Sandra Bullock on Action adventures and why content for women matters
belittled — dismissed as chick-lit or chick flicks. Her own character in The Lost City dismissively refers to her romantic books as “shlock”, prompting Tatum’s Alan to scold her for being scornful about material that is meaningful to so many of her fans.
That line, and Alan’s defence of a female readership, was “very specific”, Bullock says.
“You know, it’s hard to respect something when everything coming at it is disparaging. And then you have to look at the source of why is it being talked about or thought of in that way, and if you really get down to why, it’s heartbreaking,” she adds.
“It’s heartbreaking because you’re a woman. And you’re thought of as less than, and you’re thought of as whatever your needs are, the things that bring you joy or escapism, are not valuable. And that’s a hard pill to swallow.
“We’ve been swallowing it, but when you really look at it, you’re like, ‘Oh, God, there’s absolutely no respect’. So that was a really important line, especially coming from a man, or someone who typically would be saying those things or having us believe those things.
“It was really powerful, especially how he said it. It was so genuine and full of love, saying, ‘All these millions of people, you’re bringing them joy? Why are you being disparaging towards their joy, their happiness, so it takes it out of yourself?’ It was just beautifully said by him.”
Radcliffe, who is sitting next to Bullock and her fluffy slippers in the London hotel room, is nodding animatedly.
What Bullock is saying is reminding him of his own experiences of playing Harry Potter for so many years.
“It’s so crazy, what people are so dismissive of, like romantic literature,” he says.
“This is really bad, I shouldn’t tell his story, but I was with a couple of friends once and the guy was so disparaging about everything that his girlfriend read. His girlfriend, who is – I know — an infinitely smarter person than him. And I do feel like that kind of attitude permeating things is so toxic.
“I had this, obviously with a different kind of literature, but as a teenager growing up in Harry Potter, I didn’t feel cool.
“And there were times when I was dressed as a schoolboy when I was 14, so you didn’t necessarily feel cool. And then realising later how much joy it has brought to people.
“It is an incredibly special thing. And if you do anything except be incredibly grateful for that, it’s a shame.”
So, Bullock is determined to do all the things that she wants to do, and all the things that she believes women want to see, capers in the jungle included.
“I always enjoyed all the things that the men got to do,” she says. “I wanted to be the man. I wanted to be the adventurer. I wanted to be the swashbuckler. I wanted to be the one who could MacGyver and get their way in and out of things, but I didn’t see that for the ladies.
“You are always envious and jealous. You can enjoy it and and romanticise it, but there was always something missing. So, to have that opportunity to make something like that was exciting. But what that requires is scope and scale, funding to be able to get big and make it for the theatres — and that’s the tricky part.
“When there’s no comparison, or no recent comparison that justifies it, you have to come up with ways of making it, and then proving it should be the comparison.
“And that makes you more driven to to figure it out and make it work, because you know what the reward will be.”
The Lost City was released in UK cinemas on April 13.