10 Things You Might Not Know About Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock is one of the most successful female actors in Hollywood history. She’s had highs and lows in her career but Bullock is a made woman when it comes to identifiable superstars. The name Sandra Bullock above a title sells tickets, something that is increasingly a rarity in a Hollywood where well known Intellectual Property has superseded big name stars as the most important aspect of movie marketing.

Sandra Bullock is among a handful of true movie stars alongside names such as Will Smith, Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, who can put their name on a movie and sell tickets. And despite approaching 60 years old, Bullock doesn’t appear to be slowing down with two movies already in the can for 2022, including The Lost City with Channing Tatum and Bullet Train with Brad Pitt.

With so much time in the spotlight you might think you know everything about Sandra Bullock. But, if you don’t, here are 10 Things You Might Not Know About Sandra Bullock.

10. Her Role in a TV Movie Remake of The Six Million Dollar Man was Supposed to be a Backdoor Pilot for her own series.

In 1989 a rising star named Sandra Bullock landed the role of Kate Mason in the TV Movie Bionic Showdown. The TV Movie was the third in a series of TV Movies based on the popular 1970s television series The Bionic Man starring Lee Majors as Steve Austin. The movie was intended to introduce the character of Kate Mason receiving her Bionic powers, similar or even superior to those of Steve Auston, before spinning the character off into her own series. Unfortunately, Bionic Showdown was a flop for NBC when it debuted at the end of April 1989. Bad ratings canceled the spinoff series before it could go into production.

9. Bionic Showdown Wasn’t Sandra Bullock’s last Flop as a TV Star

History shows that Sandra Bullock was destined for a career on the big screen in part because her television work was not successful. After having her planned Six Million Dollar Man/Bionic Showdown spinoff canceled by low ratings, Bullock moved on to another television series opportunity with even higher stakes and expectations. In 1990, Bullock landed the lead role of Tess McGill in the television adaptation of the hit movie Working Girl. The movie Working Girl was a major hit which earned big box office and attention from the Academy Awards where star Melanie Griffith, Director Mike Nichols, and supporting actors Joan Cusack and Sigourney Weaver each got nominated for Oscars. The film was nominated for Best Picture and anticipation for the television series adaptation was high.

Working Girl debuted as a midseason replacement on NBC almost 1 year to the day that Bullock’s failed Six Million Dollar Man movie had flopped. The series lasted only 12 episodes before being canceled by NBC with low ratings cited as the reason.

8. Sandra Bullock Thinks Nudity in Movies Should Only be Played for Laughs

As a young actress making her way into film business, Sandra Bullock proved very wise, very early in her film career. When Bullock starred opposite Craig Scheffer in the drama Fire on the Amazon, Bullock was incredibly careful about not letting the producers or director take liberties with her during the film’s sex scene. It was to be Bullock’s first real sex scene, the one in Demolition Man really doesn’t count, and Bullock was wise to the ways filmmakers take advantage of young actresses.

After having it put in her contract that she would not appear nude in the film, securing a body double for any actual close up nudity, Bullock assured that no one could try to take advantage of her by duct taping her breasts. Even with the added protection to her modesty, Bullock was still anxiety riddled over the scene. When shooting was completed Bullock has stated that she quickly rushed off the set to remove the duct tape and vomit.

Later in her career when she did a rather modest nude scene in the hit comedy, The Proposal, Bullock discussed how she's more willing to do nude scenes but that she thinks they should be played for laughs as they were in The Proposal.

7. Speed Facts Regarding Sandra Bullock’s First Big Hit

Did you know that Sandra Bullock actually learned to drive a real bus for Speed? It’s true, even though the bus she drives in the film was being controlled by a driver on top of the bus and the bus was attached to a safety and camera rig at the front and sides, Sandra Bullock still went out of her way to earn accreditation for driving a real bus. According to Bullock she actually took and passed a test certifying that she could drive a real bus.

Be sure to check out my full length review of Speed here.

That dedication was almost not necessary however when Executives at Fox balked at casting Bullock as the second lead to Keanu Reeves. Fox Executives, according to director Jan De Bont, had requested that a big name actress be cast in the role to bolster the star power behind Keanu Reeves, at the time a rising star if not a full on superstar. Choices for the role coincidentally included Working Girl star Melanie Griffith who passed on the role as did Debra Winger, Kim Basinger and Meryl Streep. It was director Jan De Bont who fought for Bullock to get the role instead of the big names. Meanwhile, Bullock also had to outlast fellow rising stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Nicole Kidman who are each reported to have tested for the role.

6. Bullock became the Highest Paid Female Actor in Hollywood in the movie In Love and War

With the high profile success of Speed and the romantic comedy While You Were Sleeping, Sandra Bullock became one of the biggest stars of the 1990s. So huge was Sandra Bullock that she commanded a staggering $11 Million dollars for her role in the romantic drama, In Love and War. The film paired Bullock as a nurse in World War 2 Italy opposite Chris O’Donnell playing a young Ernest Hemingway.

Bullock’s $11 Million dollar payday was, at the time, the biggest payday for any female actor in history, in terms of salary. Unfortunately, In Love and War would go on to bomb at the box office earning a mere $25 Million Dollars on a significantly higher budget. Critics also lambasted the film which many believed to be Bullock’s first attempt at appealing to Awards voters following her commercial breakthroughs. Regardless of the failure of In Love and War, Bullock would remain among the highest paid actors on the planet, breaking records for women in Hollywood on multiple occasions with paydays for Speed 2: Cruise Control and Gravity closing in on $20 million dollars, not counting the more than $50 million dollars Bullock is said to have earned on the box office success of Gravity.

5. Bullock Will Never Make Another Sequel to One of Her Movies

Though she’s appeared in sequels in other already established franchises such as Despicable Me 2 and Ocean’s 8, Sandra Bullock has let it be known that she will not star in a sequel to any of her own movies. This decision is based on the colossal failure of both Speed 2 Cruise Control and Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous. Bullock has been unafraid to roast both of the sequels in which she starred, saying of Speed 2 that she knew while she was making it that it would be a big flop. Bullock claims to have taken on Speed 2 only to get Fox to provide the budget and release for her passion project Hope Floats. As for Miss Congeniality 2, Bullock has been even more blunt calling the film ‘Horrible’ in the wake of the critical tsunami of bad reviews for the film in 2005. Of the movie, Bullock told reporters that audiences should get their money back for that one.

The unfortunate casualty of the failure of Speed 2 and Miss Congeniality 2 is a sequel to Bullock’s 2013 comedy smash The Heat, co-starring Melissa McCarthy. A buddy cop movie with female leads, the comedy had strong potential as a franchise with two big name stars at the top. However, Bullock shot down the chance of a sequel almost immediately after the movie was released citing her terrible experiences with previous sequels. Bullock has also been rumored to turn down a sequel to the hit romantic comedy The Proposal, though that is only rumored.

4. Took a Pay Cut and Bought A Plane Just to Be in Crash

Though Crash is best remembered these days as the Worst Best Picture Winner of All Time, just an opinion but a widely held opinion, in 2005 it was a sought after movie. Director Paul Haggis’s script was a hit among the Hollywood elite and among those was Sandra Bullock. Bullock read the script for Crash and immediately tried to land a role in the film. In her effort to land a role in Crash, Bullock slashed her usual asking price and to accommodate the film’s shooting schedule, amid her already busy schedule of other projects, in front of and behind the camera as a producer, Bullock purchased her own private plane to guarantee she could make the scheduled shooting dates for Crash.

Even with a modest pay cut, Bullock was still the highest paid member of the cast of Crash and received top billing for the movie despite only appearing on screen for just over 5 minutes. One piece of Non-Sandra Bullock trivia regarding Crash, just because I found it interesting: Did you know that Crash is officially the last movie to be released on the VHS Format? It’s true, the film received a modest VHS release in 2006 following the film’s successful Oscar campaign.

3. Sandra Bullock Witnessed the Second Plane Hitting the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001

Sandra Bullock was in New York City on September 11th, 2001 and according to her own account, she witnessed the second plane striking the World Trade Center south tower. According to Bullock, she was in New York City to celebrate a birthday for a member of her family and she specifically chose a location with a view that included the World Trade Center towers. The party for Bullock’s family was supposed to happen that night but after seeing the second of the two planes strike the World Trade Center, Bullock and her family spent the rest of the day like the rest of the world watching the horrific aftermath of the terror attacks.

10 years later, Sandra Bullock would channel her September 11th memories into a role in the Academy Award nominated drama Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. In that film Bullock plays the widow of a character, played by Tom Hanks, who was killed at the World Trade Center. It’s a supporting role as she plays the mother of the main character, a young boy named Oskar and played by Thomas Horn. Bullock sought the role specifically due to her September 11th experience and in hopes of honoring those who lost someone on September 11th.

2. Sandra Bullock is One of Only a Handful of Actors to Accept the Razzie Award in Person

In 2009 Sandra Bullock won the dubious award of Worst Actress in a Motion Picture at the Razzie Awards, the satirical counterpart of the Academy Awards. The ‘award’ was for Bullock’s much derided performance in the flop romantic comedy All About Steve. That said, Bullock actually showed up to defend All About Steve, accusing Razzie voters of not actually watching the movie, and handing out copies of the DVD to those in attendance.

Bullock challenged Razzie voters to watch the movie and if they changed their mind on her performance she promised to return to the Awards the following year to return her award and buy a round of drinks for everyone. Unfortunately for Bullock she did not return to the Razzies the following year and it is unknown if anyone with the Razzies ever revisited All About Steve or changed their mind on Bullock’s performance as the Worst of its year.

1. Sandra Bullock Made Box Office History with The Blind Side

The same year that Sandra Bullock showed up at the Razzies to accept the award for Worst Actress for All About Steve, Bullock also showed up at the Academy Awards where she came away with the prize for Best Actress for her much more beloved performance in The Blind Side. Oscar history however, was not the only history Bullock made with The Blind Side. When the film went on to gross more than $200 million dollars at the domestic box office, Bullock became the first female star to have her name above the title on a movie that grossed more than $200 million dollars. Ironically, Bullock actually took a significant pay cut to star in The Blind Side. It’s unclear how much she may or may not have cleaned up with a percentage of the film’s phenomenal box office haul.

Other things you might not know about Sandra and The Blind Side, Bullock was not the first choice to star in the film. As happened several times in her career, Bullock was cast after Julia Roberts had passed. Then, after getting the role, Bullock nearly quit the movie just a few weeks into shooting. Bullock was dismayed about her performance and felt she was ruining director John Lee Hancock’s passion project with her bad performance. Hancock however, loved what Bullock was doing and convinced her to stay on board.

One final note, a little The Blind Side trivia: The Blind Side remains the most rented movie in the history of the Netflix DVD Rental Service. For those too young to remember, Netflix began life as a DVD rental company through the mail. Before streaming services became ubiquitous, Netflix was mailing physical copies of your favorite movies. The Blind Side was released on the service in 2009 and became an instant sensation. To this date, The Blind Side is the most rented movie in the history of Netflix’s DVD service.