Adam Sandler’s All ‘Grownup’: Actor to Receive AARP Career Achievement Award

If anyone needs further proof that Adam Sandler‘s body of work transcends youth culture, AARP announced today that the actor, comedian and former Saturday Night Live cast member will receive its Movies for Grownups Career Achievement award at its annual ceremony on Jan. 10, 2026.

Sandler, who won the organization’s Movies for Grownups Award for Best Actor in 2020 for his gripping performance in Uncut Gems, is generating awards buzz for his performance in Jay Kelly as movie star Kelly’s (George Clooney) devoted manager Ron Sukenick. He has already been nominated for an Outstanding Supporting Performance award at the 2025 Gotham Independent Film Awards, which take place Dec. 1.

The film, which opens in theaters on Nov. 14, screened at the Venice and New York Film Festivals, among others, and is receiving largely glowing reviews.

“We couldn’t be prouder to present this year’s Movies for Grownups Career Achievement Award to Adam Sandler, a Hollywood legend whose remarkable career has set a new standard for comedic storytelling, captivating audiences across generations,” said Myechia Minter-Jordan, CEO of AARP in a statement.
“Adam’s enduring success, his ability to reinvent himself, inspire laughter, and move us through dramatic performances is a testament to the power of creativity at every age.”

The Movies for Grownups Awards, which originated in 2001, honors the most compelling film and television of the previous year that was created for the 50-plus audience. The ceremony will take place in Beverly Hills, Calif. and broadcast by Great Performances on PBS in February. Alan Cumming will host.

The AARP honor will join a long list of accolades for Sandler. He received the 2023 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, has also earned three Grammy nominations, seven Primetime Emmy nominations, two Golden Globe nominations and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. He won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead for Uncut Gems (2019), and his performance in Hustle (2022) earned him a Critics Choice Award nomination.

His long-anticipated Happy Gilmore 2 — which co-starred Bad Bunny and featured a cameo by Eminem — also became Netflix’s most-watched U.S. film debut ever and the top opening for any Sandler movie on the service, with 46.7 million views in its first three days and 2.9 billion viewing minutes in its first week, according to Nielsen.