“Blended” is a family comedy shot on location in South Africa. It stars some of Hollywood’s biggest names such as Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Kevin Nealon, Terry Crews and even Shaquille O’neal makes and appearance.
The movie tells the story of two single parents who end up accidentally sharing a trip to a blended family resort with their children. While we always expect to laugh during an Adam Sandler film, “Blended” was surprisingly even funnier than we expected. The scenery was beautiful and it featured Africa and its wildlife in a stunning light. From start to finish the movie was captivating and hilarious. Drew Barrymore’s character Lauren fills the void of the mother missing in Jim’s (Sandler) daughters’ lives and he does the same for Lauren’s sons. Through comedy, a touching story is told and you should definitely check it out this Friday, May 23.
We spoke with Kevin Nealon who also stars in the film. Read our exclusive interview below:
Q: What did you think of the script when you first got it?
Well I liked it. I love Adam Sandler scripts. I’ve done a lot of his films and this one I enjoyed and just like some of the other ones it’s funny, had a lot of heart and I knew we would be shooting South Africa so I thought this would be quite an experience.
Q: How was it shooting on location?
It was fascinating. It’s a country I’ve never been to before and we went in June but that was their winter so it was very cold at night and brown during the day. But the people are very nice and very accommodating and it was a pretty surreal fantasy to be there.
Q: How did it feel working alongside Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler?
I’ve done about 12 of his movies, so it’s very comfortable to work with him, we know each other so well and we laugh a lot and have fun. Drew Barrymore is very sweet and also easy to work with, she’s got a great sense of humor so really all in all it was one of my better experiences I think doing a film.
Q: Do you have any fun stories from shooting in Africa? What did you guys do for fun?
Yeah we went to Cape Town. I had a couple days off so we flew down to Cape Town and we toured around there. We saw the penguins and some of the beaches from the Cape of Good Hope. And we went to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was held prisoner for 18 years inside of a cell. And then we had some great game safaris, too. We went out and looked at all the animals, pulled right up next to some lions, elephants and rhinos it was just very spectacular.
Q: What was it like working with director Frank Coraci?
He’s great! I worked with him on another film called “The Wedding Singer” and he’s a nice guy, he’s got a really good handle on things. He’s got a good eye for what makes these films work, so it was a real privilege to work with him again.
Q: What do you think viewers will take away from watching this film?
They will really enjoy the journey. They will feel like they’ve been in South Africa. They’ll get a lot of laughs and like I said there’s a lot of heart to this film so I think it’s like an emotional roller coaster ride. I think they’ll really enjoy it and they will have a good time.
Q: Do you gravitate towards comedic roles?
I think so. It kind of comes second nature to me comedy and it’s kind of what people know me for so I end up playing mostly comedic roles.
Q: If you had to pick one location and one scene to do all over again which would it be?
It would probably be us riding out on the jeep for the safari. You know with the rhino.
