Sandra Bullock offered a rare glimpse into her life as a mother after taking a career hiatus to raise her kids.
“I made this film at this time because I knew my kids were out of school,” Bullock, 61, said during the CNBC Changemakers Summit in New York City on Friday, April 17, while speaking about Practical Magic 2. I’m not going to sacrifice my children’s — my time — with my kids.”
Bullock, who is the mom of son Louis, 16, and daughter Laila, 12, reflected on prioritizing family over her job. “They’d be happy if I was gone. I would not,” she added. “It’s true. And I do not do my best work if my children are struggling or if they need something and I can’t facilitate it.”
The actress emphasized, “I’m raising my children, not anybody else. But I have the luxury of doing that in this business. So many people don’t.”
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Bullock encouraged other moms to not think of it as choosing either a career or having a family.
“I understand that grief and that angst when you are at work, going, ‘I’m not where I need to be right now. I’m here being performative and doing my job,’” she continued. “But guess what? Women can do it. We can do 15 things at one time and get it done.”
Bullock, who raised her children with late partner Bryan Randall, previously discussed her work hiatus with Good Morning America in 2022, noting that she “didn’t want to create anything that takes me away from just being present.”
“I don’t want to be doing a lot of things at one time that don’t service the one thing that I want to be around — my family,” she explained. “Because of my job, I have to go away for long chunks during the day.”
Bullock noted that she took her kids “everywhere” with her.
“But that’s a 15-hour day and then you come home and if you’re producing you’re on calls. They miss you,’” she continued. “I look at my life before my kids and I don’t want to say it felt like a waste of time, it just felt like I was rushing to a destination that didn’t exist. Now I’m here and I don’t want to be anywhere else.”
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A source later told Us Weekly that Bullock was busier than ever amid her break from Hollywood.
“Sandra was always very hands-on with her kids when she was home, but now that she’s stepped back from her career, she’s very active at their school,” the insider shared in 2023.
The source went on to say that Bullock “is everywhere” her kids need her to be, telling Us, “She volunteers to be a chaperone, she’s involved in the PTA and is helping out around the school. She’s very involved in both of her children’s lives now.”
