The 2002 movie Sandra Bullock had no desire to work on: “I didn’t want to be involved”
Having friends in high places is a huge benefit in Hollywood, especially when that friend in a high place is globally recognised superstar Sandra Bullock, a mainstay of the A-list milieu since the 1990s.
Longevity is a tough thing to maintain for an extended period of time in such a cutthroat industry. Still, Bullock has managed to remain one of the most notable names in the industry for three decades. She has headlined a succession of box office hits along the way, in addition to winning an Academy Award for ‘Best Actress’.
However, she was reluctant to sign onto one film in particular, but only because she was concerned it might ruin her friendship with the director. Callie Khouri was hardly an unknown seeking her big break when calling in that favour, but Bullock was nonetheless apprehensive about starring in her friend’s feature-length directorial debut, knowing full well about the strains shooting a movie can put on a person.
Having won an Oscar for ‘Best Original Screenplay’ for penning Ridley Scott’s Thelma & Louise, Khouri sought to take the next step in her career by stepping behind the camera for Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood. It’s a leap that many have attempted. Often, many have faltered. So, maybe that’s also why Bullock was so wary.
Well, despite her notable protestations, it also proved too awkward for Bullock to stick to her guns and turn it down. She takes top billing in a starry ensemble that also features Ashley Judd, Ellen Burstyn, James Garner, Maggie Smith, and Cherry Jones. Still, as she explained to IGN, she’d have rather not done the film at all to avoid any and all chances of her bond with the movie’s creative driving force beginning to fray.
“Callie Khouri forced me to do the film. That’s true! Callie Khouri is a really great friend of mine,” Bullock said. “I read the book. I loved it. I didn’t want to do the film because I didn’t want to ruin our friendship. It’s her first film, and a lot of stress. I didn’t want to be involved.”
Regardless of repeatedly trying to spurn Khouri’s advances, Bullock was eventually ground down and agreed to sign on. “I kept saying no, but she said you have to do this film. I said I don’t want to be the narrator. I don’t want to be the storyteller, the boring role. I don’t want this,” she continued.
Adding, “She said, look, this is why I think you should do this. Come aboard. I swear to god you’ll be safe with me. I said fine, whatever, it’s four weeks out of my life.” That’s pretty much how things unfurled for the film, too. Four inoffensive weeks with a friend and not a huge amount more.
In the end, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood was a modest success at the box office that hardly lingered long in the memory. However, Bullock is reliably solid as Sidda Walker, a playwright who becomes the subject of an unusual intervention that helps her uncover the history of her complicated relationship with her mother.
Even though she claims she was corralled into the cast, at least Bullock didn’t phone in her performance. And fittingly, the film does at least do a fine job of capturing the escape of friendship from the rigours of the world.
As Sidda rants in a pivotal, comic scene, “I am sick of fighting! And, I am sick to death of this whole center of the universe, holier than thou, nothing is ever enough. Oh, how I’ve suffered, nobody understands me. Somebody fix me a drink and hand me a Nebutol, worn out Scarlett O’Hara… thang!”
By all accounts, the trepidation did not lead to a fraught shoot, and Bullock remains friends with Khouri to this day. What’s more, while Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood might have been met with a muted response, Khouri got a few more cracks of the whip when it comes to directing, although she’s never come close to topping her Oscar win for the Thelma & Louise screenplay. It’s a tough act to follow!
