Sandra Bullock: Motherhood Is My Top Priority

Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

With an Oscar under her belt, Sandra Bullock could have done anything after The Blind Side.

She had one primary criteria: “Whatever next opportunity I was given had to be an amazing opportunity for me and for my son [Louis Bardo] so that we had a great time,” she said Sunday at a press conference for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, in which she plays a wife and mother who loses her husband on 9/11.

“It was no longer selfish actress in the moment.”

When director Stephen Daldry approached her about the project, “I didn’t necessarily want to work at that time,” she explains.

“I was just so happy being a mom. I’m still very happy being a mom. That just shifted and became my whole priority.”

Filming in New York returned Bullock, 47, to her roots.

“My father was a voice teacher here. My mother sang opera here. We were always on the trains to New York,” she recalls. “We had a tiny little studio apartment with a kitchen in the closet. We slept on floors and pull-out couches.”

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, which centers on Bullock’s character’s son’s quest to solve a mystery left by his father, opens in limited release on Dec. 25 and wider in January.

– Mary Green

Comments

V. on December 12th, 2011

Shes looking so beautiful in that picture. I love her! She seems like such a good, kind person and a mother and I still cant believe what her ex has done to her. I never understand why these things happen to people that deserve it the least…I admire her for her strenght and inner beauty. Go, Sandra!

mg on December 12th, 2011

wow…I can’t imagine how nice it would be to just “not want to work right now” because I want to be with my child. I would love to be with my child too…but bills have to be paid. Whatever Sandra.

Ella on December 12th, 2011

mg – she’s fortunate enough to be in a position where she can turn down work – she’s a successful actress. What do you want her to say? “I had to take the job because I need the money”? She doesn’t and she wants as much time as she can have with her son and I say good for her. It’s not like she’s gloating about it She’s being honest.

Sarah on December 12th, 2011

Why can you be happy for her for working hard and being successful and be happy for her son that he gets to have time with his mom? To each their own, but it must be a miserable existence to sit around and pick apart people’s lives like that for no good reason.

Shannon on December 12th, 2011

Well she’s a single parent so she should focus on her son as much as possible. With her bank account…it’s quite possible! lol

Anonymous on December 12th, 2011

Shannon- Have you seen Sandra’s bank account? Right, didn’t think so. Yes, she more than likely is very well off and could afford to not work for awhile. But the fact is that we don’t know that for sure. Not all celebs are as well off as we’d like to think (and it’s not just “d-list” celebs that’s true of, either. Michael Jackson is one notable example of a popular celeb who’s financial troubles during the last years of his life were very well publicized).

ToRo on December 13th, 2011

@mg…There are probably things you can afford to do that someone else can’t. I would hate to see anyone begrudge you for what you have.

Jillian on December 13th, 2011

Mg, many people stay home with their children because they want to. It’s no different than Sandra. I have stayed home since the birth child. Now I know not everyone can, but people who do shouldn’t be bashed for it.

Tracey on December 16th, 2011

What does the public want of this woman? She’s darned if she does & darned if she doesn’t…she’s been through public humiliation with that Jesse fiasco, divorced, been removed from step children she cared greatly for…she deserves to feel however she wants & be a parent to her child. She doesn’t seem like she cares about career as much anymore & has the blessing to be a parent…don’t knock her for it!