Amy Adams Turned Down Racy Lonely Island Song to Protect Young Enchanted Fans

The Lonely Island recently opened up about a missed collaboration with Amy Adams, who turned down a feature on one of their songs out of concern for her younger fanbase. Andy Samberg, part of the comedy trio alongside Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer, revealed they’d approached Adams with a comically explicit song idea back in 2008, when she was hosting Saturday Night Live. But Adams, fresh off the success of her Disney film Enchanted, felt that such a racy track might clash with her image as Giselle, a bubbly, princess-like character adored by children.

"I'm not gonna go into great detail about it, but it was a song that would have been a duet with me and Amy Adams, and it was very dirty," Samberg shared on The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers podcast. The premise, he explained, involved an elderly couple on a picnic, with one lamenting missed opportunities for intimacy after a scorpion sting. Samberg and the team even played some of the song for Adams to gauge her interest, but she ultimately declined, saying, “Little girls are so obsessed with Enchanted right now. They will find this, and it will be scarring for them.”

Instead, Adams and The Lonely Island collaborated on the SNL digital short “Hero’s Song,” where Samberg plays a bumbling, Batman-like superhero. Samberg recalled how, on set, a mother and her little girl excitedly approached Adams, and in that moment, he realized Adams had made the right call to protect her young fans.

“It’s not something I ever thought about in our line of work,” Samberg admitted. “She actually has an obligation and a responsibility to those kids, and she took it seriously. I remember being really impressed by that.”

Meyers echoed that SNL is a show children sometimes watch, and with the growing reach of the internet, it’s easy for fans to stumble upon any clip involving a favorite celebrity. Adams’ decision, Samberg noted, reflected the early awareness of YouTube’s influence, as young fans could easily find a clip and be surprised by a different side of their beloved Giselle.

Years later, Adams reprised her role as Giselle in 2022’s Disenchanted, reuniting with Enchanted co-stars Patrick Dempsey, Idina Menzel, and James Marsden. The sequel, set 15 years after the original, sees Giselle attempt to bring fairy tale magic into her family’s lives, with unintended consequences. Adams’ careful consideration of her fans remains evident, as she continues to balance her role in family-friendly content with other projects.