Sandra Bullock: There's Something About Sandy

Q: On Practical Magic, one reviewer quipped, "It's Barbie joins a coven time."

A: That was The New York Times. Practical Magic was a whimsical, magical tale all about women, definitely a chick flick. It's all a matter of taste.

Q: You turned down Batman Forever because it conflicted with While You Were Sleeping--any regrets about that?

A: They talked about me for Batman Forever, but I wasn't the type they wanted. I wasn't pretty enough. That's the word that got back to me. But While You Were Sleeping I wanted so badly. I auditioned left and right for that. I love that film.

Q: Were you pleased with your looks as you grew up?

A: No. Never, until years later when I'd look back and say, "I like who that person is." Why didn't I like her at the time? I don't know anybody who goes, "God, I am so beautiful."

Q: I think Raquel Welch did.

A: She still should. She looks fantastic. I'm not a confident person in that department, nor do I want to be. I don't want to rely on it because once it's gone, what do you do with yourself?

Q: What did you look like as a teen?

A: I was a total dork.

Q: So you weren't among the most popular kids in your class?

A: I was the target in school and I got the shit kicked out of me, because I was from Europe. I cried and ran. I'm glad that I got my ass literally kicked the way that I did. What it did was make me more aware of how I treat people. You think twice before making a crack or being cruel to someone.

Q: So you learned early on how to deal with rejection?

A: I deal better with rejection than I do with success.

Q: I noticed that when Two If by Sea flopped you said it felt good. And you've said you like rejection because it made you more competitive. Are you alone among actors in liking rejection?

A: It's not like I like to have my teeth kicked in, but if you don't go through the hardships in growing up you're not going to appreciate when things are going well. Especially in this business.

Q: Since I've quoted all the other bad reviews, I might as well add that The New York Times called Two If by Sea "inert and oddly confused."

A: They're right, that's exactly what it was. The fault was that they put me in the film. Because the company that made it just saw While You Were Sleeping and wanted so badly for it to be like that, they crushed the spirit of their film.

Q: What's your take on Denis Leary?

A: He's a fucking poet. You have to use the word fucking, because every other word he says is "fuck." He's going to amaze people one day with what he can do.

Q: Let me ask you about some of the other leading men you've worked with. Say whatever pops into your head. Jeff Bridges.

A: Passed out in his lap. That was my first big film The Vanishing and I passed out in Jeff Bridges's lap and I thought, "I made it!"

Q: Did anything stir?

A: Not that I was aware of, no. But I was plenty happy just to lie in his lap and look up at him. Chicks dig him.

Q: What about River Phoenix, with whom you did The Thing Called Love?

A: Didn't know him that well. He felt too much, but wasn't able to handle how he felt about things in this world.

Q: Sylvester Stallone, with whom you made Demolition Man?

A: A dear. He was very kind to me.

Q: Keanu Reeves.

A: Keanu's special. I call him Fuzzy. He's a beautiful human being.

Q: Do you think his career has been mishandled?

A: No, he does exactly what he wants to do. He has people around him who allow him to do that. Every choice he makes, he makes himself.

Q: Chris O'Donnell.

A: No one can spin me over his head quicker. There's never a moment when you're not thrown over his shoulder. He's Party Boy.

Q: Jason Patric.

A: He hates it when I talk about him. He's the only person I know who's ever taken the time to figure me out.

Q: Are you in a relationship now?

A: No. I don't want a relationship right now, there's too many other things going on. I wouldn't wish myself on anybody. I'd just do damage. I'm where I'm supposed to be. I'm incredibly happy.

Q: How many serious relationships have you been in?

A: I've had two four-year relationships. The others, not that they weren't serious, but they were two years.

Q: Was your four-year relationship with Tate Donovan the great romance of your life?

A: We had such a live relationship, we grew up together, and that's why we've remained friends. We didn't always do the right thing. We had a year where we couldn't be together, but now it's fine. When I look back on it, I really have to say I've only known what love is just recently.

Q: What makes a guy a good kisser?

A: Soul. You can't hide how you feel in a kiss. You can hide it in everything else.

Q: How often in your life have you experienced where your mouth absolutely fits with another person's mouth?

A: No one's ever asked me that. It's a really great question. [Pauses] Once. And the sad thing is, you spend the rest of your life looking for it again. There's nothing like it.

Q: So can I ask who it was?

A: You can ask, but I'm not going to tell you.

Q: You keep a high wall around your personal life, don't you?

A: I don't bring my trash into the public world. I mean, I get into trouble, I explore, I have a great time like everybody else, but my private life is private.

Q: How private is private?

A: I've been almost violently private--my mother will attest to this. If she asked who I was talking to on the phone, it would flip me out. "Where were you?" It's none of your business!

Q: Have you had great secrets to be so private about?

A: Oh yeah.

Q: Can you give me an example from when you were a child?

A: I don't think so. I've got so much stuff, I don't know what I want to let out of the bag. I store my journals in a locked closet. If somebody read them it would be horrible. I code names all the time, but then I forget who people are. I went back and read something about a person I code-named "Carrot." Who's Carrot?

Q: Growing up, was sex always a very private thing?

A: Oh yeah. Anything that was intimate between me and somebody else I would never share. Now I'm a lot more open. I have friends who are like steel drums--they've proven themselves. I've got nothing to worry about, and I've got enough garbage on them.

Q: Did your parents ever try to talk to you about life, sex, strangers?

A: No. I was very rebellious and wild. I later found out that my mother was exactly the same way--ahead of her time in Germany, expressive, free. What scared her was that these times are not as protected as those times, and she feared I would get myself knocked up.

Q: Did you hold on to your virginity until college?

A: Yeah, I did. The end of my freshman year. That's important information that I'm sure the world needs to know.

Q: You mean the world doesn't yet know this?

A: I've never been asked about losing my virginity before.

Q: Was it something you were afraid of doing?

A: No.

Q: Was it fun?

A: It's always fun. Even when it's not fun, it's fun. There were no fireworks. It was neither here nor there--it just was.

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