Wallingford Rehab Patient Lands Role In New Movie

WALLINGFORD, CT — A Hamden resident landed a role in the new Adam Sandler movie while undergoing rehabilitation at Gaylord Specialty Healthcare in Wallingford, according to FOX61.

FOX61 reports Jim Barone, 57, is a double amputee — after suffering through a series of accidents, a serious staph infection and diabetes that claimed both of his legs — and spent much of last summer on location in Long Island, filming alongside Sandler, Chris Rock, Steve Buscemi, Rachel Dratch and others, for the Netflix movie “The Week Of.”

Opportunity knocked for Barone when Sandler’s production company, Happy Madison, was emailing rehab facilities looking to cast a double amputee and everyone in the office at Gaylord thought he would be perfect for the part, according to FOX61. Barone plays Sandler’s 87-year-old uncle Seymour in the movie.

The Week Of is about “two fathers with opposing personalities come together to celebrate the wedding of their children. They are forced to spend the longest week of their lives together, and the big day cannot come soon enough,” according to IMDb.com.

Barone is hoping to act again and has hired an agent in Hollywood who specializes in actors with disabilities, according to FOX61.

Read more at FOX61 here.

Watch the trailer for “The Week Of” below:

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