SINGAPORE — Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore are falling in love … for the third time.

You’d be hard pressed to find an all-time favourite rom-com list without 1998’s The Wedding Singer and 2004’s 50 First Dates, which is why it made sense for the pair to reunite once more in Blended, which is now showing in Singapore cinemas.

Directed by The Wedding Singer director Frank Coraci, Barrymore and Sandler play single parents Lauren and Jim who, after one disastrous date, somehow end up on an African safari vacation together with their respective kids.

Oh, to be a fly-on-the-wall eavesdropping on real-life pals Adam and Drew as they finish each other’s sentences... Oh wait, we can.

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Q: Why did you decide to make this film?

Drew Barrymore: I got really excited about it, because I thought that it was a very funny movie. And I really loved the way that all the characters were written … I just thought there was such an interesting dichotomy between what these kids need and how this man and this woman come into their life and actually fulfil, I think, what these kids need. And as much as I was laughing along the way, I was also very emotional. Because these parents are just trying to be really good parents, these kids have needs in life, and I just loved the balance of how funny and emotional this film was.

Adam Sandler: Yeah. That’s right.

DB: And that it also was going to have an incredible backdrop as well.

AS: Africa.

DB: That gave it, like, scope. And it was a big-feeling movie, and I just got really excited about the whole thing.

AS: My favourite part of the movie is when all the kids just, one by one, go, “You complete me.” “You complete me.” “You complete me.” That’s the best part, right?

DB: I should have just said that.

AS: Yeah, I like that I said it.

DB: I know.

Q: Adam, what made you want to star in and produce Blended?

AS: Well, two things. Drew and Barrymore. I just wanted to be by the nice smell she has. This sweet, blonde…

DB: I didn’t put anything on today.

AS: You don’t need it. Your skin smells nice.

DB: I showered.

AS: Oh, yeah! What is that?

DB: Mmm! Nice, right?

AS: Good stuff, mama.

DB: Shampoo. You know why?

AS: Shampoo, it makes something healthy…

DB: It’s better.

AS: Yeah, yeah. I heard.

DB: Conditioner is better.

AS: Yeah, it’s silky. But, yeah, my Drew … I just wanted to be by my Drew. We wanted to do a movie together. We’re both…

DB: Parents.

AS: Parents now. We connected to this movie a lot and just thought it was a nice message. A hopeful movie and funny movie, and that’s why.

Q: How was shooting in Africa?

AS: Well, it looks beautiful. When you get to Africa, you go, “Oh, my God, this is what I saw my whole life and I’ve never been here.” But it feels familiar.

DB: It’s amazing. Especially when they go on safari from the hotel, it just gets more layered, how beautiful the landscape is, and how extraordinary the animals are. And it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience to get to see something like that.

AS: That’s one of the neatest things I saw. My manager, Sandy Wernick, came to visit and a leopard ate him. That was awesome.

DB: But, wait, he’s right there!

AS: Oh, yeah. No, that’s a clone.

DB: I thought there was something a little off about Sandy.

Q: How was it to work with all of the kids in this movie?

AS: Yes. Four for five, we win.

DB: I love … We not only … Yeah.

AS: I can’t stand Bella. I really can’t. No, I loved them, though. I was just joking.

DB: I mean, I just loved the way that the characters were written. But then, to cast five amazing, different, individual kids…

AS: How about the little kid who was Lou?

DB: I know. She’s so good.

AS: Little blondie. She came to read-through … Remember that read-through?

DB: Yeah. Mm-hmmm.

AS: And she was bringing the house down. Everything she said…

DB: She could improv, too, which was great. Like, you would throw her stuff in the middle of takes and she would always do it perfectly.

AS: She was pretty good, man. Yeah, I know. She never jumped out of character, she just did it. And how old was she? One? One-and-a-half?

DB: Something like that.

AS: She’s pretty good, man.

Q: What was it like to work with (co-star) Wendi McLendon-Covey?

DB: The best.

AS: Those guys hit it off big.

DB: We really did. And I…

AS: They hated me together.

DB: Nobody hated you. I loved working with someone who … Again, chemistry. I feel like I love my chemistry with Adam, but you want your girlfriend to be someone people would believe, like, you’re actually really friends. And I just thought Wendi was awesome. And we got along so well. And we got to play off each other. I feel like I got to have great chemistry with this awesome woman.

AS: Strong lady. And funny lady.

DB: God, she’s so good.

AS: And you two together. When you were yelling on the bleachers? It’s the greatest.

DB: And I love working with comedians, too, because you want to be there for them and back them up, but not step on their toes when they’re trying to do something funny. So it’s like this weird, cool dance, and so I just love working with funny people.

AS: Yep.

Q: How was it working with Shaq?

AS: Oh, yeah. He is a big fella, no doubt about it. Handsome, tall, well-put-together. Yeah, yeah. He’s a fine man. “Well off,” I was going to say.

DB: I’m sure.

AS: Yes, I love him. He’s a good man and I like talking to him between takes and getting to know him. And yeah, he’s a fine gentleman.

Q: How did being parents help you in your experience in this movie?

DB: I think just relating to what they say in this film … That you give 99 per cent to your kids and you want to be the best parent, and how you really want them to have the best adventures in life. I think caring about your kids in the most raw, pure, wonderful, caring way when you have kids. And you want to be a good parent, that’s the way you feel. And that’s how you try to live your life. And so I think that those conversations were so much more fun for Adam and I to have, because we felt like that in life.

Transcript courtesy of Warner Bros.