler’s inherent qualities as a performer and more subtle connections to the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory legacy mean that he would have been subtly perfect for the character of Willy Wonka, and may have even made the film more successful had he been cast in the role.

Why Adam Sandler Would Have Made The Perfect Willy Wonka

While Adam Sandler’s problems with critics have contributed to his reputation as someone content to rest on his laurels by repeatedly playing characters with similar personalities, this could have worked for Willy Wonka. Sandler’s roles in films such as Billy Madison and Big Daddy showed a specific set of talents that would have been perfect for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: he can play a man who is good with children but still deeply emotionally unstable, proving both endearing and unsettling at the same time. This would be perfect for the role of the eccentric chocolatier giving a once-in-a-lifetime tour of his factory, with Sandler’s ability to flit between wacky comedy and explosive meltdowns affording an obvious opportunity for comedy.

Interestingly, Adam Sandler’s success despite making many bad movies also makes him secretly perfect for the role of Willy Wonka, because it forges a connection with the original Wonka actor, Gene Wilder. Wilder was also known for making comedies, many of which have been largely forgotten due to their somewhat questionable quality, and, what’s more, Sandler even bears a passing resemblance to Wilder. Subtly evoking Gene Wilder both on and off-screen would have also made Sandler a perfect fit for the role, even if it does seem a somewhat circumspect reason for the casting.

Though Johnny Depp brought something valuable and interesting to the role, Adam Sandler could have been perfect in a different way. Adam Sandler’s comedy movies of the 1990s prove that he possesses all the skills necessary to make an excellent Willy Wonka, and it’s fairly easy to imagine exactly what that iteration of the character might look like. As such, it’s something of a shame that Adam Sandler wasn’t cast as Willy Wonka, because he’d have secretly been perfect in the role.