Facial Expressions from a Master

12/1/2019

The Many FACES of
Adam Sandler

Key Concept: A great comedian commands a mastery of facial expressions, from nuanced to exaggerated.

The recent New York Times Magazine profile of Adam Sandler, a rare in-depth interview, includes a manic, 4-second looping clip of the comedic actor cycling through an enormous variety of facial expressions.

The video, created from a series of stills taken during a photo session, is intended to show off the actor’s facial versatility. What’s not clear, due to the speed with which the images flash by, is that the facial expressions are not random; rather the grins and grimaces follow a narrative arc. Instead of simply mugging for the camera, Sandler tells a spontaneously improvised story with classic cardinal expressions mixed in with comedic and affected poses.

Here’s my own invented narration of the action, based on individual frames pulled from the video which I studied at length:

BREAKING DOWN THE VIDEO - go here to view the video

Sandler begins the sequence with closed eyes and a distressed look to his brows.

“Things aren’t going too well."

From distress, Sandler moves to contemplation. Not a cardinal expression, his raised brows, hand to chin (the gesture of Rodin’s “Thinker”) and look to one side express thoughtfulness.

“I think I can figure this out."

Sandler benefits from being able to raise the outer corner of one eyebrow (here on our left) asymmetrically. This ability, acquired unconsciously during childhood, is only present in a minority of people. The finger wag, combined with the tweaked eyebrow, makes the conversational point:

“You may not believe this."

His first cardinal expression – a broad, sincere, closed-mouth smile, ever-so-slightly over the top, based on the eyes being just a bit too compressed, the effect a bit too smug. Combined with the fist gesture, the message says:

See, I told you I would figure this out. I did it!”

A much more complex expression, but still in the smile category. The raised upper eyelid and raised brows are part of the eager smile (Surprise + Smile), and what portion of the mouth we see is consistent with the configuration of the suppressed smile, a smile which is both enacted and restricted at the same time. Sandler seems to hide his smile with his hand. The message:

“You’ll never guess what I’ve got cooked up next.

Fear and sadness can overlap when facial movements are subtle and ambiguous. The brow and eyes are distressed (note the frown lines and oblique upper eyelid), but the eyes are open too wide for clear sadness, not wide enough for clear fear. The dropped-open mouth, slightly stretched at the level of the lower lip, is also midway between sadness and fear. In the context of the video, the face appears anxious.

“Uh oh, I hadn’t thought of that possibility.”

Here for the first time Sandler reverts to exaggerated, unnatural faces, more a part of his comic repertoire than any expression that might appear in “normal” conversation. On the left is a cartoon version of fear, but with both the mouth and finger wag out of sequence with the anxiety in the eyes. On the right is a “goofy” face, with a non-emotive curled-lip mouth, and slightly crossed, upwards-gazing eyes. Sandler is playing the clown, and anything goes.

“This is driving me crazy – enough already!”

After the interval of distress and confusion, the narrative arc comes back to a straightforward, extremely appealing smile. This classic, open-mouthed smile has no complicating factors, and is the sort of expression an actor might use for their head shot.

“Things are going to be just fine.”

But the story can’t have a simple happy ending. From the pretty-boy smile, Sandler slides into mild disgust (which is almost always asymmetrical, as here.). The narrowed eyes and slight frown are also part of the disgust pattern.

“Now I have to do WHAT?”

This is not a cardinal expression. The extra-widened eyes are combined with relaxed eyebrows and a neutral mouth. The face communicates heightened attention, but nothing more explicit. In the context of the narrative, the message seems to be,

“Okay, I’m bracing myself for the next episode.”

Now Mr. Nice Guy Sandler confronts us more directly, implicating us in what’s challenging him. On the left is a face often interpreted as confused or skeptical. One eye is narrowed, with a neutral brow; the other displays an eyebrow strongly lifted to the outside, here seen as a gesture of disbelief. The hand holding the chin implies thoughtfulness. In the image on the right, a scowl of anger or irritation appears as the eye widens, while the eye on our left continues to express skepticism. The hand gesture, with the index finger upraised and slightly bent, seems to say “Bring it On” or “Screw You, Buddy”, combined with the annoyed, questioning face.

“Okay is that the way you want it – bring it on!”

The most purposely insincere of the three smiles we have featured. Here the broad smile is slightly strained looking (the teeth showing asymmetrically, which never happens in a true broad smile), and eyes are far too squinted to match the mouth, a basic requirement for the expression of joy to appear truly warm. Sandler is posing a smile, but it’s meant as a gesture, not an actual expression.

“Okay, I’ve got your number – see how worried I am?”

The cardinal expressions – Joy, Anger, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Surprise – are all emotional states. Facial expression also includes physical states, like pain, fatigue, and intoxication. Here Sandler follows up his dismissal of an outside threat with hand gestures, and on the right, a deeply frowning brow, that expresses a state of mild pain, or frustration.

“I had no idea that this would go on this long. Enough already!”

As in any good comic drama, things go from bad to worse, from pain to emotional collapse. Here Sandler does an excellent job of appearing to cry, with the frown, eye squint, and stretched, pouting mouth all consistent with the action of weeping – reinforced by the strong hand gesture pressing against his face.

“You have no idea what you have driven me to! This is the worst!”

With Sandler’s character breaking down in tears as the most dramatic moment in this mini-story, the narrative now winds down to a fitful, anti-climatic end. Here Sandler recovers (amazing quickly) from his crying jag and demonstrates that he is simply disgusted with the whole story.

“You and your whole enterprise make me sick.”

The video ends with a whimper, rather than a bang. This image, one of the last few frames, expresses exhaustion – with a radically lowered upper eyelid, along with eyebrows raised to stave off sleep. The story is finished for now.

“Okay, I’m checking out. Wake me up when this is really over.”

The jittery, too-fast quality of the video that the Times embedded with its Sandler story does the actor no favors. Far from being the mere display of random faces as it might appear, Sandler’s expressive pyrotechnics tell a coherent story, of a man being confronted with a variety of challenges. His brief victories are followed by renewed threats, until finally he can take no more, and withdraws with disdain from the field. What’s impressive is Sandler’s total control over such a wide variety of effective expressions, summoned up at will to tell a story. No wonder they pay him those big bucks!

CREDITS: All photos in this blog post are from a video comprised of stills by photographer/illustrator, Zachary Scott for an article in The New York Times Magazine, "Adam Sandler’s Everlasting Shtick," written by Jamie Lauren Keiles and published on November 27, 2019.

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