It’s been just over a week since the Sandy Wexler competition closed its voting process and junior theater major Frankie Zabilka has been named the official winner — earning him a spot in an upcoming Adam Sandler movie.
Zabilka earned 4,844 votes for his talent video, which showcased an original rap song. While voting ended last Thursday, Zabilka didn’t get the official word until last night in the form of an email from Happy Madison productions.
“I was so relieved. I had been really stressed out that it wasn’t going to work out,” he said. “I’m just really relieved and excited.”
Getting so many votes on his video, which ultimately led to him winning the competition, is a bit surreal to Zabilka.
“I feel really blessed that [almost] 5,000 people voted,” he said. “I don’t even know 5,000 people.”
The role Zabilka will play will be written especially for him.
The current plan is that he will be featured in Sandler’s upcoming movie with Chris Rock, in which Sandler’s daughter is going to marry Rock’s son. However, in Zabilka’s contract, he is promised a role in an upcoming Happy Madison film, so things may change.
The script for the upcoming Sandler/Rock film is still being written by Robert Smigel, whose writing credits include "Saturday Night Live," "Late Night with Conan O’Brien" and an array of Sandler films such as "Hotel Transylvania" and "You Don’t Mess With The Zohan."
When Zabilka entered the contest, he didn’t know that Chris Rock would be involved, but he said finding out was a great bonus. He can’t wait to meet the actors and start filming.
“This whole time, I’ve just been picturing shaking Adam Sandler’s hand,” he said. “Even just meeting him would be a great prize.”
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