Maria Bello Going Strictly For Laughs in Sandler's “Grown Ups”

Maria Bello's "Thank You For Smoking" alcohol lobbyist gave us a subtle peek at her comedy chops, but Bello is going all in for laughs in the upcoming "Grown Ups" and admits it was a bit on the nerve-wracking side.

"It's my first big comedy," she said nervously. "I've never done one before."

This movie will probably not inspire long discussions in future film classes (it is an Adam Sandler screenplay, after all, which means it was probably written in crayon). It involves a bunch of high school kids who get together at a lake house years after graduation. "And hilarity ensures," Bello said. Sounds like a downmarket version of "The Big Chill," but if Sandler writes good lines, the talented cast can deliver laughs.

The film will have an interesting cast of SNL alums from a slew of past seasons (Sandler, Chris Rock, David Spade, Rob Schneider and Maya Rudolph to name a few), Kevin James and unlikely choices such as Steve Buscemi and Salma Hayek.

Bello, who had journalists eating out of her hand at the film day for "The Yellow Handkerchief"  could make C-span riveting. But she says it took her a time to gain her footing on the comedy thing.

"Those guys are so used to it, with improv and the SNL days," she said of her co-stars. " I just listened to them. They told me what to do and I did it."

"Grown Ups" is due out in June.

Contact Us