The actor Sandra Bullock always wanted to be like: “But I can’t”
For some actors, dark and troubled roles are the most appealing to play, reflecting their own complex personalities and their natural interest in the less hopeful and lighthearted aspects of life. Gritty and transgressive parts are a dream to these kinds of actors, allowing them to tell vital stories that many stars would be too afraid to go near. Then there’s those actors who are more open to a wide variety of parts, like Sandra Bullock, who has voiced kids’ movies, led romantic comedies, appeared in crime dramas and thrillers, and even tried her hand at horror.
She is one of Hollywood’s most successful stars, having appeared in many box office hits over the years. Rising to prominence in the 1990s with a supporting role in Demolition Man, Bullock quickly established herself as one of the decade’s most vital new faces. She often opted for mainstream titles, appearing in a string of movies that all performed well at the box office, from Speed and While You Were Sleeping to A Time to Kill and The Prince of Egypt.
Bullock has never been scared to appear in a movie that forces her to face more complex themes, such as childhood grief in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close or reconnecting with family following a criminal past in The Unforgivable. Yet, she admires the kinds of actors who consistently throw themselves into more challenging roles and live as wildly as the parts they play – something she can’t exactly relate to. Despite being a Hollywood icon, Bullock is rather well-adjusted, and she is rarely involved in any kind of serious scandal.
However, she has worked with various stars who have lived much more tumultuous lives than her, like Dennis Hopper, who she appeared alongside in Speed. The movie was her big breakthrough into Hollywood, and she was delighted to be working with someone as legendary as Hopper. The actor began his career in the 1950s and appeared in many iconic movies, like Rebel Without A Cause, Cool Hand Luke, True Grit, and Easy Rider, which he also directed.
He can also be seen playing the terrifying Frank Booth in Blue Velvet, an abusive father in Out of the Blue (again, a film that he directed), and a photojournalist in Apocalypse Now. Put simply, Hopper was a Hollywood legend, but not just because of his incredible performances in many great films. The actor was also a true daredevil, and much of his ability to act in such demanding roles surely came from the fearlessness that he exhibited in real life.
Stories about the star range from the time he played Russian Roulette and the moment he was found wandering naked around a jungle, to the fact he was paid in cocaine for Apocalypse Now, snorted someone’s ashes, and even shot an Andy Warhol painting.
“I want to be like Dennis,” Bullock said to the Los Angeles Times, although we can hardly imagine the star ever shooting a tree after doing so much acid she mistook it for a bear; that’s a story that can only belong to Hopper, of course. “But I can’t, so I hang around people like that and kind of stick my toe in the water occasionally. This is the only profession that commends you for being a dark, wild person,” Bullock added. While Hopper frequently appeared as abusive, wild, terrifying, drug-addicted, or reckless characters, Bullock only swims into those depths every once in a while because, clearly, it takes its toll on a person.
