Celebrity3 min(s) read
Sandra Bullock has opened up about the uncomfortable reality of breaking into Hollywood, recalling the auditions she faced before becoming one of the industry's biggest stars.
The actress, now 62, began pursuing acting professionally in the late 1980s before landing a string of increasingly prominent roles, eventually becoming a household name following her breakout performance in 1994's Speed.
However, reflecting on the decisions that shaped her career, Bullock admitted she was forced to know when to walk away from certain opportunities.
Speaking to fellow actress Jennifer Aniston for Interview magazine, Bullock was asked whether there had ever been a point where she deliberately decided what kind of career she wanted.
She immediately remembered one particularly uncomfortable period while trying to find work in New York.
“I was in New York, I was a waitress, I was auditioning for every pervert that existed asking me to drop my pants. I was like, ‘Nope, not the role for me’,” Bullock admitted.
She explained that aspiring actors can often feel pressured to accept whatever opportunities come their way because of the fear that another job may never arrive.
“I was working my way up. Every working actor thinks you will never work again so you just take what you can get and make the most of it.”
Bullock's second major career decision came years later, once she had already established herself as one of Hollywood's most recognizable stars.
Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, she became particularly associated with romantic comedies, but Bullock eventually felt she had to prove she could do more than the cringe of rom-coms.
“The only time I was intentional about my career was when I said, ‘I need to stop right now with the rom-coms,’ because I was getting so much s**t for them,” she told Aniston.
“And I took a role in this film called Crash. I wanted to start flexing other muscles.”
Aniston pointed out that making such a drastic career move must have been “very risky”, while also defending comedy as a genre that is frequently underestimated despite how difficult it is to pull off.
Released in 2004, Crash represented a significant departure from the romantic comedies that had helped establish and elevate Bullock's career.
Reflecting on the past two decades, however, the actress admitted that her priorities have changed again. “Now more than ever, I miss that. I want to do nothing but that now,” Bullock admitted.
After becoming a major star through both comedy and drama, she has now returned to one of the genres that helped make her famous, with Bullock's latest project being Practical Magic 2.
The sequel also sees her reunite with Nicole Kidman, bringing her back to the world of the beloved 1998 fantasy comedy.
