Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt… and Rory McIlroy. Just some of the star names that were part of The Devil Wears Prada 2, a film entirely rooted in the world of fashion and glamor. There’s really no connection to the world of golf. So, how a six-time major champion and his wife, Erica Stoll, got on the cast, McIlroy explained in a recent press conference.

“So the movie reached out, and they said, ‘Look, we’re shooting in New York in the summer.’ “If you want to be a part of it, do a cameo, whatever; we would love to have you,” Rory began.

“And I ran it by Erica, and she said, ‘We are absolutely doing that.’ Yeah, it was cool for both of us to be there and be in it, and to sort of have the experience together was very cool.”

This was McIlroy speaking at the Memorial Tournament press conference in Dublin. The story itself, however, began in 2025 during The Players Championship. Asked what he had done the night before, McIlroy revealed that he had returned to his hotel room and watched The Devil Wears Prada. That interview eventually reached the ears of director David Frankel.

Soon, he got in touch with the Northern Irishman, offering him a role in one of the most iconic franchises in cinema. Rory had his doubts at first, but his wife’s enthusiasm ultimately tipped the scales.

In The Devil Wears Prada 2, McIlroy and his wife, Erica Stoll, appeared together in a gala party scene set against a Met Gala-style backdrop. We won’t spoil too much, but their cameo lasted only around 10 to 15 seconds. The scene was filmed at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Director Frenkel spoke at the film’s European premiere in London, signaling McIlroy as his most exciting cameo. He called him a “great sport” and “a very good actor.”

McIlroy also shares a glamorous connection with Hollywood through Adam Sandler’s Happy Gilmore 2. It was released on Netflix in the summer of 2025. The film brought together one of the most remarkable collections of golf talent ever assembled in a single set. It featured names like Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler, and Justin Thomas. Sandler himself could not quite believe how it came together, saying every day on set, someone new would show up. McIlroy was among them, and he had nothing but praise for the man at the center of it all, calling Sandler “the coolest guy in the world.”

On the New Heights podcast with Travis Kelce, he reflected on both the experience with clear-eyed honesty. “I am not a movie star. And if you watch the acting, hell, I am not a movie star,” he said.

“But again, I have a day job. It’s cool to be able to do these things. It’s a cool experience to be on a movie set, but I am not cut out for that. It’s long days. Right. It’s a grind.”

Other Golfers Who Stepped off the Fairway and Into the Frame 

McIlroy wasn’t the only golfer in history to try his hand at mainstream acting. Take a trip down memory lane to Tin Cup, released in 1996, which became the highest-grossing golf movie ever, earning $54 million at the box office.

Starring Kevin Costner as a washed-up pro trying to qualify for the U.S. Open, the film explored the highs and lows of life on tour. Director Ron Shelton was determined to make the movie feel authentic, which is why several real golfers appeared in cameo roles, including Phil Mickelson, Craig Stadler, John Cook, Fred Couples, and Peter Jacobsen.

Jacobsen, for one, loved the vibes on set. That’s because he wasn’t asked to act; he was simply asked to be himself. In an interview with Golf Channel four years ago, he said, “We were instructed to act as they would at a PGA Tour event by milling around, hitting balls, chipping, and putting. It was a great experience… really fun because there were no lines or a script.”

The list doesn’t end there. Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, and Julius Boros also made appearances in The Caddy, a 1953 sports comedy that remains one of the best-known golf films ever made.

LPGA stars have gotten involved as well. Nelly Korda and Nancy Lopez both made cameo appearances in Happy Gilmore 2, later describing the experience as eye-opening and giving them a newfound appreciation for just how difficult acting can be.