Sandra Bullock has given a rare glimpse into her dating life, three years after her partner Bryan Randall died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at the age of 57.
The 62-year-old Practical Magic 2 star appeared on Kylie Kelce's Not Gonna Lie podcast this week, where she revealed that her 12-year-old daughter Laila has been pushing her to get back out there, with one condition.
"She said I needed to date, but only someone where they could get stuff. So I said, 'What, a rapper, a basketball player? That's the parameters?' She's like, 'Yeah.' I went, 'Oh,'" Bullock said.
The actress, who also has a 16-year-old son named Louis, said her children "don't care" about her acting career, only whether "you come back with stuff for them."
She joked that her job, back when the kids were younger, "was craft service. That's what my job was. A place that had extensive craft service."
Grieving before his death
In August, Bullock addressed the final years of Randall's life for the first time, speaking on the Smartless podcast, hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett.
She grew emotional discussing Randall's decision to keep his diagnosis private, saying: "He asked me not to share. I know why he asked me not to," and adding that "my sister was the only one who knew for a while."
Bullock said protecting his privacy "isolated" her while she raised her children during the pandemic. She recalled: "As the pandemic came down, and I have a child with severe asthma, I was panicking. I had two young kids that were navigating it, especially a little girl who saw him as a father figure. I wasn't allowed to tell anybody.... It's a huge weight."
She said she eventually confided in her close friend Jennifer Aniston, and in Amanda Anka, Bateman's wife, about Randall's condition.
ALS is a nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, according to the Mayo Clinic. The disease progresses quickly, and Bullock said she had been "grieving Bryan four years before he passed."
Randall privately battled ALS for three years before he died on August 5, 2023, at the age of 57.
Bullock was previously married to motorbike builder Jesse James from 2005 until 2010. Their marriage ended acrimoniously after five years amid allegations from several women that they had affairs with James during his marriage to Bullock.
Putting her children first
Elsewhere in Thursday's podcast episode, Bullock said she structures her professional life around her daughter and son. "My kids are my everything, so if it doesn't work for them and my time with them, then I'm not doing it," she told Kelce.
"And I'm lucky. I'm lucky that I'm one of the moms that gets to be with her kids all the time. I have no desire to leave my kids," she added.
The actress largely keeps her children out of the public eye, but they make brief cameos in Practical Magic 2, the sequel to the 1998 film, which opens in theaters on September 10. Bullock reprises her role as Sally Owens in the follow-up.
She told Access Hollywood: "They're in the movie but not in an obvious way to you," adding, "I can't wait to show them where it is, they don't know where it is."
