PEOPLE ONLINE - Interview | October 26, 1998 |

Q & A with...Sandra Bullock
---------------------------
by Bonnie Siegler


Straight talk from a sweetheart about life, love and hangin' with the pooches
Bullock plays a small-town girl whose family has a bewitching reputation

So, do you believe in magic? 
SANDRA BULLOCK: I believe in things that are (pause) unexplained, instant
intuition, karma. I've had many things happen in my life that you really cannot
logically explain. So I'd like to believe that there is a higher level of thinking, of
beings, that connects people.

What sort of weird things happened to you? 
SB: Just things I'm not going to tell you (loud laugh). I've had some amazing things
happen that -- the one thing I can say is that on numerous occasions I can tell when
something horrible is going to happen. It's pathetic; I get this pit in my stomach and
it's happened to me several times. On every occasion, it has not been a very pleasant
thing. There are happenings that I can't explain so -- 

Like Speed 2? 
SB: If I had known it was going to suck as much as it did (loud laugh) -- but who was
to know? It was the best thing that ever happened to me. It proved a lot of things that I
felt to be true to begin with -- it was a cyclical thing that placed me in a situation
where I was more comfortable there where I was before which was nobody cared
about me after it was done. OK, she failed, she's on the outs now, but I was able to go
back and concentrate and make the films that I love to do. I went into Speed 2 with
the very best intentions. We were all excited about it. Why would it have gone wrong?
Albeit it, yes, it's called Speed and the boat didn't go faster than 10 knots, you know,
but I'm not part of the special effects and I thought maybe they know what they're
doing. I don't know. I had the most amazing five months filming it. And I would do it
over again in a heartbeat.

Did that make Hope Floats that much more important to you? 
SB: You know, we didn't expect Hope Floats to be successful because we didn't make
it for an audience that would go to see it. We made it for audiences that always say
'there aren't any movies for us' and then they don't go anyway to the movies, which are
women -- which are ME! So it was such a pleasant surprise to have it be successful on
the small level that it was, but more importantly, we made it for that 40%, not the
100% and those people were really happy. Some got it, some hated it. I like making
films like that -- ones that really stick to an opinion, stick to a story. Generally if you
do that, you're not going to please everybody. The small amount you do please is
wonderful when they stop you on the street and tell you a reason they really liked it.

After Speed 2, did you have to get over the insecurity of I'll-Never-Work- Again-In-
This-Town? 
SB: No, because the funny thing was the scripts didn't stop coming in. That's what I
didn't understand either. The action scripts stopped coming, which was maybe a
blessing. But you know what, I've done everything I've wanted to do. Up to this point,
I've done absolutely everything I wanted to do acting-wise. That's why I decided for
the next year, I'm not going to act. I'm going to do a cameo in a film I'm producing --
we have two great films our company is putting out and that's all I want to do. There
is no role, no script that has come across my desk where I'd say `I'd be the best person
for that right now.' There's somebody better to play that part. When it happened with
Speed 2, it was embarrassing because when I saw the screening, I said now I'm
responsible for going out and having to talk about it. When I saw things were kind of
going south in the middle of making it, I couldn't bail because I committed. That's the
one thing I learned -- bail! It's okay to bail. There's a reason actors leave projects. I
just didn't. 

Are you saying you are retiring from acting? 
SB: Not really. But of course, that's when all these incredible roles and projects with
great people come along but, you know what, I don't have the heart for it right now.
There's too much I want to do, there's too much in life that I've missed and I need to
be around and stay in one place for. The great thing about what we've got in the
hopper are these two smaller films and that they're going to be far more rewarding
than anything I could possibly have to show that I have or talk about myself.

Don't you think you are a little young to be burned out by it all? 
SB: I'm not burned out. I just know my limitations. There is nothing else that I can
contribute. Why make a film when you are not 100% there and if it's not 100% of
what you want to say. I don't need the money, my money's fine.

In a sense, you are saying you have sacrificed your personal life for Hollywood? 
SB: I don't give up anything for my personal life. I'm sorry, that comes first. My
personal life will always come first.

Is that why you are taking a year off? 
SB: Absolutely. Not just for romantic, personal things. The traveling is so hard but it's
also incredibly great. You have to balance it. You have to take the time off. I watched
Tom (Cruise) and Nicole (Kidman) and I watched how they balanced it all. They
literally schedule out their time. When one works, the other doesn't work and has the
kids. They bring the kids with them. It's their system and they do it. So my personal
life will always take precedence over my work. If I'm at work and I get a call and
something comes up that I need to handle, I'll say `I have to go deal with something
personal' and I go.

You are based in Texas now. Is it good to get out of Hollywood? 
SB: I'm still here in L.A., but I can appreciate it now. I don't want to live where I
work. I still work here a lot but now when I'm here, I'm here knowing what I'm here
for. Back home, I hang with the pooches.

What film have you said you peaked at and said 'I got my best performance'? 
SB: What is weird is that every film is another little side of yourself. I just finished
something called Forces of Nature that if I hadn't decided to step back from acting for
awhile, would either ruin my career or it will have been the greatest experience I've
had. Practical Magic on a whole different level, in terms of the subject matter and the
ability to have a storyline of love between two women where the two women were not
stealing each other's husbands, stabbing each other in the back -- is about support. It's
so incredibly important to me because we don't have that. 
We are pitting our women up against each other and I don't get why. I just opened up
a magazine and you see this caricature of Cameron Diaz sitting on top of Julia
Roberts bending her arm behind her back saying "Cameron has the edge." How
ridiculous is that? They don't do that to men. And so here are these two women who
are beautiful, attractive and can open up a film -- why do they have to be at each
other's throats? So, I said it was a nice opportunity to have two women in the industry
support each other, have an incredible working relationship of chemistry the same
way people want chemistry to happen between two men. So in terms of Practical
Magic, that was incredibly important to me. And I loved the aspect of keeping an
open mind to things you can't explain in terms of love because it's such a hard thing
for everybody. Everyone strives for love or desires it. I don't care how old you are,
how successful you are, when it gets right down to it, it's all about finding someone
who loves you and that you love. That's what ultimately everybody strives for.

Can you tell us about these two small projects [that you're producing]? 
SB: One is called "The Untitled Eric Blakely Project" -- it's been out there with "Gun
Shy," but there's so many out there with Gun Shy in the title, we couldn't come up
with another one right now. We start shooting in New York on October 19th with
Liam Neeson and I do a week and a half of work with incredible character actors. All
the actors know we don't have a lot of money but the good amount of money we do
have will go up on screen, and it's role they would normally never be able to play. But
they will be brilliant at it, but we've never seen them like this before. So actors will
work for no money -- I'm getting paid barely anything. Everyone is getting paid barely
anything, comparatively speaking, but we've had such a great deal of luck with it. 
It's a black comedy about a private investigator who wants nothing more than to get
out but has to accomplish one more task and finish it out. The Gods have been very
kind to him up to this point and he's been able to dodge the bullets, and then all of a
sudden everything goes wrong so he understands the fear now. He's a broken man. As
a broken man, he has to finish up his task, which just proceeds to get worse and
worse. His entire life is consumed by this unbelievable pain in his stomach, which is
essentially his conscience and he has to deal with that. As the director says, everyone
sees Marilyn Monroe, this guys sees the run in Marilyn Monroe's stocking. Everything
is too close to him now.

It sounds like you are very happy to be knocked off the top and out of the
competition. 
SB: I never was competitive -- I was very competitive with just myself. I think if you
compete in this business, it's ridiculous. It's stupid.

But you were on top. 
SB: I didn't bring myself there, I was given the rise by this odd opportunity that were
unexpected. I didn't put any weight on it. I wasn't unhappy there, it just didn't make
any sense to me. I don't understand -- all of a sudden I wasn't auditioning for things,
all of a sudden all these things are coming to you and I was still in the New York
actor phase of I have to take the material, do the best with it and just go. I didn't know
when to step out of a project if I didn't feel the script was being developed properly or
that all the elements were there. I was very appreciative, would take it, and I would
go. The agents would make these insane, wonderful deals that made no sense to me,
but money brings on nothing but problems.

Nicole is not here to talk, so give us some kind of sense of working with her on this
film. 
SB: The thing I have a tremendous amount of admiration for Nicole for is her ability
to balance this insane life that she has. There is not a moment she doesn't stop. I
thought I was busy. But it's all around her kids. She might get three hours of sleep a
night and she would still show up and she was as sick as the children were. Here are
two people who found each other who happen to be very successful and very good at
what they do. A lot of people are jealous and pissed and don't like it. And I can see
why because if I was less secure, I would look at it and say I hate you so much. And I
said that to her and felt very comfortable saying it to her. I saw her in a play in
England and she gave such an amazing performance I was exhausted. I couldn't figure
out if I was exhausted from envy or it was such an emotional play. I said I hate you so
much because you achieved something (laugh) that I hope I can someday.

But there are a lot of appealing things with stardom? 
SB: What is it? If you could, tell me what it is -- free clothes from designers?

Well, you had it. 
SB: I still have it. It's whatever it is, it's nothing. It's money, it's people recognizing
you. It's being on the cover of a magazine and you look good only because it's
airbrushing and you had great hair and makeup. That's what it is. And if you can open
up a film, like Hope Floats, and bring money to a film like that, to me that's the
beneficial side of this super-stardom.

And the other side is what? 
SB: It doesn't always bring out the best in people. That's the unfortunate thing because
it does bring out very negative sides to people which breaks your heart and there's
nothing you can do about that. But at least you find out.