TORONTO -- Before they collaborated on "The Cobbler," Adam Sandler and Oscar-nominated director Thomas McCarthy were unlikely bedfellows -- and they knew it.
"I think when Sandler signed on, he had an idea of that," said McCarthy, the director of "The Station Agent," "The Visitor" and "Win Win."
"He said, 'It feels like on a bigger scale, this could be one of my movies' ... but he also said, 'it ain't really one of your movies either.'
"I was like, 'No, you're right. We're going into uncharted territory. We're holding hands and jumping. Let's just have some fun with it and not overthink it, not be precious about it, but work hard and try to really find the story.'
"We worked really hard on it and I think we're all really proud of it."
In theatres now, "The Cobbler" casts Sandler as an isolated shoemaker who discovers a magic sewing machine that allows him to assume the appearance of anyone whose shoes he wears.
McCarthy talked to The Canadian Press about working with the 48-year-old Sandler.
CP: This film is tough to classify. How do you describe it to people?
McCarthy: It's sort of like a modern fairy tale. A lot of fairy tales are told in animation, which helps, or big-budget genre fairytales, which to me are usually unsuccessful. And we were trying to do it in a gritty, realistic, Lower East Side-New York kind of way and create our own fable.
I'm most happy when people have no idea what to expect about the movie.
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CP: When did you see Adam Sandler in the lead role?
McCarthy: Before I really finished the draft.
Adam, he's a Jew from Brooklyn, his parents moved there, and then they moved to New Hampshire or something. He totally connected with it, right off the bat, the history of it and his heritage.
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CP: Did you get the sense he wanted a departure?
McCarthy: Whether you like his movies or not, very few people have done it as successfully as he has. And I don't think I've ever met anyone who works harder. I know a lot of hard-working dudes who work at a high level, and he is an animal.
He just loves the work. He loves talking about it, loves diving into it, loves breaking it down, and he's incredibly intelligent about it.
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CP: He's approaching 50. Do you see him doing a different kind of work?
McCarthy: Adam's in an amazing place. He has a boyish quality about him. He's a Peter Pan almost, in that way. But he's aging in a kind of cool way. He's an adult. He's got two kids. He's got a big adult life.
This is a man who's led a full life. You can see it in his face in a cool way. His face is getting a cool look to it now. That's what made him feel so right for this.
