From Airheads to Oscars? Adam Sandler sings friend and former costar Brendan Fraser's praises

Who woulda thunk that the stars of Airheads would nearly 30 years later turn in two of the most critically acclaimed performances of the year?

That was a question posed in a press conference during a Netflix conversation with Adam Sandler around his basketball dramedy Hustle. Along with The Sand Man, Brendan Fraser is generating serious Oscar buzz for his transformative turn in Daron Aronofsky's The Whale.

"He's just so smart, such a deep guy, and he's such a loving sweetheart," Sandler said of Fraser. "We've been talking a lot lately and I couldn't be happier for him. His performance, I saw [The Whale], is ridiculous. He's always been great, he's always been as deep as it gets. When we were doing Airheads, he was on a different trip than all of us."

The 1994 comedy starred Sandler, Fraser, and Steve Buscemi as the members of struggling L.A. hard rock band The Lone Rangers, who are as dumb as their music is loud. Together they hatch the brilliant plan to hijack a radio station to get their demo played. Also starring Chris Farley, Airheads was met with near universal derision.

Still, Sandler notes, Fraser was fully committed to his performance as Chester "Chazz Darby" Ogilvie, so it's "not a shock" to him that he's now earning some well-deserved praise.

"He really took [Airheads] serious, he took everything about the full growth of his character and his look and what each line meant. He was never messing around," Sandler said. "The fact that he got to make The Whale, and a bunch of great movies over the years, but the fact that it's at such a great crescendo for him right now is not a shock."

"I wish him the best," he added, "I hope every dream comes true for him. He's a good person. I wish him nothing but the greatest."

Sandler, himself, is receiving some of the best notices of his career for Hustle, even though he admitted during the Q&A that after his first few films, he stopped reading reviews all together. If he had been reading them, however, he'd know that Hustle is one of his most beloved movies with audiences and critics alike.

"It had a lot of deep scenes that connected with me," Sandler said of the Netflix film, "playing a guy who's just been working hard his whole life and not getting exactly what his goal was, being overlooked and people at work getting in his way. A lot of people have dealt with this in their life. I knew this movie was a different feel for me, but it's kind of a combination of stuff I've done in the past and a newer version of who I am."

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

Related content:

• Adam Sandler talks bringing his passion for hoops and heart to basketball drama Hustle
• The 10 best Adam Sandler movies
• Adam Sandler's Hustle becomes his most loved movie with both fans and critics on Rotten Tomatoes
• Brendan Fraser continues awards season dominance with another win for The Whale performance
• Tracking the top 2023 Oscar contenders