Adam Sandler was met with a roar of applause from the “Saturday Night Live” audience when he dropped into a bloody hospital sketch during the Dec. 14 episode.
In the sketch, Emil Wakim, Ego Nwodim, Bowen Yang and host Chris Rock play surgeons all scrubbed in and celebrating a successful surgery. But a less-than-responsible surgeon, played by Sarah Sherman, admits she screwed up her pre-op paperwork and the patient’s gallbladder was removed instead of his appendix.
While the medical team is shocked, Rock’s surgical lead asks the team not to be too hard on her, when the previously-covered patient sits up on the bed, revealing Sandler. His appearance leads to fake blood flying all over the cast, and he pressures Rock to open his mouth to stop the gushing. Rock does and is drenched with blood everywhere, including in his mouth, leaving the players and audience laughing.
At one point, Sandler breaks the fourth wall further with featured player Wakim, saying that although his role in the sketch isn’t that big, his family will be proud that he got a showcase.
Sandler also stuck around through the show’s Goodnights, where he and Rock were free of fake blood in fresh clothes.
Sandler and Rock are longtime collaborators, having overlapped while working on “Saturday Night Live” in the ’90s and then starring in multiple movies together, including 2005’s “The Longest Yard,” 2010’s “Grown-Ups” and 2018’s “The Week Of.”
Sandler also has collaborated with Sherman, as they both had roles in the 2023 film “You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah,” as well as her opening for him on tour.