|
Bullock was born in Arlington
County, Virginia, the daughter of Helga D. Meyer, a German opera singer
who died of cancer on April 4, 2000, and John W. Bullock, a Pentagon
contractor, executive and part-time vocal coach from Alabama. Bullock's
maternal grandfather was a rocket scientist from Nuremberg. Bullock lived
in Nuremberg, Germany until age twelve, where she sang in the opera's
children's choir at the Staatstheater Nürnberg. She frequently traveled
with her mother on her opera tours, and lived in Germany and other parts
of Europe for much of her childhood. Bullock studied ballet and vocal arts
as a child, taking small parts in her mother's opera productions.
Bullock attended Washington-Lee High School where she was a cheerleader,
participated in high school theater productions and dated a football
player. She graduated in 1982 and enrolled in East Carolina University in
Greenville, North Carolina. During this time she worked as a waitress at a
restaurant. She left school during her senior year (Spring 1986), three
credits short of graduating, to pursue an acting career. She went to
Manhattan to try to get auditions and supported herself with a variety of
odd jobs (bartender, cocktail waitress, coat checker).
Sandra Bullock later completed her coursework and was awarded a bachelor's
degree from East Carolina University. She is fluent in German. When
appearing on German TV shows, she prefers to speak English (the TV hosts
speak German though).
While in New York, Bullock took acting classes at The Neighborhood
Playhouse. She appeared in several student films and later landed a role
in an Off-Broadway play No Time Flat. Director Alan J. Levi was impressed
by Bullock's performance and offered her a part in the made-for-TV movie
Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman (1989).
After filming the movie, Bullock stayed in Los Angeles, California, and
was cast in a series of small roles in several independent films as well
as in the lead role of the short-lived NBC television version of the film
Working Girl (1990). She appeared in several films such as Love Potion No.
9 (1992), The Thing Called Love (1993) and Fire on the Amazon (where she
agreed to appear topless if the camera did not show that much, she covered
herself with duct tape which apparently was somewhat painful to take off).
One of Bullock's first notable movie appearances was in Demolition Man
(1993), which led to her breakthrough performance in Speed the following
year. She became a high-level movie star in the late 1990s, carrying a
string of successes, including While You Were Sleeping (she replaced
actress Demi Moore, who was originally scheduled to star), Miss
Congeniality and Two Weeks Notice. Bullock received 11 million dollars for
Speed 2 and 17.5 million dollars for Miss Congeniality 2: Armed &
Fabulous.
Bullock has been selected as one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful
People in the World in 1996 and 1999, and has also been ranked #58 in
Empire magazine's Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time list. She was presented
with the 2002 Raul Julia Award for Excellence for her efforts, as the
executive producer of the sitcom The George Lopez Show, in helping expand
career openings for Hispanic talent in the media and entertainment
industry.
In 2004, Bullock had a supporting role in the film Crash. She received
positive reviews for her performance, with some critics suggesting that it
was the best performance of her career. Bullock later appeared in The Lake
House, a romantic drama also starring her Speed co-star, Keanu Reeves; it
was released on June 16, 2006. Because their film characters are separated
throughout the film (due to the plot revolving around time travel),
Bullock and Reeves were only on set together for two weeks during filming.
The same year, Bullock appeared in Infamous, playing author Harper Lee.
Bullock also stars in Premonition with Julian McMahon, which was released
in March of 2007.
Bullock received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on March 24, 2005.
In January 2007, Bullock was named the 14th richest woman in entertainment
by Forbes, with a net worth of $85 million.
Bullock runs her own production company, Fortis Films; her sister, Gesine
Bullock-Prado, is president of the company and her father, John Bullock,
is its CEO. She was an executive producer of George Lopez, The network
canned the sitcom in May, though not before it clinched a lucrative
syndication deal that banked Bullock some $10 million. She also made
sporadic "cameo" appearances in the show as "Accident Amy," a factory
worker prone to accidents in the workplace. Bullock tried to produce a
film based on F.X. Toole's short story Million-Dollar Baby, but couldn't
interest studios in a female boxing drama. The story was eventually made
as the Oscar-winning film Million Dollar Baby (2004).Bullock's Fortis
Films will produce her next movie, All About Steve. In the meantime, she
tends to her Austin restaurant, Bess Bistro, and its first merchandising
tie-in, a line of organic candles. |
|
(on marital plans) "I've
always been very sceptical about marriage, because I only want to do
it once; I want to do it the right way."
"I've learned that success comes in a very prickly package. Whether
you choose to accept it or not is up to you. It's what you choose to
do with it, the people you choose to surround yourself with. Always
choose people that are better than you. Always choose people that
challenge you and are smarter than you. Always be the student. Once
you find yourself to be the teacher, you've lost it."
"I remember sitting down in Joel Silver's office and Joel going, "Do
you want to do this film?". I remember going, "I would like to do
it, but I would love to talk about the character, and it was almost
like I had said the biggest joke".
The only reason I haven't married yet, is because I take it too
seriously.
"Fame means when your computer modem is broken, the repair guy comes
out to your house a little faster."
"I have no desire to maintain a lifestyle. I am a horrible
celebrity. If I am out in public I dress like a pig."
"The Acadamy Awards shouldn't even nominate Meryl Streep anymore.
She should just be given an award every year. There should just be
the Meryl Streep category".
"Everyone told me to pass on Speed (1994/I) because it was a 'bus
movie'".
"I'd rather take risks than make something that's cookie cutter."
"The first Miss Congeniality (2000) gave me the chance to do broad
comedy that had nothing to do with being the romantic interest. The
girl-next-door thing went away with that film and I tend to do
characters that I want to be more like. In the beginning, though, I
was sort of the 'action girl'. And then with While You Were Sleeping
(1995), I was the romantic-comedy girl. But when I took time off, I
thought, 'There's something I'm missing here.' I literally had to
start from scratch."
"I don't like to talk about personal things. ... And by keeping it
private, you have a better shot at a healthy relationship. I learned
at a young age that there are certain things you just don't talk
about."
"I don't think there's ever what could be called a 'chilled state'
in my head."
"My goal now is to remember every place I've been, only do things I
love and not say yes when I don't mean it." quoted in WOMAN'S WORLD
(7-5-05)
"If I'm blessed with that, I hope I am the best version of me that I
can possibly be." - on motherhood to People Magazine.
"Movie sex scenes are never romantic, and you're never swept off
your feet. It's always very technical....I'm counting the beats:
Okay, we're supposed to kiss for two beats, then I say my line, then
they want another kiss for four beats. I'm going, One Mississippi,
two Mississippi, three and break. It's like choreography. Sometimes
you have actors who feel it's their job to get as far down into your
throat as possible. You're like, Excuse me, I like you, but not that
much."
"Why do you need one? I don't understand why there needs to be a
love interest to make women go see a film. I think society sort of
makes us feel that way - that if you don't have a guy, you're
worthless. |
