Adam Sandler Honors Cameron Boyce with Subtle Tribute in Happy Gilmore 2
A five-second cameo on a grainy TV screen turned out to be the most emotional moment in Netflix’s new golf comedy
Los Angeles, July 30 EST: If you blinked during Happy Gilmore 2, you might’ve missed it. Right there in the middle of the Netflix chaos between the golf cart crashes and throwback cameos was something quiet. Barely five seconds long. A fuzzy TV in the background showing a familiar face: Cameron Boyce, smiling like no time had passed.
It wasn’t a random clip. It was a choice. And for fans who grew up on Boyce’s work, it landed like a punch to the chest tender, unexpected, and deeply felt.
A Nod Only the Real Ones Caught
The moment comes and goes quickly. Sandler’s Gilmore is walking through a country club. There’s a grainy screen on a shelf behind the front desk, and up pops a snippet from Disney’s Jessie. It’s Boyce in character as Luke Ross just doing his thing, no fanfare.
There’s no close-up. No musical cue. No dialogue pointing it out.
And somehow, that made it perfect.
Why It Matters
To younger audiences, Boyce wasn’t just another Disney star he was the Disney star. Jessie, Descendants, Grown Ups he had that thing. That spark. His death in 2019 at just 20 years old, after an epileptic seizure, left a crater in the pop culture landscape.
Sandler, who played Boyce’s dad in Grown Ups and remained close to the family, has been quietly honoring him for years. He dedicated Hubie Halloween to Boyce. He’s donated to the epilepsy foundation in his name. And now, he’s dropped this small visual hug into Happy Gilmore 2.
In an interview with E! Online, Sandler said the moment came naturally. “We said, ‘Might as well throw Cameron in there. He’s the man. Keep him part of our family.’”
The Fans Got It
The second the movie hit Netflix on July 25, the internet kicked into gear. Screenshots showed up on Reddit. TikToks slowed the scene down frame by frame. People asked, Was that Cameron Boyce? And when the answer was yes, the comments poured in.
“Totally didn’t expect that,” one Redditor wrote. “And now I’m crying at a Sandler golf movie.”
Which, let’s be honest, is not usually how that goes.
Cameron’s Mom Spoke Up
Libby Boyce, Cameron’s mother, shared her reaction a few days later. She thanked Sandler publicly on Instagram, then in an interview with EW, said, “Adam always finds a way to keep Cam’s memory alive. It warms our heart.”
She also revealed something that makes the whole thing even more bittersweet: Cameron and Sandler were texting about a cameo in Hubie Halloween just days before he passed. That moment never happened. But this one did.
And maybe that’s what made it hit harder.
Sandler’s Loyalty Is Showing
For all the shouting, slapstick, and fake moustaches Sandler’s known for, what fans sometimes forget is this: he looks out for his people. The Happy Madison crew is basically a traveling circus of best friends. And when someone’s missing, Sandler makes sure we feel it.
He doesn’t do it with drama. He doesn’t grab the spotlight. He just makes sure they’re still there in the background, on a TV set, frozen in a frame.
No CGI. No Deepfake. Just Cameron.
In a time when studios are using AI to bring actors back from the dead often without consent, and almost always in weird, uncanny ways this kind of tribute stands out. Sandler didn’t recreate Boyce. He didn’t use technology to reimagine him. He just gave him a space.
It’s simple. It’s human. It works.
What Comes Next
Since Happy Gilmore 2 dropped, there’s been a renewed wave of attention around The Cameron Boyce Foundation, which funds epilepsy research. Sandler remains a supporter, and fans are showing up donating, sharing, spreading the word.
It’s a ripple effect that started with a five-second clip on an old TV in a golf comedy.
And maybe that’s what a good tribute should be. Not a spectacle. Just a reminder. He was here. He mattered. And he’s still part of the story.
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A bi-coastal pop culture critic and former indie screenwriter, Gia covers Hollywood, streaming wars, and subculture shifts with razor wit and Gen Z intuition. If it’s going viral, she already knew about it.
