Entertainment

Kathy Bates reveals how Adam Sandler shattered her view of him in 'The Waterboy'

Kathy Bates opens up about why she rejected 'The Waterboy'

Published June 20, 2026
Kathy Bates reveals how Adam Sandler shattered her view of him in The Waterboy
Kathy Bates reveals how Adam Sandler shattered her view of him in 'The Waterboy'

Kathy Bates recently admitted that she did not know anything about Adam Sandler when she first received The Waterboy script.

For those unaware, the 1998 sports comedy film directed by Frank Coraci cast Bates as Helen “Mama” Boucher and Sandler as Bobby Boucher Jr., a waterboy for a college football team who “discovers he has a unique tackling ability and becomes a member of the team.”

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While giving an interview to The Hollywood Reporter, the 77-year-old American actress and director shared, "I didn't know who Adam Sandler was and I got a script. It was a football script, and I was like, 'Oh, let's give me a football.' Twelve pages I read and I thought, 'Oh man, I can't do this thing. This is ridiculous.' "

"So, I just tossed it in the waste basket, and my niece, who works with me, saw it and picked it out of the [trash]. She said, 'What is this?' So I said, 'It's a script that some kid Adam Sandler [wrote],' and she went, 'Adam Sandler? You don't know the Hanukkah song? Put on your yarmulka, here comes Hanukkah?’”

“So, I took another look at it, and I thought, well, I'll do this for Linda. Turns out we had the most fun. He's brilliant. He's a genius,” Kathy Bates confessed.

It is pertinent to mention that The Waterboy had other cast members, including Fairuza Balk, Henry Winkler, Frank Coraci, Jerry Reed, Blake Clark, and many more.

Areeba Sheikh
Areeba Sheikh is a reporter specialising in trending topics, with a focus on music, entertainment culture, and viral moments. For the past two years she has been covering wide artists, releases, and digital conversations, blending storytelling with trend analysis to capture how online buzz, fandom, and pop culture shape global audience engagement.