Becky Lynch Talks New ‘Big Time’ Performance In Netflix's Happy Gilmore 2

“I loved making it. Being part of that cast and crew, there was a very special feeling on set. Just the way that Adam [Sandler] works, along with [Director] Kyle Newacheck, who's fantastic. They just created such a great atmosphere, such a fun atmosphere, such a playful atmosphere, and there was lots of improv involved. It felt like a little piece of magic. I'm excited to see if that comes across on screen.”

Speaking objectively, it most certainly does. Anyone who watches this film will be able to tell that the cast genuinely had a great time during the production process, even with a rather depressing undertone to the plot.

Without giving too much away, the viewer will find Gilmore at a not-so-happy point of his life with a wide array of characters there to help him turn things around.

Becky Lynch is not one of those characters. The reigning Women's Intercontinental Champion portrays the mononymous Flex, a cocky and brash Irish golfer who is recruited to help take Gilmore down in the third act of the film. A personality primarily crafted by The Man herself.

“Had a good amount of freedom to kind of make it my own. There was obviously the character description, but beyond that, it was kind of up to each of us to design our own character exactly as we [workshopped] it.”

Wrestling fans who look hard enough might see a little bit of Becky Lynch herself shine through at times, particularly when things don't go the way that Flex had intended.

“Maybe a little bit of Big Time [in there]", Lynch admitted when asked if she drew some inspiration from her previous work. "Maybe a little bit of Big Time.”

Lynch didn't earn the nickname 'Big Time Becks' for no reason. The future WWE Hall of Famer has thrived on some of the grandest stages in company history, performing in front of tens of thousands of people and millions more watching at home.

Being on the set of a major film production like Happy Gilmore 2 was not a typical experience for The Man, however, as there was no immediate feedback from a live audience to let her know if a scene was landing they way she believed it was.

“When you're on a movie set or a TV set, you can really only go by how you feel. Like, oh that's good, but did it translate in the same way? So there's a different kind of stress, maybe a little less adrenaline I would say than being in front of millions of people live. [Where] anything can go wrong at any second and you can't clean it up, and it lives in the ether forever.”

The role of Flex was nothing that Becky Lynch could not handle. Her interactions with fellow Irishman Rory McIlroy will bring an instant smile to the viewer's face.

The 2025 Masters Tournament winner shined in his supporting role, as did Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and the many other PGA Tour professionals who were cast in the film. It's a collection of characters and interactions that golf fans around the world will really appreciate.

“Honestly, I wish my dad was around to see it,' Lynch said. "He was a big golfer. I think he would've gotten a huge kick out of it. At four or five, I lied on a crazy golf thing, right? It was some summer camp, and we were playing crazy golf, and I lied about how well I did. I ended up getting this bronze medal and my dad for the rest of his life… I never had the heart to tell him that I just lied and that I wasn't this prodigy.”

You never know what you accomplish until you try, but if Lynch learned one thing on the set of this film, it's that there was never a real life Happy Gilmore story in her future. Even if she had given into her father's gentle nudges to pick up the sport at a young age.

“Getting to work with these golfers... No, I never would've made it. Talking to them about their precision, about how they train, even when they hit a shot… It's amazing the expertise. They were all just lovely lads. Just lovely, lovely fellas.”

Whether you were a fan of the original Happy Gilmore or not, this film has a little something for everyone. It more than delivers the laughs you'd expect from an Adam Sandler production, which is exactly what drew Lynch to participate in the project in the first place.

“We all need a little bit of a laugh. We all need a little bit of an escape right now, you know? And if movies, if TV, Hell, if pro wrestling can offer that escape for an hour and a half, two hours, three hours, whatever it is, half an hour. They do say laughter is the best medicine.”

The release of Happy Gilmore 2 comes just 8 days out from Becky Lynch's next Intercontinental Championship defense at SummerSlam on Sunday, August 3. She'll face off against her former protégé Lyra Valkyria in a No Disqualification Match.

The Takedown on SI will have more from our conversation with Becky Lynch ahead of the 'Biggest Party of the Summer' next week.