Sandra Bullock is on the cover of Glamour this month, where she sits down with her Our Brand Is Crisis costar Zoe Kazan to answer questions about her career, motherhood, how she landed a role intended for a man, and more. Check out an excerpt below, and read the full interview in the November issue of Glamour, on newsstands October 13.
Last fall I auditioned for director David Gordon Green's political dramedy Our Brand Is Crisis, starring Bullock as Jane Bodine, an unconventional and hyperintelligent political consultant. (She's also a producer on the film.) I leapt at the chance to work with her—when I got the call offering me the part, I physically jumped up and down. But I was nervous. What if this person I've admired for so long turned out to be less than worthy? Well, I hate to break it to you: "Sandy," as she cheerfully introduced herself to me over email before we started filming, is one of the kindest people I have ever met. Not "for a movie star," not "in this business." Kindest. Ever. At dinners with the cast, I watched her draw out even the most reticent person, disarming with laughter, listening with her entire self. I won't embarrass her by reciting her acts of generosity, but I will say: After spending time with Sandy, I now have a new standard of how to conduct myself, not just at work but also in life.
As one of the most famous people in the world, she is understandably private. In our social interactions I've been careful not to put her on the spot. So when we sat down in Toronto this fall, the morning after Our Brand Is Crisis premiered, I could hardly contain my excitement at getting to ask one of my heroes everything I always wanted to know but was too shy to ask.
Zoe Kazan: So I always say to people that if we were in a small town and you weren't a movie star, you would be the rock of the town.
Sandra Bullock: Oh my God. OK. We start crying at the beginning of the interview. I always thought that I'd end up as a waitress in a town somewhere; the oldest waitress, who knew everybody. I liked the idea of making everyone feel comfortable because it makes me feel more comfortable. I'm oddly an introvert. Because of that aspect of my personality, I like the idea of taking care of the team—hoping that someone will, eventually, take care of me back.
ZK: You've talked to me about wanting to be with your son, Louis [now five], and you've said that a project really has to be special for you to commit to it. So what was it about Our Brand Is Crisis that made you want to go back to work?
SB: It was the story, first. This script came along. I went, "Wow." It's couched in this absurdist look at the inner workings of politics, but it represented the people of Bolivia, who are fearless in fighting for what they feel is right. The story, I loved. And then working with [producers] Grant [Heslov] and George [Clooney] was exciting. We have known each other since we started in this business. Literally before any of us had a job.
ZK: How did you meet?
SB: Grant, George, and the person I dated were all friends. I met George at a party where he was doing Buddy Hackett imitations! George was the reason the guy that I ended up dating dated me. He was like, "If you don't get with her, I'm gonna get with her." He was kidding, but sort of pushing. So we've all known each other for umpteen-chillion years and have supported each other from afar.
ZK: This role was originally written for a man. Is it true you asked to see scripts for male roles?
SB: Yeah. My agent said, "Let's just start reading the scripts." She came up with this one. I read it. She goes, "Should we ask them if they're willing to make it a female?" I said, "Yeah."
ZK: How did that thought occur to you?
SB: I did as my mother did: I put my blinders on and blazed forward. Sometimes you get a no. But I expect the no. I don't expect the yes. With this I got very nervous. I didn't know if George had made this for himself. But the response was "We're cool with it." And then the role—I mean, it was so beautifully written for a man. It wasn't one of those things where you go, "Hmm, how do we change it to a woman?" You just change the sex; that was pretty much it. She's human. She deals with addiction; she deals with mental illness. She's brilliant at what she does, and she gets lost in the fact that all she cares about is a win. You look at our world—and back to my son: How do you raise a child to not make it all about the win when all we see in our world is people saying, "In order to have success, you have to win"?
ZK: I'm impressed with how you've protected your ability to have a personality—and be sensitive to people. Some famous people become desensitized in order to protect themselves.
SB: Yeah, but I don't think your core changes. If you were an asshole before you got in this business, you're just a bigger asshole. I think you are who you are. I didn't get into [this business] till later in life. Who I am as a person hasn't changed. I was already baked.
ZK: You had gone to college. You were an adult.
SB: Yeah. Well, I did some stupid things in college. Fact that I didn't wind up in jail: miracle. Miracle! So I'm grateful for that. But, you know, I don't feel like I was an adult till about five years ago.
ZK: Really?
SB: I literally went, "I know who I am." Not completely. But about two years ago all the puzzle pieces came together. I went, "This is who I like. This is who I am."
ZK: Was part of that because of motherhood?
SB: Motherhood and divorce—and not just divorce but the onslaught. Again, I let it affect me. I heard it all. And I had to step back and go, "I have the greatest gift in little Louis, and I'm gonna let him see the woman I want him to know." So a child forces you to get your sh-t together. In the best way.
ZK: Your son is African American, and there's been so much in the news about the peril that African American men face in this country.
SB: Men and women.
ZK: Is that something that you think about?
SB: Every day. Tearing up again. You see how far we've come in civil rights—and where we've gotten back to now. I want my son to be safe. I want my son to be judged for the man he is. We are at a point now where if we don't do something, we will have destroyed what so many amazing people have done. You look at women's rights; it's turning into a mad, mad world out there. But sometimes it needs to get really loud for people to say, "I can't unsee this." If I could ride in a bubble with him for the rest of his life, I would. But I can't.
For more, pick up the November issue of Glamour on newsstands October 13, subscribe now, or download the digital edition.
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