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Julie Bowen Thought ‘Happy Gilmore 2' Would Replace Her With a ‘Younger Woman': ‘I Didn't Think They'd Bring Me Back at All'

Julie Bowen Thought ‘Happy Gilmore 2' Would Replace Her With a ‘Younger Woman': ‘I Didn't Think They'd Bring Me Back at All'

Yahoo03-07-2025
Julie Bowen was surprised when Netflix asked her to return for 'Happy Gilmore 2.'
During a recent interview on the 'Inside of You' podcast, Bowen explained she was certain she'd be replaced as the love interest for Adam Sandler's titular golfer by a younger actress for the highly anticipated 'Happy Gilmore' sequel.
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'I didn't think they'd bring me back at all,' Bowen said. 'I mean, who am I supposed to be? He's got to have a younger woman in this one, 'Happy Gilmore 2.''
In the 1996 original, Bowen played Virginia Venit, a rep for the professional golf tour Happy joins. She serves as his guide on how to act in the public eye, and eventually, she and Happy fall in love. Bowen is set to reprise the role in the Netflix follow-up alongside original cast members Sandler, Ben Stiller and Christopher McDonald.
Bowen went on to say that she wasn't confident she'd be in the first film either. She explained that at the time, she thought production would get a 'hot girl' to play the part.
'I read and they were relieved,' she added. 'They were visibly relieved. I go, 'What's going on?' They're like, 'Yeah, some of these girls are just so aggressively sexy.' And I was like, 'That's a bad thing?''
New cast members joining the 'Happy Gilmore' team include Margaret Qualley, Eric André, Sunny Sandler, Benny Safdie, Bad Bunny, Eminem and Travis Kelce.
Although she has yet to see the final cut, Bowen said she has less screentime in 'Happy Gilmore 2' than in the original. Even so, she said her co-star, Sandler, keeps encouraging her not to de-emphasize her importance.
She said, 'Adam's like, 'Stop saying that. You're the heart of the movie.''
'Happy Gilmore 2' releases on Netflix July 25.
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JAKKS Pacific Reveals All-New SUPER MARIO, THE SIMPSONS, DC X SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, BENDY and DOG MAN Toys and Collectibles at San Diego Comic-Con 2025
JAKKS Pacific Reveals All-New SUPER MARIO, THE SIMPSONS, DC X SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, BENDY and DOG MAN Toys and Collectibles at San Diego Comic-Con 2025

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JAKKS Pacific Reveals All-New SUPER MARIO, THE SIMPSONS, DC X SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, BENDY and DOG MAN Toys and Collectibles at San Diego Comic-Con 2025

SANTA MONICA, Calif., July 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- JAKKS Pacific, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAKK) today, during a special panel at San Diego Comic-Con unveiled an all-new dynamic lineup inspired by iconic franchises including , , , , and . The crowd went wild with excitement for the Super Mario Big Bad Bowser, a towering 12-inch tall figure with sound effects, 'fire breathing' light feature and slashing arms, storming exclusively into Costco this fall. Yours Truly, Princess Peach with her iconic floaty jump pose and 25+ quotes, sounds, and music made her a huge hit. Fans of The Simpsons lit up at the reveal of the Treehouse of Horror Countdown Advent Calendar, packed with 31 days of spooky mystery characters and accessories, as well as two all-new 5-inch Premium Figures, the monstrous King Homer and the winged Fly Boy Bart. Another standout moment came with the reveal of new figurines and plush inspired by the thrilling DC x Sonic the Hedgehog crossover event. ​At midnight this morning, the new Sonic the Hedgehog™ Shadow 18-inch Ice Cream Bar Plush became available for pre-order exclusively through GameStop, and panel attendees were given the first in-person look at the realistic, giant, super soft collector's item with a dark chocolate scent. The panel also unveiled Metroid Prime items featuring newly refreshed packaging, including the 2.5-Inch Bounty Hunter 3-Pack, 2.5-Inch Chozo Suit 3-Pack, and 6-Inch UV Metroid figure. It then introduced a first-ever 4-pack featuring the 2.5-inch Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, and Cranky Kong figures. In addition, the presentation highlighted key products announced earlier this year, including the Sonic the Hedgehog Speed Star Lightning R/C, DC x Sonic the Hedgehog 5-inch Figures, Target-exclusive DC x Sonic the Hedgehog Power vs. Speed Pack Multipack, The Simpsons Talking Funzo Plush Doll, Super Mario Spinning Spirit House Diorama and Super Mario Spinning Spirit House Playset. A full list of the all-new JAKKS Pacific products revealed at SDCC can be found below. Images can be found HERE. For more information, visit Super MarioBig Bad Bowser roars exclusively into Costco this October! Standing 12 inches tall with 13 points of articulation, this figure features a 'fire-breathing' light effect, and multiple button triggers that activate a variety of iconic sounds and music. This item will be available in October for $ Truly, Princess Peach stands 12 inches tall with six points of articulation and fun interactive features. Kids can press multiple activation points to hear classic quotes and songs, and her dress billows out like it does in the game! The figure will be available in December for $39.99. The SimpsonsAvailable exclusively at Costco this fall, Treehouse of Horror Countdown Calendar features 31 days of mystery characters and accessories. Different Treehouse of Horror episodes are represented through miniature scale 1.5-inch figures with fun holiday themed reveal packaging. The calendar will be available for $ exclusively at Target this fall, the Fly Boy Bart 5-inch Premium Figure includes multiple points of articulation and a teleporter with interactive push-button to activate the green 'transformation light.' The set also includes a tiny Fly Boy Bart figure. The figurine will be available for $ King Homer 5-inch Premium Figure is restrained and waiting to break free! Push the button on the back to release him from the chair. 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'Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore' film links language deprivation to deeper scars — 'Language is a privilege'
'Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore' film links language deprivation to deeper scars — 'Language is a privilege'

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'Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore' film links language deprivation to deeper scars — 'Language is a privilege'

The documentary reframes Marlee Matlin's life, spotlighting joy, language deprivation, and authentic experiences through American Sign Language When Oscar-winning actor Marlee Matlin was approached with the concept for a documentary about her life, she knew she wanted Shoshannah Stern to direct. By having her story told with a Deaf director at the helm, Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore is a reframing of Matlin's story with an authenticity we've never seen before. While the film includes Matlin's rise to fame, her experience with substance abuse and domestic violence, there's so much joy in this film as the audience is immersed in this remarkable look at Matlin's life. Stern's approach was to make a visual documentary that puts American Sign Language (ASL) front and centre, rather than using the more common traditional voiceovers. It's something that's never been done before, putting the first-time director in a position of crafting a film without any previous examples as a guide, but it was executed to perfection. "I do have this opportunity that could really bring people into her experience, and rather than seeing our experience being Deaf women as something different or something opposite, or something as like the other, which is typically how we're described as Deaf women," Stern told Yahoo Canada through an ASL interpreter. "And so I made sure that I would frame that not as a challenge. ... A lot of people had kept saying, 'Oh gosh, that's not the way that it's done.' And for me I thought, well thank you so much for showing me that I really needed to find people that were able to see this as an opportunity the same way that I do." But a source of inspiration for Stern was actually watching Matlin on set when she directed an episode of the series Accused. "I saw Marlee directing in a way that I have never seen before," Stern shared. "I know there's an expectation with TV, like as an actress I had mostly worked in TV, and usually you have to move really fast and not as much support with acting choices or anything like that. ... But Marlee really just pushed all that aside and she followed her intuition. And she gave the type of support and leadership to the Deaf actors that I wish that I had gotten." "She didn't look at her experiences that she's had with other hearing directors who had directed TV thinking, oh I need to do this just like I'd seen before. No, I think Marlee decided that she was going to direct in a way that she wanted to direct, and how she had wanted to be directed. ... So I thought, OK I don't have to just do what has been done before in documentary. I can really stay in touch with my intuition and do what my intuition and my instincts are telling me. And I felt like I had to make a film with empathy and reframe the form of documentary in a way that really put the way we experience the world front and centre, and allow the film to be really an immersed experience for audience members, so that they could understand how Marlee and I experience the world." 'They cannot imagine a world where people don't have access to words' A core part of making this an immersive documentary is how the film puts candid conversations about language deprivation at the centre of the story. It's a connection that's really never been made in a film, with Matlin and Stern discussing the intersection of language deprivation with various moments in Matlin's life, including domestic violence and the pressure on Matlin when she was thrust into the spotlight after Children of a Lesser God. "Having a conversation with Shoshannah really couldn't have been the same if I had talked to anybody else who didn't have the experience of language deprivation," Matlin stressed. "We have different upbringings, different family dynamics, but she understood what I was talking about when I talked about language deprivation, to the point where I didn't have to go into an in-depth detailing how it affected me." "She never once in our conversations questioned me. She never once put me down. She never once put words in my mouth, or my hands, if you want to say, if you want to be ironic about it. ... That's why I felt 200 per cent at ease in sitting on that couch. ... When I talk about the issues of accessibility, of being thrust by the Deaf community to decide what it is that I have to say about our community, ... and I didn't even know that there were words or language having to do with so many things happening in my life. ... I was sort of left to navigate on my own. It took time. And there were people to guide me, a few people to get to the point where I got things done." Stern added that the language deprivation piece of the story was something she really wanted to "make clear." "Whenever I had talked about this film and I had been talking about Marlee's story, I had said there's been this assumption, because how it's been for everybody else, ... that language is a right, something that people get from birth," Stern stressed. "But within our community, the Deaf community, language is a privilege, and it should not be that way. And I think that's something that I've felt like the world has gotten wrong. Intentionally, no, but they cannot imagine a world where people don't have access to words." "So often I see our experience represented on screen always being like, 'Oh, poor Deaf person.' The biggest challenge is that they can't hear music, and that's not the truth. ... The biggest challenge is that we don't have access to words, and without words how are we supposed to understand ourselves? How are we supposed to understand the people around us? How are we supposed to understand the world? How are we supposed to understand right from wrong? And so that was something that I had to explain over and over and over again. Whenever we were pitching this story to other people I had to say, 'Hey, you know, this is what we're up against.' ... I realized this has to be a part of Marlee's story, ... and it happened organically. ... I'm a survivor as well, and I didn't understand until much later in life, until I had access to Deaf-led groups, Deaf-led organizations that were familiar with domestic violence, that three out of four Deaf women experience domestic violence. And I believe the reason is because of language deprivation. That's the connection. And so if people understand, harm can come if you don't give a child access to language, any language, it doesn't just have to be a spoken language, then harm can be reduced." 'When you live in a world that wasn't made by you or for you, you hold on to joy' But while Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore handles the challenges in Matlin's life with care and authenticity, this is an incredibly joyful film, especially with the lively and enthusiastic conversations she has with Stern. "Marlee really is a joyful person, and so I think when you live in a world that wasn't made by you or for you, you hold on to joy," Stern highlighted. "And so I knew that it was always important to make sure that we did have moments of joy being shown in this film." "Especially when you find connection on a shared experience, that's joyful. When you're able to talk with someone who understands you in the same language, and you're not having to explain or educate yourself over and over and over again, that's joyful. That's joy. And a lot of times, when I'm seeing stories that should be told about us, but they're written by other people with different lived experiences, they think that when Deaf people get together they just talk about how hard it is, and how sad they are. But I grew up in a family of all Deaf members and we laugh so hard all the time in our house. Deaf people, when they're together, they are happy, and that's the human experience. ... So it was so important for people to be immersed in that type of joy that Marlee and I are able to experience, and I think that's able to help other people access our challenges better too." "The fact that when I have a conversation with anyone who speaks my language and is Deaf, ... it's the connection that's important, that brings me joy," Matlin added. "It's satisfying, the fact that I'm accepted by the other person, the fact that my heart is whole when I get that experience." "But the bottom line is that ... when I connect with hearing people and Deaf people, really any person, ... as long as we are nice to each other, show our mutual respect and empathy, that brings me joy, simple as that." Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore is now in theatres in Toronto and Vancouver, with more cities to come

Millennials, I'm Dying To Know The "Cringe" Millennial Trends That Should Be Buried In The Archives Forever
Millennials, I'm Dying To Know The "Cringe" Millennial Trends That Should Be Buried In The Archives Forever

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Millennials, I'm Dying To Know The "Cringe" Millennial Trends That Should Be Buried In The Archives Forever

Everything that's being marketed to us these days feels like a remix of the past, from reboots and remakes to low-rise jeans and pop-punk revivals. If you're a millennial, you've probably already seen it all the first time when it was still considered cutting-edge. Related: Maybe it's the rise of AI, the TikTok-fueled nostalgia economy, or just the fact that Gen Z never knew a world without social media. However, originality feels like it's gone missing. And if you've recently seen a pair of JNCO jeans in the wild or a trucker hat at brunch, you might've felt a full-body shudder. Related: As someone considered an Unc in certain circles — and maybe I'm just grumpy and jaded — I have a sneaking suspicion a few of you feel the same way I do. For the millennials of the BuzzFeed Community, what's the trend — fashion, lifestyle, aesthetic, internet behavior — that deserves to stay buried in the past? Related: A few come to my mind off the top: skinny jeans, am I right? I'm honestly surprised they didn't cause long-term blood circulation issues for those of us whose legs couldn't even breathe in them. And while some are attempting to make them fashionable again, it's really just a big no. Although I wouldn't be shocked if it happens again soon, I'm begging for Instagram's in-app filters to stay dead and buried. We don't need them. Let's move on. Related: And maybe most importantly, can we let hustle culture die already? I'll give Gen Z credit: they've done a great job rejecting the grind economy, and let's hope it stays that way. We already know we're getting the short end of the stick, no matter how burnt out we get. And while we're at it, let's retire the whole "can't adult today" energy, too. We're grown. We pay bills. We're just exhausted. On that note, share the millennial trends that should remain in the past and never return in the comment section. For those who feel they have especially hot takes on the matter and would prefer to remain anonymous, feel free to fill out the form below. Also in Community: Also in Community: Also in Community:

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