Adam Sandler is taking part in an impressive Best Actor awards campaign for Hustle.
The sports drama was released on Netflix in June, and stars Sandler as an NBA scout who discovers a talented basketball player (Juancho Hernangómez) in Spain.
For the film, the actor received some of the best reviews of his career.
While his previous films for Netflix, including The Ridiculous 6, Sandy Wexler and Murder Mystery, were all torn apart by critics, Hustle was well regarded, and led to him breaking an impressive Rotten Tomatoes record.
On Wednesday (26 October), the Academy hosted an awards screening for Hustle, which is said to have received a warm response. Sandler was in attendance, and participated in a Q&A that was moderated by US chat show host Jimmy Fallon.
Vanity Fair reported that Netflix might consider pushing Sandler for Best Actor at the Oscars following a middling festival response to other forthcoming films, including Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Bardo and Noah Baumbach’s White Noise, which stars Daniel Giménez Cacho and Adam Driver, respectively.
While Sandler still remains an outside bet for an Oscar nomination, recognition by smaller awards bodies, including Critics Choice, is not outside the question.
However, Sandler is certainly striking while the iron is hot, and has attended several events throughout Los Angeles in recent months. Earlier this week, he was named the recipient of the Gotham Awards’ annual performer tribute.
Actors expected to be contention for Best Actor at the Oscars in 2023 include Brendan Fraser for The Whale, Colin Farrell for The Banshees of Inisherin, Austin Butler for Elvis, Bill Nighy for Living and Hugh Jackman for The Son.
In 2019, Sandler was in the running for his first Oscar nomination for Uncut Gems, but missed out.
