Sandra Bullock ‘Tried and Tried and Tried’ to Get 1 Oscar-Winning Movie off the Ground
It’s not uncommon to hear about an actor turning down a role and later regretting it. Many actors have refused to take on roles for personal or professional reasons. However, Sandra Bullock had to fight back when reports surfaced that she turned down a role in an Oscar-winning movie. Bullock reportedly didn’t intend to miss out as she had “tried and tried and tried” to get the film off the ground.
Sandra Bullock was meant to star in ‘Million Dollar Baby’
Sandra Bullock has been a major driving force in the acting industry since the ’90s. The star has been attached to various productions on a star level and behind the scenes. This ended up being her undoing as she missed out on an Oscar Award-winning movie in 2004.
Bullock was supposed to star in Million Dollar Baby, in the role that later went to Hillary Swank. According to Irish Examiner, she had pitched the movie to several execs, but no one wanted to touch it. She said, “We had Million Dollar Baby with someone else for a while, trying to get it made. I couldn’t get it made. We tried and tried and tried.”
The actor explained that she tried reasoning with the powers that be, telling them it was an incredible story she wanted to tell, but they wouldn’t listen. According to Bullock, the execs reasoned that “female boxing movies don’t sell.”
Eventually, Bullock decided to place her focus on something else and began making the sequel to the highly successful 2000 movie Miss Congeniality. But by the time Miss Congeniality 2 came around, Million Dollar Baby was already greenlit, and Bullock couldn’t star in it due to scheduling conflicts.
“I then started doing Miss Congeniality 2, and they got Hilary [Swank], and they got Clint [Eastwood],” she said. Bullock had to clear the air months later on speculation that she turned down the role calling the rumors “total rubbish.”
‘Million Dollar Baby’ was a commercial success
Million Dollar Baby follows the story of Maggie Fitzgerald, a waitress who aspires to be a boxer. She seeks the help of a grumpy yet well-meaning elderly coach Frankie, who initially doesn’t want to help her. Frankie and Maggie develop a close bond. However, during one of the matches organized by Frankie, Maggie suffers a tragic injury that leaves her quadriplegic.
She begs Frankie to help her die, which he does. The film is narrated by Frankie’s friend Eddie Dupris and is based on stories from F.X. Toole’s Rope Burns: Stories from The Corner. Million Dollar Baby was a critical and commercial success earning $216.8 million on a $30 million budget.
The movie was nominated for several awards, including Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award. For her role as Maggie, Swank won an Oscar and a Golden Globe, while Morgan Freeman (Eddie) won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Million Dollar Baby holds a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Sandra Bullock was one of the highest-paid stars
Bullock got her breakthrough when she starred in Speed alongside Keanu Reeves in 1994. Over the next decade, the actor had several big hits with While You Were Sleeping, Two Weeks Notice, and, of course, Miss Congeniality. The star reunited with her Speed co-star Reeves in 2006’s The Lake House and won an Oscar, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award for her role in the sports drama The Blind Side.
Bullock joined the ranking of the highest-paid stars in Hollywood in 2013 when she earned a $20 million upfront payday with the film Gravity. According to Insider, Bullock got at least $70 million in total for the movie. Bullock has since appeared in critically acclaimed movies, including Ocean’s 8, Bullet Train, and The Lost City.
