'Happy Gilmore' original cast: Which actors from 1996 movie join Adam Sandler in 2025 sequel?
While it wouldn't be crazy to think that the sequel followed Gilmore's son starting to play golf, they didn't go that route. Adam Sandler will be back in the titular role, dusting off his golf club and hockey stick putter and getting back on the links. While in the first movie he was playing to try to win money to pay for his grandmother's house, this time around, he will be looking to earn money for his daughter to attend a prestigious ballet school with an annual tuition of $75,000.
With Sandler back in tow, he will be joined by many familiar faces, including some from the first movie. The trailer alone is full of stars, including Ben Stiller, Julie Bowen, Bad Bunny, wrestlers MJF and Becky Lynch and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Considering just returning characters, however, there will be eight who appeared in the first movie that will also be in the second.
Here is more on the actors who make their returns in "Happy Gilmore 2."
MORE:Ranking the 14 greatest quotes from 'Happy Gilmore'
'Happy Gilmore' original cast members in 'Happy Gilmore 2'
Adam Sandler: Happy Gilmore
Christopher McDonald: Shooter McGavin
Julie Bowen: Virginia Venit
Ben Stiller: Hal L.
Verne Lundquist: Himself
Kevin Nealon: Gary Potter
Lee Trevino: Himself
Dennis Dugan: Doug Thompson
Adam Sandler as Happy Gilmore
Sandler will be back in his titular role. For those that need a refresher, Gilmore had dreams of being a professional hockey player. He had a wicked slapshot but couldn't get the agility of hockey down. He failed his tryouts and learned that his grandmother's house was being foreclosed on. Gilmore found his way to golf and vowed to earn the money he needed to buy his grandmother's house from the bank. He succeeded in an impressive duel against Shooter McGavin, played by Christopher McDonald.
In the sequel, it has been 29 years since Gilmore won that golf tournament. He hasn't played golf in ages, but is wooed out of retirement because he needed to find a way to help pay for his daughter's tuition at a ballet school.
MORE: Breaking down Happy Gilmore's iconic "step-up" swing, including USGA legality
Christopher McDonald as Shooter McGavin
Every great protagonist needs an antagonist. While you could argue that Gilmore has two between McGavin and putting, McGavin is the true antagonist up until the end. McDonald plays McGavin as a stuck-up member of the golf tour. He is highly accomplished and respects the purity and the history of golf. Gilmore represented a new-age craziness, wearing a Bruins sweater on the course and running up to hit his shots.
Everything Gilmore does irks McGavin to the core, and he plots his demise throughout the movie. Gilmore succeeds, and the last we saw of McGavin in the first movie was his running off with Gilmore's gold jacket, which he should have earned for winning the tournament. He was chased by patrons at the course, and his screams are heard off-screen as they catch him.
MORE: How to buy a replica of the Happy Gilmore hockey stick putter
Julie Bowen as Virginia Venit
Have you noticed that all of Sandler's love interests from around that time of the original's release have the same V initials repeating? There was Vicki Valencourt in "The Waterboy," Veronica Vaughn from "Billy Madison," Valerie Veran in "Little Nicky" and Vanessa in "Big Daddy."
The "Happy Gilmore" iteration of this was Virginia Venit played by Julie Bowen. Venit was the PR director for the pro golf tour. She was responsible for ensuring that all golfers maintain a positive image in the public eye. She isn't impressed with Gilmore at first since he doesn't fit the stereotypical country club mold.
Throughout the movie, however, she gets to know him on a more personal level and sees his caring side, as he is doing everything for his grandmother. Venit ends up getting closer with Gilmore, and the two are implied to be a couple by the end of the first movie.
Ben Stiller as Hal L.
When Gilmore's grandmother is evicted from her house, she has to move into an elderly living community. Whenever Gilmore is around, the manager of the facility, played by Ben Stiller, is always cordial and respectful. When Gilmore leaves, though, Hal L. becomes this dominant, rude and abusive manager who treats his facility more like a prison than a community.
Verne Lundquist as himself
Lundquist was a long-time sports announcer with CBS Sports. He did play-by-play for football, basketball and golf throughout his career. Lundquist's final call was at the 2024 Masters, where he signed off for the final time with, "It's my honor, my privilege." The iconic announcer was cast as himself in "Happy Gilmore," and was charged with being an announcer during Gilmore's performances on the courses. Half the time he couldn't believe the antics of the amateur golfer, but he still did get the chance to use his notable voice to provide some golf commentary.
Lee Trevino as himself
Lee Trevino kept finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time with Happy Gilmore. If you remember some of Gilmore's worst moments, there would be someone standing off to the side shaking his head and looking disturbed at what they were watching. He got a line later in the movie as Shooter McGavin butchered yet another saying.
That man is Trevino. While he seemed like a very minor character in the movie, he is actually regarded as one of the greatest golfers in history. Trevino turned professional in 1960 and picked up 92 wins over his career, with 29 of them coming on the PGA Tour. He won six golf majors in his career. His first was at the 1968 U.S. Open. Trevino added the 1971 U.S. Open, the 1971 British Open, the 1972 British Open, the 1974 PGA Championship and the 1984 PGA Championship.
His last appearance in a golf major was at the 2000 British Open, where he missed the cut. Trevino is now 85 years old, but he still returns to "Happy Gilmore 2." Trevino was reportedly upset for a long time about the popularity of his character in the movie, as he disliked the amount of foul language and swearing. That didn't stop him from coming back for the sequel, though.
When did the original 'Happy Gilmore' come out?
"Happy Gilmore" was released in theaters on Feb. 16, 1996. With "Happy Gilmore 2" releasing on July 25 on Netflix, a nearly 29-and-a-half-year gap will exist between the movies' releases.
There is some irony that the sequel is coming straight to Netflix seeing as the company itself was founded in 1997.
Adam Sandler age in 'Happy Gilmore' vs. now
Sandler had a string of comedy hits in the 1990s. He was impossible to miss, and riding the success of 1995's "Billy Madison," "Happy Gilmore" released in 1996 and led into "The Wedding Singer" and "The Waterboy" in 1998.
When "Happy Gilmore" came out in 1996, Sandler was 29 years old. At the time of the "Happy Gilmore 2" release, he was 58 years old.
Is Chubbs in 'Happy Gilmore 2'?
The character Chubbs Peterson was a golf instructor in "Happy Gilmore." He took Gilmore under his wing and tried to teach him a short game. In the movie, Chubbs dies after Gilmore gifts him the alligator's head that bit off his hand. The shock caused him to fall out of a window. The character's son is in "Happy Gilmore 2," though.
The actor who played Chubbs was Carl Weathers. He is known for his role as Apollo Creed in the first four "Rocky" films. Weathers passed away when he was 76 years old, and the cause of death was believed to be atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
When did Bob Barker die?
Barker's cameo was legendary in "Happy Gilmore." He played himself, as a celebrity partner for Gilmore, who was enduring a rough stretch of his golf career. Barker gets annoyed by Gilmore's struggles, and Gilmore snaps. The two exchange blows and Gilmore ended up in the hospital.
Barker died on Aug. 26, 2023 at the age of 99. He was four months shy of his 100th birthday.
What happened to Grandma from 'Happy Gilmore?'
Gilmore's grandmother was played by Frances Bay. At the end of the first movie, we see Gilmore win the golf tournament, and the ensuing payday helps him buy back his grandmother's house that his grandfather had built.
While Bay's character made it to the end of the movie, she will only be in the sequel through flashbacks or a re-cast. Bay passed away on Sept. 15, 2011 when she was 92 years old.
What happened to Mr. Larson from 'Happy Gilmore?'
You may not recognize the name at first, but when I tell you that he is 7-foot-2, that may jog your memory. Mr. Larson, played by Richard Kiel, was Gilmore's former employer. He notably has a nail in his head but has no hard feelings against Gilmore. Instead, he sets his sights on McGavin. Mr. Larson chases down McGavin at the end of the movie when he steals Gilmore's gold jacket. He also bends McGavin's nine-iron into a horseshoe shape. McGavin later had to hit off of Mr. Larson's foot.
You may recognize Kiel as he famously played the villain "JAWS" in the James Bond movies.
What happened to Donald from 'Happy Gilmore'?
Joe Flaherty doesn't even get a name for his character on the "Happy Gilmore" IMDB page. It just reads, "Jeering Fan." You may recall that McGavin hired a fan to throw Gilmore off his game. The fan would taunt him and would often call him a "jackass." That was Donald. He also hit Gilmore with his car.
Flaherty developed an illness in 2024, that he couldn't overcome. He passed on April 1, 2024 in Toronto.
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