Kyle Newacheck alongside Adam Sandler, Sunny Sandler and Sadie Sandler. Credit :
Kevin Mazur/Getty; Charley Gallay/Getty
- Kyle Newacheck spoke with PEOPLE about working with Sadie and Sunny Sandler on Happy Gilmore 2
- The director praised their creativity and acting skills while portraying their characters in the sequel, which stars their dad Adam Sandler
- Happy Gilmore 2 is now on Netflix
Talent is in their genes.
Sadie, 16, and Sunny Sandler, 18, costar alongside their dad Adam Sandler in Happy Gilmore 2, and director Kyle Newacheck had no notes on their performances when speaking with PEOPLE.
“It was awesome. It’s amazing. It is so cool to see them all be creative and to work and gel to tell the story,” Newacheck says of Sadie and Sunny, who Sandler shares with his longtime wife Jackie.
Not only did the Sandler daughters carry themselves professionally on set, but their acting skills also impressed Newacheck. They last had starring roles in Netflix’s You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, which also starred their parents.
Kyle Newacheck at the “Happy Gilmore 2” premiere in N.Y.C. Kevin Mazur/Getty
“They’re all very good at acting, they’re very good at portraying these characters — and it’s really cool because his daughters are still young,” he shares.
After working with Sadie and Sunny on the film’s sequel, Newacheck is eager to follow along their journeys in the coming years as they navigate their own respective career paths.
“It just makes me excited to see what they’re going to come up with in the next 10 years, if they’re going to follow their father’s footsteps and be committed to this family business,” he says. “They’re all very talented and it’s awesome watching them work.”
Jackie Sandler, Adam Sandler, Sunny Sandler and Sadie Sandler. Roy Rochlin/Getty
Julie Bowen, who reprises her role as Virginia Venit nearly 30 years after debuting the character in the 1996 original, also applauded them when speaking with PEOPLE.
“They are great. They are really, really great. They’re wonderful young women to begin with,” Bowen told PEOPLE ahead of the film’s Netflix release.
Sadie, in fact, is taking the performing arts profession seriously, and has enrolled in courses at New York University Tisch School of the Arts. Some of the classes, meanwhile, happened to coincided with her rehearsal schedule for Happy Gilmore 2.
“Sadie’s studying acting, so she was in school while we were doing it, but she would come to the set,” Bowen revealed. “Sunny was there all the time. It is so sweet to see him interact with them,” she added of Sandler and his daughters.
Adam Sander in “Happy Gilmore 2”. Scott Yamano/Netflix
Bowen, who’s previously worked alongside the Sandler girls and their dad on 2020’s Hubie Halloween, pointed out a few examples of what the father-daughter relationship looked like on set.
“He gives them notes and direction and stuff — but also just the level of support,” the actress said.
Bowen described Sandler as “a dude.” Specifically, a “dude’s dude,” she emphasized.
Julie Bowen attends the “Happy Gilmore 2” premiere in N.Y.C. TheStewartofNY/Getty
“I met him as a dude’s dude, and he was surrounded by dudes,” Bowen tripled down. “And now he’s got these women who are his daughters, and he really meets them where they are… One of them was like, ‘Oh, I feel like this outfit isn’t flattering. This wardrobe isn’t flattering.’ “
“He’s like, ‘Then we’re going to change it because you need to feel good about yourself’. And I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I want you as my dad!’ He’s so kind and thoughtful and really puts his kids’ well-being first. It’s amazing.”
Happy Gilmore 2 is streaming on Netflix.
