Why Stuart From The Wrong Missy Looks So Familiar
Netflix's latest original film, produced by Adam Sandler's Happy Madison company, succeeds on the backs of an outstanding comedic cast composed of both veteran talent and relative newcomers. The resulting blend is an oddball comedy of mistaken identity that sets up David Spade as the romantic lead, Tim Morris, opposite Lauren Lapkus' Missy.
The Wrong Missy's two lead actors are supported by an A-list cast of the usual comedic suspects, including Nick Swardson (Grandma's Boy, Reno 9-1-1), Molly Sims (Las Vegas), Sarah Chalke (Scrubs, Rick and Morty), and Rob Schneider (Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigolo). If those names sound familiar, it's because many of the featured members of The Wrong Missy's cast were drawn from Happy Madison's regular stable of talent. This is very much the crew that Adam Sandler made famous.
Swardson, Sims, and Schneider are three of Sandler's favorite cinematic collaborators, but there are at least two members of The Wrong Missy's cast with an even closer relationship to the notable SNL alum. The character Jess, of course, is played by the Sandman's wife, Jackie. Just one branch over on the family tree, however, you'll find the actor responsible for bringing the character Stuart to the screen, Sandler's nephew Jared.
Jared Sandler has more going for him than the obvious benefits of nepotism. Long before he joined the cast of The Wrong Missy, he'd built an impressive career spanning television, film, and stand-up.
Jared Sandler's career got an early boost from Uncle Adam
Jared Sandler was born on July 11, 1993 in Manchester, New Hampshire, though he now works out of Los Angeles and New York. He is the nephew of comedy legend Adam Sandler, and first cousin to Adam's two daughters, Sadie and Sunny. Uncle Adam must have gotten Jared hooked on the acting life early, because at the ripe old age of six, Jared Sandler made his first on-screen appearance in one of the most successful films of his uncle's long career, 1999's Big Daddy.
After that, Adam tapped his nephew again to provide the voice of "Dreidel Kid" in the animated holiday flick Eight Crazy Nights. By the time he reached his teen years, Jared had officially joined the Happy Madison crew, landing roles in 2006's The Benchwarmers and 2013's Grown Ups 2.
Jared Sandler never completely left the Happy Madison life behind. Since Grown Ups 2, he's appeared in several more of his uncle's projects — including two critically panned outings, Pixels and The Ridiculous 6 — but by 2013, Jared had caught the stand-up bug and started cultivating his own independent career.
Jared Sandler's been a fixture of the New York comedy scene
After getting a jumpstart to his career from Uncle Adam, Jared began working on some of his own comedic material, appearing on stage at popular stand-up venues in New York and LA. Since then, he's become an internationally famous touring comedian with a background that includes sketch comedy and improv. Given Adam Sandler's own background on Saturday Night Live, one wonders if he might have offered his nephew a little bit of advice.
Jared Sandler's stand-up success eclipsed his cinematic career early on. He is a regular performer at New York City's iconic Comic Strip Live, and has opened for some of the biggest comedic talent in the world. He's been featured on the same bill as David Spade, Rob Schneider, Nick Swardson, and of course, Uncle Adam himself (via IMDb). He has also hosted events at the Las Vegas Laugh Factory and the Eastville Comedy Club in New York. If you're a stand-up comedy fan, you may have seen him in the flesh.
Given the emphasis in his early career on Happy Madison movies and stand-up performances, Jared might have been guilty of following a little too closely in his uncle's impressive footsteps. Perhaps intuiting this implicit critique, he used an appearance on a popular Showtime drama series as a springboard to landing more diverse roles.
Jared Sandler skateboarded onto Shameless before moving on to feature films
Shortly after playing the "Frat Boy" in Grown Ups 2, Jared Sandler landed a small guest spot on a 2014 episode of the hit premium series Shameless. Jared played a character noted only as "Skateboarder" in the episode entitled "Like Father, Like Daughter." Though the role was a small one, it served the important function of allowing Jared Sandler to stand on his own two feet while demonstrating range beyond goofball comedy.
Since 2014, Jared has landed roles on a few major feature films outside the Happy Madison family. Those appearances include his 2018 turn as Billy Bob in The Little Mermaid and a 2019 performance as Trenton James in the indie film Loners.
The Wrong Missy may be Jared's most recent cinematic endeavor, but it certainly won't be his last. He had no fewer than three projects in post-production when the industry-wide shutdown hit, and a fourth that had only begun filming. Whenever Hollywood returns to business as usual, it seems Jared Sandler will be entering a whole new phase of his career.