Sandra Bullock Talks About Why She Stopped Romantic Comedies and Whether She Wants to Get Back to Them

Sandra Bullock made her mark in the 90s as a romantic comedy queen. Films like While You Were Sleeping, Forces of Nature, Miss Congeniality, The Proposal, Two Weeks Notice, and many more became fan favorites, but Bullock decided to give the genre a rest over the last 15+ years, when she leaned more into dramas.

She opened up about the decision, and her feelings about movie roles now, in a recent interview with her friend and fellow actress Jennifer Aniston for Interview Magazine.

Aniston asked Bullock, “Was there a moment when you made a deliberate choice about the kind of career you wanted, or did it just evolve?”

Bullock responded: “You’ll get this. I was in New York, I was a waitress, I was auditioning for every pervert that existed, asking me to drop my pants. I was like, ‘Nope, not the role for me.’ I was working my way up. Every working actor thinks you will never work again so you just take what you can get and make the most of it.

“The only time I was intentional about my career was when I said, ‘I need to stop right now with the rom-coms,’ because I was getting so much shit for them. And I took a role in this film called Crash. It was a genius film. I wanted to start flexing other muscles.”

Aniston commended her friend for stepping out of her comfort zone and trying something new, and added that “the industry tends to pooh-pooh comedies, but they’re not as easy as they look.” Bullock agreed, and responded, “Now more than ever, I miss that. I want to do nothing but that now.”

The pair chatted warmly about their love for comedies and working with people like Hugh Grant, who Bullock said made her laugh until she cried on set of Two Weeks Notice.

Bullock has stuck a toe back in the rom-com pool with the release of her sequel Practical Magic 2. That film crosses several genres, but it definitely has the feel of a nostalgic Sandy B. film.

I’d love to see more romantic comedies from her, as she is such a hilarious actress, and she’s just so much fun to watch in those roles.