Netflix's latest comedy movie is truly a family affair. Based on author Fiona Rosenbloom's 2005 novel of the same name, You Are SO Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah stars Adam Sandler and various members of his family, including his wife Jackie Sandler and their daughters Sadie, 17, and Sunny, 14. The tween flick arrived on the streamer last Friday and has already garnered rave reviews for Sunny and Sadie, who more than hold their own in her first comedy role, even while going toe-to-toe with their superstar father.
The film follows Stacy (Sunny Sandler), a seventh grader who—when she isn't planning the bat mitzvah of her dreams—spends her time hanging with her bestie Lydia (Samantha Lorraine). The Taylor Swift-loving pair's friendship takes a turn when Stacy catches Lydia kissing Stacy's crush popular boy Andy Goldfarb (Dylan Hoffman). As the former duo deal with online rumors and Hebrew School drama, their perfect bat mitzvah plans go awry. In the film, the Friedmans are played by real-life family members Adam, Sadie, and Sunny Sandler, with Frozen and Uncut Gems actress Idina Menzel playing the mom. Meanwhile, Jackie Sandler plays Lydia's mom, Gabi.
Though the adorable comedy movie is neither Sadie nor Sunny's first time in front of the camera, the impressive starring role show that they are definitely nepo babies to watch.
They've previously appeared in some of their dad's movies.
Sadie Sandler was born in May 2006 in Los Angeles, while Sunny Sandler was born in November 2008. As in Sandler family tradition (see below), both Sadie and Sunny have previously appeared in many of their dad Adam's movies, including Grown Ups, Hotel Transylvania, and Murder Mystery. While Sunny's onscreen debut was in 2010's Grown Ups, Sadie got her start in acting a bit earlier, appearing in 2008's Bedtime Stories and You Don't Mess With the Zohan. Sunny has also appeared in the recent Netflix films Hustle and The Out-Laws.
The Sandler family has a history of acting together.
Adam Sandler fans likely recognize his wife Jackie from several of his films. The couple met on the set of Adam's 1999 film Big Daddy, where she had a small role as a waitress, and married in 2003 (see Adam's recent loving tribute for the couple's 20th anniversary). They've been inseparable for decades, and Jackie has gone on to appear at least 30 of Adam's films. She also consults with him on the roles he takes; while doing press for the 2019 drama Uncut Gems, Adam mentioned many times that Jackie had encouraged and convinced him to take the demanding role.
As for Sadie and Sunny, both of the teens have appeared in over a dozen movies produced by Sandler's production company, Happy Madison. Adam spoke about his daughters' acting during an October 2020 appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show. "They make it look like I'm forcing them to do it," he joked at the time. "Meanwhile, they were asking me the whole damn year, 'Can I be in your next movie, Daddy?'"
In an interview with Decider, Bat Mitzvah director recalled that Sadie and Sunny took an interest in filmmaking on set, saying that the pair "work harder than most adults I know...Adam is one of the hardest working people I have ever met in my life. It’s clear the girls take on that as well."
The girls' real-life bat mitzvahs had star-studded guest lists.
The young actress had a star-studded guest list for her own bat mitzvah—a Jewish rite of passage to adulthood that's celebrated when a girl turns 12 or 13—which was held at an LA country club in May 2022. Per CNN, attendees included Jennifer Aniston (who's close friends with Adam and Jackie), Taylor Lautner, David Spade, and Peyton List. Also, Charlie Puth and Halsey(!) performed at the candy-themed bash.
By Sunny's bat mitzvah, the Happy Gilmore star already had experience finding acts to play the party. For older daughter Sadie in 2019, Adam arranged a performance from Maroon 5's Adam Levine and James Valentine. "Oh, she hugged me so much, my Sadie," the actor said of Sadie's reaction to the surprise, during a Jimmy Kimmel Live appearance.
They also have musical talents (and they're Swifties, of course).
Like their famous father, Sadie and Sunny have also shown off their musical talents (and love for Taylor Swift) onstage. During Adam's set at a Malibu fundraiser in October 2019, the pair joined their dad to perform the singer's ballad "Lover," accompanied by the 50 First Dates star on guitar. As he called them to the stage, Adam explained that the family had seen Swift perform on Saturday Night Live the night before, adding, "This is one of their favorite songs. We play this all the time, me and mommy and the two kids."
A couple of months later, Sunny joined her dad onstage solo at his New Jersey comedy show where she sang "A Million Dreams" from the 2017 musical The Greatest Showman, per People.
There are many, many highlights I recorded from tonight’s #Rock4EB but this one is pretty special. @AdamSandler handling guitar duties while his daughters Sunny & Sadie sing @taylorswift13 “Lover” in front of Julia Roberts, Sean Penn, etc. They’re major Swifties, and so good too pic.twitter.com/Z589j4tDBJOctober 7, 2019
They wrote their dad's acceptance speech at the 2022 Gotham Awards.
While receiving the Film Tribute Award at the 2022 Gotham Awards, the Uncut Gems actor let his daughters write his hilarious and sweet speech. When he took the stage, he joked that after he told Sadie and Sunny that he didn't write a speech for the event, they asked if they could write the speech themselves.
"They were like, 'Can we write your speech so you've got something to say?' I said, 'Absolutely! It would be nice to see you doing something other than watching YouTube or going to f--king Lululemon every f---ing weekend,' " the father of two teased, before reading the loving comedic roast.
"It means a lot to him seeing how most of the awards on his trophy shelf are shaped like popcorn buckets, blimps or fake mini Oscars that say 'Father of the Year,' which he sadly purchased himself while wandering in a self-pitying fog through the headshops of Times Square," the actor said in part of the speech. (See below for the full, hilarious moment.)
