Sandra Bullock

Pretty much a household name these days, and yeah, you know her - Everyone does

But, let’s see how she got Famous, Eventually.

Sandras first role was in a film called Hangmen, back in 1987

It's a low budget action thriller with a murky plot, and even murkier production values

It won’t be a surprise to find out,

but Hangmen never went to the cinema, it went straight to video...

It’s the kind of film you only ever found in the discount bin at a supermaket on a rainy sunday afternoon

And then left it there.

The story,

as it is,

revolves around rogue government agents and political assassinations by men with big guns

It's all very, well - 1987

In fact it’s so 1987, that you wouldn’t win any prizes for guessing that when you watched it.

Dodgy synth music (mixed in mono),

over the top dialogue,

Dangerous women,

and Strange camera angles randomly inserted...

It ticks all the boxes

and has all the 1987 you could ever want or wish for.,

Sandra Bullock plays Lisa Edwards,

She’s the girlfriend of Danny

– and Dannys father is being hunted by the men with the BIG GUNS and now he's in their crosshairs

for...

reasons.

In order to survive, Danny must get the help of one of his fathers old friends who can help bring down the men with big guns,

and while Danny is off doing that...

The head honcho of the men with BIG GUNS decides that Danny's friend Lisa would make an excellent damsel in distress…

And that’s when Sandra gets brought in properly to do her thing.

She has maybe ten minutes of screen time in the whole film...

fifteen minutes at the very most...

And, very little of it is worth watching if I'm honest -

We are pretty far from the Oscars here

But, yet, the more famous she got, the more she featured on the films cover...

Odd, that.

And while the film might be best left in the super market bargain bin -

this, is where Sandra Bullock’s film career began.

It wouldn’t be long before she started building something more.

After Hangmen came

Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman - yeah, that’s the full title -

Then onto other made for TV stuff like The Preppie Murder,

Lucky Chances,

Love Portion No 9

Even a small role in The Vanishing -

a Jeff Bridges thriller that came and went

Not the kind of projects that make the front page.

But they are exactly the kind of roles that teach you your lines, to hit your marks,

and hopefully someone notices you doing it.

In 1993, somebody would notice and she landed a major studio role playing Lt Lenina Huxley, a side kick next to Sylvester Stallone in Demolition Man.

She was funny.

She was weird.

More importantly, she was memorable.

And, in the same year

Speed.

This time she’d be a side kick to Keanu Reeves going up against the great Dennis Hopper

And, I don’t think I need to explain how popular that film became

It seemed as though she was on her way at last.

Unfortunately, as is sometimes the case,

this new found attention brought with it things from the past.

Fire on the Amazon was shot in 1990, just before she got noticed,

and released in 1993 when her big roles were starting to come in

Just like Hangmen – It was repackaged with her face all over the cover, her name in big letters

and it was marketed like it was some major Sandra Bullock vehicle,

which - it wasn’t

The worst thing about the marketing?

It’s all down to one scene in particular, which - Well - Got blown out of proportion for what it actually is.

And, understandably - She wasn’t thrilled about it all

I mean, who can blame her?

She reportedly tried to block the release - or at least distance herself from it.

Which, of course, only gave the film more publicity.

A bit like Hangmen, again really -

forgotten at first,

But then brought back later once her name meant something.

I guess that’s the risk with early work - it doesn’t always stay buried.

Fire on the Amazon wasn’t the sure fire hit the people behind its release were hoping for…

and it remains largely forgotten about, still.

But, Sandra?

Not a chance.

She’d become unstoppable.

While You Were Sleeping.

The Net.

Miss Congeniality.

The Proposal.

She was indeed becoming, A Force of Nature…

Heh - Sorry about that one,

Couldn’t resist…

[ahem] - Anyway

It wasn’t long before the Oscar she didn’t get for Hangmen would arrive,

The Blind Side in 2009 would see her taking the Best Actress for a Leading Role

Which she’d nearly win again a few years later in Gravity

And, then,

of course, Bird Box -

the one that took over the internet for a while.

Yeah - you remember that.

“Boy. Girl. If you take off those blindfolds, I will hurt you.”

You couldn’t scroll anywhere without that line chasing you.

Sandra Bullock didn’t just get lucky.

She outlasted trends.

She bounced between genres.

She took control of her career - even producing some of her later films.

And no matter what people say about rom-coms or popcorn thrillers…

She showed up.

Did the work.

And, kept doing it.

She’s not just a star.

She’s consistent.

She can even turn up when you least expect her to these days.

And it all started in a grainy little action flick that nobody talks about and even less people have seen.

Hangmen.

It’s been said by people more famous than me that everyone has 15 minutes of fame,

But

turning those 15 minutes into a three-decade career?

That takes something else entirely.

And, that’s certainly something Sandra has done with fine style

ANYWAYS - I’ve been Paul, and Sandra Bullock was… Famous, Eventually.

Thanks for watching.