Sandra Bullock on Her Son: "If I Could Ride in a Bubble With Him For the Rest of His Life, I Would"

Updated on Oct 7, 2015 at 7:25 AM

Matt Irwin/Glamour

Sandra Bullock stuns on the cover of Glamour's November issue, and in her interview with the magazine, she touches on everything from her career to motherhood to her role in her new movie, Our Brand Is Crisis. The 51-year-old star explained how she got the career she wanted, and although it's hard to believe, she insisted that because she "wasn't classically beautiful," she "wasn't a leading lady" early on. Keep reading to check out more of Sandra's candid quotes, then relive all the times she lit up a room.

On how she met Our Brand Is Crisis producers George Clooney and Grant Heslov: "Grant, George, and the person I dated were all friends. I met George at a party where he was doing Buddy Hackett imitations! George was the reason the guy that I ended up dating dated me. He was like, 'If you don't get with her, I'm gonna get with her.' He was kidding but sort of pushing. So we've all known each other for umpteen-chillion years and have supported each other from afar."
On her privacy: "I've always been insanely private. When I [first] stepped into this, it was still loud. The tabloids were violating. I went, 'How can people write that?' I spent a year and a half, two years, distraught, saying, 'You can't say these lies.' I spent years fighting battles you can't win. As loud as it's gotten now, it's the same panic. As much as I profess to being able to shut it out, there are times I can't, like when it's hurtful to people I care about. Me, I get it. But when it hurts other people? Like, you come after my son, I'm gonna go postal. But they do."
On her son, Louis, and current issues facing black men and women: "You see how far we've come in civil rights — and where we've gotten back to now. I want my son to be safe. I want my son to be judged for the man he is. We are at a point now where if we don't do something, we will have destroyed what so many amazing people have done. You look at women's rights; it's turning into a mad, mad world out there. But sometimes it needs to get really loud for people to say, 'I can't unsee this.' If I could ride in a bubble with him for the rest of his life, I would. But I can't."

On becoming the protagonist instead of "the girl" in movies early on: "They didn't want me to be the girl. 'Cause I wasn't classically beautiful. I loved comedy. I was the best friend. I wasn't a leading lady. [But] it allowed me to express myself in a more authentic way. Because I didn't fit a certain type, it gave me the career I wanted."
On why she started producing: "I like creating a story. I don't have to be in front of the camera to do it. I stopped [producing] when I had Lou because it's a 24/7 job sometimes. With Our Brand I said, 'I want to dip my toe back in.' And I was able to balance everything, have my school drop-off time. I don't want to miss a moment. People asked me, 'Remember in '96 when . . . ' I go, 'I don't. I don't remember most of my life, because I was not present.' I was worried, I was fearful, I was running, I was hiding. Only in the last five years do I remember everything."

On whether she still has her high school cheerleader outfit: "Embarrassingly, yes. That might come in handy some sexy night. I don't know who I'm saving it for. I want to be buried in it."