Voting ends at 11:59 p.m. tonight. Click here to watch Zabilka’s video and cast your vote.
One longtime Adam Sandler fan is a step closer to being in one of Sandler’s upcoming movies. When voting ends tonight, he will find out if his dream will become a reality.
Frankie Zabilka, a junior musical theater major, first found out about the Sandy Wexler Audition Contest from his cousin, who knew he’d always wanted to work with Sandler and the Happy Madison company.
Applicants had to send in a video of themselves showing off a talent. Zabilka chose to do a rap for his video.
The winner will be featured in Sandler’s fourth Netflix movie.
Zabilka spent about four days coming up with the rap, which he performs a capella, and filming his audition video — which he did entirely himself.
The first round of the contest was judged by YouTubers and based on talent. From there, 20 finalists were chosen to move onto the next round, which is judged by fan voting. Zabilka is currently in first place with more than 4,000 votes.
“I’m just kind of freaking out. It doesn’t feel real that I’m in first place,” he said. “I just don’t believe it’s real yet.”
Zabilka said the description for the role was left a bit ambiguous, which may mean the role will surround the talent of the contest winner.
He chose to do a rap as his talent because he wanted to stand out, instead of reciting a monologue like many other applicants. All of the 20 finalists have more “creative” talents, such as songs and impressions.
Zabilka noticed almost all of Sandler’s characters' names end with the letter “y,” which he decided to incorporate it into his video.
“It kind of just came to me,” he said.
As a theater major and a Sandler fan, Zabilka said it would be a dream come true to win the contest and be in the movie.
“It’s a dream for all of us and really opens the door for other opportunities,” he said.
Winning would also mean networking with Sandler, who famously casts friends in all of his movies.
Voting ends at 11:59 p.m. tonight. Click here to watch Zabilka’s video and cast your vote.
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