In 2010, Sandra Bullock received a phone call that turned her life upside down. The voice on the other end said, “Your placement is here.”
Just a few weeks after that, she found herself on stage, winning her first Academy Award for her role in The Blind Side, but her mind was elsewhere.
“All I could think about was going home to feed Lou,” she said about her new baby, a child she had wished for a long time.
Keep reading to learn more about this incredible actress and what motivated her to adopt two children!
In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina caused a lot of flooding in Louisiana, Sandra Bullock felt a deep connection that made her want to adopt a child.
“When Katrina hit New Orleans, I just knew my child was out there,” Bullock told Hoda Kotb on Today.
Then, in January 2010, she finally received the call she had been waiting for.
“It was completely surprising. One day, I got a call saying, ‘Your placement is here,' and this was years after I had applied,” the 59-year-old actress from Speed explained to CBS News.
Bullock was thrilled when she spoke about her son, Louis Bardo Bullock, who was only three months old and from New Orleans. “When I saw him, I thought, ‘Oh, there you are.' It felt like he had always been a part of my life,” she said. “He fit perfectly in my arms and looked right into my eyes. He was so wise. My child was wise.”
The star of Miss Congeniality shared, “One of the most beautiful things I was always told was, ‘The right child will come to you.' You will find your child. But it's hard to believe that when it doesn't happen right away. When you're thinking, ‘Where is my family?' that's when you really get what they mean.”
“All I could think about was, ‘He's at home.' I didn't care about anything else. I just wanted to be home. Then I got stuck in the dress. I was literally sewn into it, and all I wanted was to get out and go home to feed Lou.”
Just a few days later, her marriage to reality star Jesse James fell apart, leaving Bullock as a single mom to a baby.
Bullock explained, “So much was going on. How do you deal with sadness without affecting your child? A newborn feels everything you're feeling. My main focus was on [Lou] and making sure his first year wasn't filled with my sadness.”
“No one really gets how your priorities change when you have a child until you actually have one,” Bullock said about shifting her attention from her career to being a mom. “It just happens naturally… he came into my life, and now Louis is the star.”
Growing up in a loving home, little Lou once looked at his mom and said, “I'm going to have a baby soon.”
Even though Bullock hadn't planned on expanding her family, she listened to her son, who inspired her thoughts.
“I thought maybe he knew something. When I look back, it was around the time Laila was born,” Bullock said. “Louis has a strong presence. He's a great leader, and he guided me to Laila.”
Laila, who was in foster care in Louisiana, became part of their family in 2015 when she was three years old.
Laila had a tough time when she was in childcare, and Sandra Bullock shared some memories about it. She said, “Laila would hide in the closet with all her clothes on, or she'd be on a bookshelf, always ready to escape.” Sandra made sure Laila understood that she wasn't going anywhere.
Sandra also talked about a conversation she had with Bryan Randall, who was a father figure to her kids and her partner until he passed away in 2023. He mentioned, “Once Laila has been with us longer than she hasn't, I think we'll see a change.”
And he was right! Recently, Sandra described Laila as “unafraid.”
“She's a fighter, and that's why she's here today. She worked hard to keep her spirit strong. Just wait and see what she will achieve. She's going to make a real difference.”
As for Lou, who is now 13, Sandra said, “He's really sensitive… He's wise and kind.” She felt a special connection when they first handed him to her, saying there was something spiritually big about him.
Even though her fans may be disappointed, the skilled actress is cutting back on her work to concentrate on being a single mom once more.
Sandra Bullock was last featured in 2022's The Lost City with Channing Tatum and Bullet Train alongside Brad Pitt.
“I can still express my creativity and engage with my community, but right now, I need to step away from acting,” she said.
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