Happy Gilmore's Movie Sons Recall Working with 'Hero' Adam Sandler on Sequel (Exclusive)
For Adam Sandler's on-screen sons, meeting their hero was every bit as amazing as they imagined it to be.
TooFab spoke with Maxwell Jacob Friedman, Philip Schneider, Ethan Cutkosky and Conor Sherry ahead of the release of Happy Gilmore 2, the sequel to the fan-favorite 1996 comedy, where they discussed working with Sandler, revealed which A-listers they met on set and what it means to be a part of a piece of "Americana."
"We all pretty much grew up with it. It came out the literal year I was born, so I watched it a bazillion times with my dad. And I know that all of us love the movie," Friedman gushed of the OG classic.
"I mean, I rewatched it, obviously. But it was interesting to watch through a different lens," Sherry added. "And be like, OK, we're going to really be out there and trying to understand a bit of the background of our dad. It's weird to have -- to do something and it's like, that's our dad, but then we can go watch a whole movie about. him and know his whole thing, and jump into the second one."
It was easy for the foursome to get into character, with Cutkosky telling TooFab their rowdy dynamic ended up being the same both "on and off set."
He continued, "I think by the time that like that first week happened and we were hanging out, it just ended up being that same similar vibe anytime we were all together. It was loud. It was rambunctious. It was immature and amazing."
Their great chemistry ended up translating in their dealings with Sandler as well, with group, who play the fictional sons of Happy and his wife, Virginia Venit (Julie Bowen), learning some invaluable lessons from their on-screen dad.
"He was he was awesome ... I mean he's a legend," Schneider gushed. "We woke up watching him in his movies, and, they sort of say, like, 'Don't meet your heroes,' and I think we all met our hero and were all so pleasantly surprised by just the wonderful man that he is, and how he carried himself in this crazy role, and how he's carried himself throughout his whole career so it was such a blessing to be on set with him for four or five months."
"He just picks good people. I mean, everyone around him is like -- that's how I would describe the whole experience is good people," Sherry added. "Like, his family's incredible, his immediate family, his film family, his movie family. I'm like, everyone's just like good people, so, it was really good time."
Sandler's inclusion of his longtime friends and fellow funny men in the film -- i.e. Rob Schneider, Steve Buscemi, David Spade, Kevin Nealon and more -- didn't get lost on this group either, with that through line being something they all admire about the celebrated actor.
"He's a good human being, because he's, taking his friends with him along on this ride yeah all his friends are insanely talented, but, like, he's always looking to try to find a spot and help somebody that he loves and cares about," Friedman said.
They got to meet some of those famous faces as well, with the A-list cast including the likes of Bad Bunny, Travis Kelce, Ben Stiller, Margaret Qualley and few surprise cameos you'll have to watch to see.
"We met everyone that was pretty much on set," Sherry shared.
Cutkosky added, "I was fanning out over Bad Bunny a little bit. I was a little hyped about that one. But, you know, you get to see everybody and it's just cool to see everybody just on Adam's set hanging out, you know, relaxed."
It served as a "holy s--t" moment for Friedman to not only see so much star power in one place, but be a part of the lasting legacy that is Happy Gilmore.
"There wasn't a single person that showed up that wasn't so incredibly enthusiastic to be there. It didn't matter what your star power was, what your level of star power was," Friedman stressed. "You're just like, holy s--t, I'm going to be a part of what's essentially a part of Americana in Happy Gilmore. It was incredible."
Happy Gilmore 2 premieres July 25 on Netflix.
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