Former NFL Player Marshawn Lynch Draws Inspiration From His Sister For His Role In The Film ‘Bottoms’

Former NFL star Marshawn Lynch has embraced the role of Mr. G in the film Bottoms, a comedy centered around high school lesbians initiating a fight club. People magazine reported that Lynch accepted this role as a gesture of reconciliation for his initial reaction when his sister, Marresha Sapp-Lynch, came out to him as a lesbian.

Sapp-Lynch shared with the outlet, “Marshawn had numerous questions and felt responsible for the situation.”

She continued, ‘“What did I do?’ Because growing up, he would always say I couldn’t have a boyfriend, ‘You can’t talk to boys.’ We’d go to a party, and he’d be asking everybody, ‘Did you dance with my sister?’ But I wasn’t attracted to boys, so I didn’t dance with them!”

Emma Seligman, the director and co-writer of Bottoms, initially didn’t think that they would be able to get Lynch for the film, but after his sister gave him her blessing, he agreed to be in the movie.

“In his words, he said he wasn’t amazing about it when Marreesha came out in high school and that he felt like this was the universe giving him a chance to right his wrongs,” Seligman told People. “He made it seem like that was really what was interesting him the most about it.”

Lynch often beamed with pride when his sister and her wife showed up at the New Orleans set, according to Seligman. He would make it a point to tell people proudly that Marresha is his sister.

In 2021, Lynch walked his sister down the aisle when she got married, and he was also heavily involved in planning the wedding, often talking to his sister about decorations at 5 a.m. Sapp-Lynch says that her brother cried the whole time he was escorting her, something that meant a lot to her. Lynch also pushed the pair to move their wedding up two years from 2023 to 2021.

“He doesn’t cry — or I don’t see him cry. The fact that he did cry and shed some tears, it meant a lot to me.” Sapp-Lynch explained. “He was very much involved in the whole planning… He called us at 5:00 a.m. talking about the cake designs and party favors.”