Sandra Bullock once revealed that she does not think she can be stuck in a genre because all she has to do is push herself to a different genre.
The journey of an actress in Hollywood can be different in many ways. Some may stick to one specific genre, while others branch out as far as the industry may allow them. There is no telling if this is a good or a bad thing, but there are plenty of examples of both among the industry’s finest.
Two of the biggest examples are Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock. Where one is best known for its impact on the romantic-comedy genre, the other has tried her hand at everything and cannot be recognized for doing one specific thing.
Interestingly enough, both actresses once talked about this very phenomenon, and their perspectives were quite interesting.
Over the years, fans have seen Sandra Bullock in all kinds of movies, ranging from comedies to borderline horror. With this in mind, one cannot help but imagine if the actress ever considered sticking to a genre. Around the release of her 2002 film, Two Weeks Notice, the actress talked about this during an interview with The Guardian.
The film was certainly a hit, bagging a total of $199 million, according to The Numbers. When a particular genre gets this much success for an actress, they are more prone to staying in it, be it because of choice or what their fans want. However, Bullock did not seem to be interested in going down such a path.
Two Weeks Notice won’t be my last comedy, but it will be my last romantic comedy. There is nothing else in the genre that interests me. I feel like I got everything I wanted in this one.
During her interview, she revealed that she planned on the film being her final romantic comedy, simply because she did not think she wanted anything more from the genre. When asked if she would feel trapped in a box after suddenly leaving the genre after the hit, she mentioned that she does not believe there to be such a thing.
I think you can totally get out if you don’t care about maintaining a lifestyle, or maintaining an image, if you’re prepared to take the necessary steps. People are always going, “That’s not what people want to see you in”. I couldn’t care less. I’m the only one who can tell me what I’m not capable of doing. And then I’ll do it anyway.
She stated that an actress can easily get out of such stereotypes if they push themselves far enough. If they are more interested in keeping up appearances, they would not be able to break the mold that was made. However, if they do not care for it, they can break and establish themselves as something new.
Ironically enough, she did go on to make more romantic comedies like The Proposal.
Julia Roberts is of a different opinion
While Sandra Bullock believes that the genre chains are easy to break, it would seem that Julia Roberts has not been able to get the chains off for quite some time. The actress got her start in the industry on rom-com films like Pretty Woman, My Best Friend’s Wedding, and Notting Hill.
At the same time, she has also been a part of several other genres over the years. Unfortunately, however, these films seemed to have not been given the same regard as her romance films, causing one to wonder if the chains are really that easy to get out of.
There is no denying that actors do not like being put in boxes and actually try very hard to be seen as more than their most well-known works. However, it would seem that Roberts does not look at being typecast as a bad thing. During an interview with The New York Times, Roberts revealed that she had never hated starring in the rom-com genre, even though people would like to think so.
People sometimes misconstrue the amount of time that’s gone by that I haven’t done a romantic comedy as my not wanting to do one. If I had read something that I thought was that “Notting Hill” level of writing or “My Best Friend’s Wedding” level of madcap fun, I would do it.
While Robert’s words do aid her perspective compared to that of Bullock’s, there is no denying that her opinion on the same is not a common one.
Two Weeks Notice is available for streaming on AppleTV.
