In interviews following the film’s release, both Sandler and Schneider cited as the primary reason. Schneider was committed to his TV obligations, and by the time the show ended, the Grown Ups 2 shooting script was locked, and the production was well underway. Sandler’s Happy Madison productions are known for moving quickly, and waiting for Schneider to become available wasn’t considered feasible. The Realistic Reason: Narrative Marginalization Even if scheduling was the official line, a closer look at the first Grown Ups reveals a more pragmatic truth: Schneider’s character had nowhere to go.
The answer is a mix of scheduling, creative choices, and a dose of behind-the-scenes pragmatism. At the time of Grown Ups 2 ’s production (shooting took place mainly in mid-2012), Rob Schneider was not unemployed. He was starring in his own sitcom for CBS, “Rob” , which premiered in January 2012. The show followed a former gang member turned landscape architect adjusting to married life. While CBS canceled the series in May 2012 after just one season, the timing overlapped with Grown Ups 2 ’s pre-production and filming schedule. why rob schneider not in grown ups 2
In the original film, Rob Hilliard was the weird, hippie-dippy stay-at-home dad who married a much older woman (played by Joyce Cohen) and had a son who was… unusual. His entire arc revolved around his eccentricity and his lack of traditional “success” compared to his friends. By the end of the first movie, that arc was complete. He had been accepted for who he was. In interviews following the film’s release, both Sandler
Schneider remains a card-carrying member of the Sandler Cinematic Universe. But Grown Ups 2 serves as a reminder that even in Hollywood’s most cliquish fraternity, sometimes the phone just doesn’t ring. And when the script calls for a deer on LSD instead of a soft-spoken hippie, the quirky best friend is the first to get cut. In the end, fans of Schneider can take solace: he missed a movie that holds a 7% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Sometimes, the best cameo is the one you don’t make. He was starring in his own sitcom for
When Grown Ups 2 hit theaters in July 2013, audiences expected a reunion of the core comedy troupe that made the first film a $270 million global hit. The original Grown Ups (2010) starred Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, and Rob Schneider as childhood friends reuniting after their basketball coach’s death.
Schneider, for his part, has never publicly expressed bitterness. In fact, he returned to the Sandler fold shortly thereafter, voicing a character in Hotel Transylvania (2012) and appearing in The Ridiculous 6 (2015) on Netflix. The Grown Ups 2 omission appears to be a simple case of “job didn’t work out,” not a feud. Schneider’s absence from Grown Ups 2 highlights a lesser-known reality about Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison players: they are not all permanent. While Sandler is famously loyal (witness his decade-spanning support of Rob Schneider), not every actor appears in every film. For example, Steve Buscemi is a Sandler favorite but missed several Happy Madison projects. Jonathan Loughran and Allen Covert appear in almost everything; Schneider does not.