The early performance that made Sandra Bullock cringe: “I didn’t know what I was doing”
If there’s one thing an A-list Hollywood star loves, it’s sitting down for a press interview about their latest prestigious project, only to be asked about an embarrassing early role they played when they were first starting in the business. Just kidding, of course, they obviously hate it, and yet it’s never stopped journalists from pushing their luck. Just ask Sandra Bullock, who fell victim to this situation many times in the 1990s.
Back then, Bullock seemingly became a superstar almost overnight when she starred in The Vanishing and Demolition Man in 1993, followed by Speed in 1994. However, in reality, she had been working her way up the ladder since 1987, when she landed a role in the little-remembered action movie Hangmen, and followed that up with two even more easily forgotten direct-to-video movies: A Fool and His Money and Who Shot Pat?
None of these films did much for Bullock’s profile, though, so she turned to the small screen. In 1989, she appeared in the made-for-TV movies Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman and The Preppie Murder, before events conspired to put her in line to land the lead in her own sitcom.
In the late ’80s/early ’90s, Hollywood was every bit as fond of turning hit movies into TV shows as it is today. When 1988’s Working Girl made more than $100 million and was nominated for six Oscars, NBC quickly moved to continue the adventures of the ambitious Staten Island secretary Tess McGill in a half-hour format.
The show wouldn’t star any of the movie’s cast, which isn’t exactly a shocker because the idea of Melanie Griffith, Harrison Ford, and Sigourney Weaver making a sitcom would have been unfathomable at that time. Instead, producers wanted The Facts of Life star Nancy McKeon to take on the mantle of McGill, and she eagerly signed up. But, when she mysteriously dropped out only a few weeks before production was due to start, a scramble ensued to find a new star.
Enter Bullock, who auditioned, landed the role, and suddenly found herself the star of a major new TV show. Then, almost as quickly as she became a star, the show was cancelled after only eight of its 12 completed episodes were aired. Ultimately, it was only on television for three and a half months, and was soon consigned to obscurity – until Bullock was asked about it while promoting both Demolition Man and The Net.
When asked if she was hesitant to take on Working Girl because it was based on such a popular movie, Bullock admitted, “Sure, I mean, there’s going to be comparisons out the wazoo, but you know something, when you’re starting out as an actor, you take what you can get. Beggars can’t be choosers; that’s pretty much the bottom line.”
The future A-lister admitted she wasn’t in a position to turn down something like Working Girl, and even though she was “scared to do it,” had no idea what she was doing, and was pulled from pillar to post with wildly differing advice from everyone involved behind the scenes, she still reckoned, “It was a great thing for me. If it wasn’t for that, I don’t think I would be here.”
Later, when asked again about the show that made her visibly cringe when its title was invoked, Bullock said, “It wasn’t the most enjoyable experience I had, but I learned a lot about what not to do. It was very painful, very hard, and my hands were kind of tied at that point, because I was very unschooled in what you’re allowed to fight for as an artist.”
Indeed, this got to the crux of Bullock’s disappointment with the show, and it all boiled down to the dreaded Hollywood creative differences. “It basically started out as a very funny role,” Bullock revealed with a sigh, “and then it turned into a straight role, and I was like, ‘I don’t do this very well.'”
Ultimately, she felt like she got the blame for the show’s lack of laughs, despite being given little funny material to work with, and that was a tough spot to be in.
