Adam Sandler (left), Ted Sarandos, and BU alum Benny Safdie attend the premiere of Netflix’s Happy Gilmore 2 on Monday, July 21, 2025, in New York. Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

TV & Film

Five BU Alums with Roles in This Summer’s Hottest Movies

In films ranging from Happy Gilmore 2 to The Naked Gun reboot, Terriers are actors, producers, and writers

It’s been a record-setting season for summer blockbusters—and Boston University alumni have played major roles both behind the scenes and on-screen. From screenwriting and producing to acting and directing, Terriers are helping bring movie magic to life. Here is our list, in no particular order, of alums who had a role in the biggest hits.

Benny Safdie (COM’08)

Once the darling of the College of Communication’s Redstone Film Festival, Safdie has become a globally recognized filmmaker since graduating. He and his older brother and frequent collaborator, Josh Safdie (COM’07), have won awards and earned praise at top international festivals like Cannes, Venice, and Tribeca. Their most buzzworthy film to date, the thriller Uncut Gems, starred Adam Sandler and earned the comedian serious Oscar buzz and recognition as a dramatic actor.

This summer, Safdie has a supporting acting role in Sandler’s Happy Gilmore 2. In the sequel to the cult classic about a down-on-his-luck hockey player trying to win prize money among professional golfers, Safdie plays the villain Frank Manatee, who tries to undermine Happy Gilmore.

You’ll see Safdie later this fall too: he wrote, directed, coproduced, and edited The Smashing Machine, starring Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson and Emily Blunt. The film, about the former amateur wrestler and MMA fighter Mark Kerr (played by Johnson), is set to premiere on October 3 and is mentioned in early Oscar predictions.

Sam Laskey (COM’13)

Laskey cowrote the sci-fi horror comedy Ick, which came out in limited theatrical release in late July.

The film stars Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) as a small-town science teacher who uncovers a strange alien entity, nicknamed “the Ick.” At the same time, he pines for his childhood sweetheart, played by Mena Suvari (American Beauty, American Pie). Variety applauded how the film “combines old school prosthetics and state of the art visual effects.”

Laskey, a former COM film and television lecturer who earned an MFA in screenwriting from BU, previously worked for Oscar-winning producer Scott Rudin (No Country for Old Men, The Social Network), analyzing scripts, novels, and comic books. 

Yunjin Kim (CFA’93)

Actor Yunjin Kim is best known for playing Sun-Hwa Kwon on the hit American television time-traveling mystery series Lost. Most recently, she lent her voice to KPop Demon Hunters, a new animated Netflix film about a South Korean girl group who use their secret identities as demon hunters to protect their fans from supernatural danger. Kim plays Celine, a former K-pop idol and retired demon hunter who is the adoptive mom of one of the main characters.

In its review, the New York Times described the film as “charming, funny and artfully punchy.” Since its release in late June, KPop Demon Hunters has become the most-watched original animated film in Netflix history, and its soundtrack is topping the charts on South Korea’s music streaming platform Melon.

Kim’s other notable roles include appearances in the South Korean films Shiri, Seven Days, Harmony, The Neighbors, and Ode to My Father. Recently, Kim starred as Principal Jina Lim in the English-Korean Netflix series, XO, Kitty.

Bonnie Discepolo (CFA’03)

Discepolo is a writer, a director, and an actor based in Los Angeles whose work focuses on social justice themes—ranging from reproductive rights to LGBTQIA+ issues. Her short films have screened at major film festivals, including Tribeca, SXSW, and Nantucket.

In addition to filmmaking, Discepolo is a professional actor who has had minor roles in big-budget movies like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

This summer, she steps into the DC Universe in the latest Superman reboot, playing Ms. Jessop, one of Lex Luthor’s 12 assistants. This film—the first in DC’s new cinematic universe—marks a fresh start for the Man of Steel franchise, focusing on Clark Kent/Superman’s journey to reconcile with his adoptive family while remaining true to his Kryptonian heritage. 

Sam Hoffman (COM’15)

While at BU, Hoffman was involved in Stage Troupe, BU on Broadway, BUTV10, and WTBU and interned in the film business. After graduating, he became an agent trainee at United Talent Agency and today is director of development at Fuzzy Door, Seth MacFarlane’s production company. 

Hoffman played a key role in bringing The Naked Gun reboot to the screen. The new film, directed and cowritten by Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer, is a legacy sequel to 1994’s Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult. Liam Neeson stars as the son of Lt. Frank Drebin (famously played by Leslie Nielsen, who died in 2010), who must step into his father’s shoes to prevent the closure of Police Squad. Pamela Anderson also stars. “I was definitely a fan growing up of the Naked Gun movies,” Hoffman said in a recent ShadeTV podcast. “When we approached our version of Naked Gun, we looked at doing the same thing in terms of spoofing a genre that is familiar to people, that they feel nostalgia that they want to have again, and turning it on its head.”