Adam Sandler credits this man for helping launch his career, and why George Clooney doesn't like ...

&34;Jay Kelly&34; stars Clooney, Sandler, Laura Dern, Emily Mortimer, and director Noah Baumbach discuss their new movie &34;Around the Table&34; with EW. Adam Sandler credits this man for helping launch his career, and why George Clooney doesn't like directing himself &34;Jay Kelly&34; stars Clooney, Sandler, Laura Dern, Emily Mortimer, and director Noah Baumbach discuss their new movie &34;Around the Table&34; with EW. By Gerrad Hall :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/Gerrad413fcf02541834f43bb26c0de8fe66f66.

"Jay Kelly" stars Clooney, Sandler, Laura Dern, Emily Mortimer, and director Noah Baumbach discuss their new movie "Around the Table" with EW.

Adam Sandler credits this man for helping launch his career, and why George Clooney doesn't like directing himself

"Jay Kelly" stars Clooney, Sandler, Laura Dern, Emily Mortimer, and director Noah Baumbach discuss their new movie "Around the Table" with EW.

By Gerrad Hall

Gerrad Hall is an editorial director at **, overseeing movie, awards, and music coverage. He is also host of *The Awardist* podcast, and has cohosted EW's live Oscars, Emmys, SAG, and Grammys red carpet shows. He has appeared on *Good Morning America*, *The Talk*, *Access Hollywood*, *Extra!*, and other talk shows, delivering the latest news on pop culture and entertainment.

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December 7, 2025 10:00 a.m. ET

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Jay Kelly, the world-famous movie star played by George Clooney in Noah Baumbach's movie of the same name, couldn't have gotten to where he did without his mentor, a producer named Peter Schneider (played by Jim Broadbent), who saw something in him as a young man.

Sitting down for **'s *Around the Table*, Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, Emily Mortimer, and Baumbach share who some of those people were in their lives.

Sandler credits Lucien Hold, manager of New York's Comic Strip, for helping launch not just his career but also those of Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, and many other comedians.

"He decided if you would get on stage, and that guy spent so much time, for no reason, with me and Chris Rock," Sandler recalls. "He really was the greatest guy. He got nothing from it, no money from it, just ran the club... Every comic has a good Lucien story."

Laura Dern, George Clooney, and Adam Sandler in 'Jay Kelly'.

Peter Mountain/Netflix

Clooney and Dern look back on time spent at dinner parties with "class act" Gregory Peck and his wife, Veronique Passani, who "lit up a room," Clooney says, also noting that Peck, as well as Paul Newman, used their celebrity for causes. Baumbach then explains how one of his own mentors, Peter Bogdanovich, who died in 2022, influenced part of the story for this movie.

"It's not that Peter Schneider is him, but there are aspects of Peter Bogdanovich in the character, the neckerchief," Baumbach says. "I'm quoting Peter, because this is who I heard it from, but... 'movies are pieces of time,' is from Jimmy Stewart. He had said it, and, of course, Peter Bogdanovich would do it; it's his great imitation of Jimmy Stewart."

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One of Dern's first movies was *Mask*, directed by Bogdanovich.

"He was so determined to educate. I feel so lucky. I feel like we all grew up with the mentors that taught us, no matter what talent there is, that it takes learning about storytelling," Dern recalls. "He was such a believer in teaching us about film and showing us all the movies and making sure we'd seen all the movies. We spent so much time when we first met about what made us fall in love with this, the performances or the filmmakers. I hope that's never lost."

George Clooney, Adam Sandler, and Noah Baumbach on the set of 'Jay Kelly'.

Elsewhere, Baumbach reveals that Clooney is the one who made him appear in the movie within the movie.

"I hadn't acted in a while, but you cast me in the part," says Baumbach — who last appeared on screen as Philip in 2004's *The Life Aquatic With Steve Zisso*u, which he wrote — referring to Clooney. "I think it actually made it easier for me because I could essentially direct the scene and be in the scene at the same time, which would, I think, you've done that, where you've directed yourself, and I wouldn't even know how to begin."

"It's terrible," Clooney says. "Because you're breaking one cardinal rule actors can't do to actors, which is, if you and I are doing a scene and I'm directing it and we do the scene, the one cardinal rule is I can't tell you what to do [as an actor]. But then you're the director. You go, 'Okay, that was good, but maybe a little faster,' which is such a s--- thing to do.' So, usually I have to talk to the actors. I'm going, 'I really apologize for this.'"

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Watch the full *Around the Table* above. *Jay Kelly* is streaming on Netflix.**

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Original Article on Source

Source: "EW Comedy"

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Source: Comedy

Published: December 09, 2025 at 09:38AM on Source: MARIO MAG

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