L IFESTYLE /C ULTURE
Adam Sandler Film Piques Area Interest
FI L M
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
ADAM SANDLER’S 2019 fi lm
with the Safdie Brothers “Uncut
Gems” featured a Passover scene
with antics that made even the
most secular of Jews cringe.

But forever loyal to the artist
behind “Th e Chanukah Song,”
area Jews have their interests
piqued about a new Sandler
fi lm, especially one fi lmed in
the City of Brotherly Love.

Sandler was spotted in
Center City Philadelphia, South
Philadelphia and Jenkintown
the week of Sept. 20 shooting
“Hustle,” the fi rst major motion
picture fi lmed in the city since
the pandemic began.

Th ough fi lming for the
Netfl ix-backed movie began
in October 2020, Sandler
returned to Philadelphia in
late August and has since
frequented Handel’s Ice Cream
in Berwyn, Dan Dan Wayne,
Ray’s Happy Birthday Bar and
Pat’s King of Steaks in South
Philadelphia, among others.

Sandler also bought two
guitars from DiPinto Guitars
designed by owner Christ DiPinto
who delivered the instruments to
Sandler (and Sandler’s dog Bagel)
earlier this month.

“Honestly I didn’t even realize
how famous Adam Sandler was
... until I posted a picture [on
Instagram], and it just went
insanely crazy,” DiPinto said.

Sandler bought a DiPinto
guitar for a recording session
last time he was in Philadelphia
in October 2020.

“He’s super nice, super cool
and a great guitarist, too,”
DiPinto said.

Anthony Capozzoli, son
of Ray’s Happy Birthday Bar
owner Lou Capozzoli, rubbed
shoulders with Sandler as
an extra in two of the fi lm’s
scenes, one of which was shot
in the South Philadelphia bar.

Capozzoli plays a bartender
at Ray’s in the scene, which was
transformed into a 76ers bar,
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Adam Sandler has bought three DiPinto guitars from the local business
since ‘Hustle’ began fi lming in the city in October 2020.

Courtesy of DiPinto Guitars
complete with everyone on set
donning jerseys. In the fi lm,
a Sixers game will be played
on the bar’s television screens,
which, during fi lming, were
fully green.

To fi lm the scene, Capozzoli
woke up at 5 a.m., arrived on
set at 8:30 a.m. and waited
until 4:30 a.m. the next day to
fi lm his scene.

When 2 a.m. rolled around,
some of the well-known cast
members started a dance
party. Sandler joined in and
welcomed in the extras as well.

“We were all around this
rich crowd of people having a
great time, and he was a part
of it,” Capozzoli said. “He was
mixed in with all the extras,
just having a great time.”
While on set, Sandler and
the fi lm crew treated the extras
with the same respect as the
big-time actors, Capozzoli said.

In another scene, shot at a
playground in Manor College
in Jenkintown, Capozzoli was
a camp counselor watching
a group of young campers
observing a basketball scrim-
mage. Th e one scene took four
days to shoot.

In between takes, Capozzoli
said Sandler would talk to the
kids, keeping energy levels
high during the long days.

“He would come over to
make small talk,” Capozzoli
said. “He said, ‘Hey guys, I’m
a basketball fan as well. I love
your Sixers, but I’m more of a
Knicks fan.’”
Other area businesses were
happy to welcome Sandler.

In order to accommo-
date Sandler’s pork-free diet,
Dan Dan Wayne owners Cat
and Kevin Huang designed a
chicken-fi lled soup dumpling
— dubbed Sandler’s wonton —
and added it to the menu aft er
his visit on Aug. 30.

“Hustle” stars Sandler as
Stanley Beren, a past-prime
basketball scout who discovers
Spanish talent Bo Cruz outside
of Madrid and hopes to mold
him into a basketball superstar.

Queen Latifah and Robert Duvall
will star alongside Sandler.

Several players from the Sixers
are expected to make cameos.

Th ough no one can guarantee
Sandler’s new fi lm will have the
same Jewish overtones as “Uncut
Gems,” with Jewish fi lmmaker
Jeremiah Zagar, director of the
2018 fi lm “We the Animals”
and son of Philadelphia Magic
Garden artist Isaiah Zager, at
the helm of “Hustle,” Jews can
still have hope for some good
Jewish representation.

With the fi lm shooting in
Center City shortly aft er the
High Holidays, maybe we can
bet on a Sukkot scene. ●
srogelberg@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0741
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SEPTEMBER 30, 2021
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