Adam Sandler is notoriously press-shy. He doesn't like critics, he doesn't do interviews, he doesn't want to be analyzed, dissected, uselessly praised or arbitrarily condemned. But Adam Sandler, fortuitously enough, also likes college students. After spending the last two years mired in various movie and music projects, Sandler finally has enough time to tour around the country and visit with the audience he cares about most. Adam Sandler is notoriously press-shy. He doesn't like critics, he doesn't do interviews, he doesn't want to be analyzed, dissected, uselessly praised, or arbitrarily condemned. But Adam Sandler, fortuitously enough, also likes college students. After spending the last two years mired in various movie and music projects, Sandler finally has enough time to tour around the country and visit with the audience he cares about most.

Sandler, of course, exploded to fame in the '90s after the successive hits of Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, and The Wedding Singer. With the blockbuster performances in The Waterboy and Big Daddy, he confirmed his position as one of the biggest box-office draws in the world. At the same time, his films are clearly critic-proof; Sandler doesn't care what's written about him as long as audiences keeps laughing.

In New York to promote his latest comedy Little Nicky, Sandler not only explains the mechanics and themes that hold his movies together, but also reveals the irresistible charms of his approachable, laid-back personality.

AS: Oh, so you go to Harvard. You know with the whole Harvard thing, it's with you the rest of your life. Everybody I know who's gone there, every time you ask them where you go to school, they have to sheepishly whisper "Harvard." Don't be embarrassed for your brilliance. [Pause.] Now the questions better be good.

THC: One critic called your last album "a cyborg sent on the planet to torture me." You don't get lots of nice reviews for your movies either. Are there any that stand out in your memory as particularly terrible?

AS: I get it good from the critics. I can't really think of any specific ones; I mean I always see the words "sophomoric," "juvenile," "moronic," "useless," "hate," "unwatchable." I can't think of a quote I laughed at, though. The worst part about all of it-as a guy who gets a lot of shit from critics-is like, one time I was in a room with a person who kept going on and on about how much he loved the movie and he's just going nuts and looking me in the eye. That night, I see him on TV saying "This movie is useless." And I'm like, "Dude! That's the guy who was nice to me."

You know, like this morning, I read Variety and The Hollywood Reporter and they gave us two good reviews for Little Nicky. But then I was like, "I don't care." I've only gotten bad reviews from them-I'm not gonna be like, "Ooooh. I finally got 'em." I'm more like, "Fuck you. I don't give a fuck." In the beginning I did, when I did Billy Madison, but now I realize I didn't get into this business to have a critic like me. I got into it to get people to laugh. As a kid, I went to the movies to laugh my ass off, to hang out with my friends, to go on a date.

THC: You tend to play nice guys with anger management issues. They've been getting more and more gentle over the years, but it's a recurring theme up to and including this movie. Is it related to your real life temperament?

AS: In real life, I do have a bit of that problem. But over the years, I've been getting better I think. I like playing characters who get insulted a lot and who lose their temper because of it or can't think of a snappy comeback. But you're right-I do like snapping and yelling, it's part of my comedy. Sometimes when I'd snap in my house growing up, it would make my dad laugh. Or sometimes, he'd smack me.

THC: Did making this movie raise any spiritual issues in your own life?

AS: It made me not want to go to hell more. I've never thought about hell that much. I choose to ignore hell in my life. When I was a little kid I asked my Dad "Am I going to go to hell?" because I'd heard about hell. And he said "No, no. You'll be alright." So I asked "What do you gotta do to get into hell? And he said, "Nothing you're gonna do will get you into hell." And so I got to ignore it. And then we started shooting the film and I thought, "Maybe my Father was lying." Because there are several things I've done that are borderline, that could get me there. And so it made me realize that I better stop doing those things. I don't want to repeat those things. I like heaven. I know my Grandma's up there, and it will be nice to see her. And Chubbs.