Following the massive success of ‘Miss Congeniality’ which was her highest-grossing film yet, Sandra Bullock decided to take a 2-year hiatus and focus on other activities besides acting. After the 2 year break, Bullock returned in early 2002 as detective Cassie Mayweather in the psychological thriller ‘Murder by Numbers’ which featured Ryan Gosling alongside Bullock.
The film was a mediocre hit. Bullock then teamed up with Hugh Grant in the romantic comedy Two Weeks Notice. The film was considered slightly amateurish, however, make almost $200 million. It awarded Bullock with the Raul Julia Award for helping expand career openings for the Hispanic community in media and entertainment.
A String of Film Success Followed After Speed
After Bullock's great performance in Speed, she began to be recognized as a leading Hollywood actress. This led to a string of successful films, including the romantic comedy "While You Were Sleeping", where she played the role of a lonely Chicago Transit Authority token collector who saves a man's life. The movie was a critical success and she received her first Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress following this movie.
She was nominated for MTV's Best Breakthrough Performance award for her role as a defense attorney in the crime drama "A Time to Kill" where she co-starred along with Samuel L. Jackson, Matthew McConaughey, and Kevin Spacey. Her most successful commercial film of the time was Miss Congeniality, which grossed $212 million worldwide and earned Bullock another Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress.
She Regrets Making A Sequel For Speed
Bullock has admitted to having just one regret in her career, and that was making the sequel 'Speed 2'. Bullock was supposed to be joined by 'Speed' star Keanu Reeves who would reprise his role as Jack Tavern but he decided not to join the cast and was replaced by Jason Patric before filming. Bullock has since expressed her regret for agreeing to star in the film.
According to Sandra, even during production, she had many doubts about the success of the film. The film was a major flop and was nominated for many negative awards which also included the cast, such as Worst Actress, Worst Screen Couple, and Worst Remake or Sequel (which Speed 2 actually won). She claims to have agreed to appear in 'Speed 2' mainly to get financial backing for her next film.
Apparently, Sandra Bullock Is Allergic to Horses
In 1996 Bullock filmed the romantic comedy 'Two if by Sea' starring Denis Leary about a Petty thief who steals a $4 million masterpiece painting. During that time Bullock discovered that she was allergic to horses.
The film ended up as a box office failure and received fairly negative reviews from critics. Bullock made sure to stay away from horses from that point forward.
Sandra Bullock at 37, Dated Ryan Gossling
The surprising Hollywood couple we all forgot lasted from the end of 2001 to 2003. The couple met on the set of the 2002 psychological thriller 'Murder By Numbers', in which they both starred. This seems like a normal Hollywood situation where an actor and an actress get it going while doing a film together, but let’s not forget that Bullock was 37 and Ryan Gossling was just 21 at the time.
Bullock and Gosling were fairly quiet about the relationship. When asked about why she chose to date Gosling, one thing that came up was that Gosling had helped her learn how to "chill". "I live my life at a manic pace, and he's taught me to disregard all that isn't important. He's like a little Buddha,", Bullock said.