The Emmy winner spoke with PEOPLE exclusively about reprising her role as Virginia Venit in the 'Happy Gilmore' sequel, nearly 30 years after the original

Bowen, 55, has looked back on her upbringing with a real estate developer father who taught her a "golden rule" about success.

Bowen reprises her character, Virginia Venit, in the comedy classic's second installment. Within the first four minutes of the film, Venit — who's since married Happy, welcomed five kids together and started a family — gets killed off, a tragedy caused by her husband.

Meanwhile, Sandler and Bowen reacted to Bowen’s shocking “Happy Gilmore 2” death during an interview with Entertainment Weekly published shortly after the movie’s release. The “Modern Family” star suggested that her character needed to die to drive Happy and the events of the film.

After the buzz surrounding Sydney Sweeney potentially taking over Julie Bowen’s role in Happy Gilmore 2 was put to rest, the popular actress had no problem joking about the topic. She also offered high praise to Sweeney,

Julie Bowen chose between her Happy Gilmore 2 co-star, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, and his girlfriend, Taylor Swift. Making one of Happy Gilmore 2's stars, Julie Bowen, choose between seeing Taylor Swift on tour or one of Travis Kelce's Kansas City Chiefs games is tough, but she knows which she would pick.

Release Date: July 25, 2025 Directed By: Kyle Newacheck Written By: Tim Herlihy, Adam Sandler Starring: Adam Sandler, Julie Bowen, Christopher McDonald, Bad Bunny, and Ben Stiller Rating: PG-13 for strong language, crude/sexual material, partial nudity and some thematic material Runtime: 114 minutes

Despite the negative reviews, the positive reviews seem to overwhelmingly outweigh those who are pointing to steep nostalgia bait. Movies that matter states: " #HappyGilmore2 is classic Sandler again!