Thursday, March 28, 2024

Sandra Bullock Didn’t Get to Eat Much While Shooting “Gravity”

Share

Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are really the only castmembers of Alfonso Cuaron’s sensational “Gravity.” Nevertheless, the red carpet for the premiere at the AMC Lincoln Square last night was longer than usual. And the movie started 45 minutes late at least. “There are only two people in this movie,” I said to a security guy on the red carpet. “Yeah,” he replied, “but look which two people.”

“Gravity,” as I wrote from Toronto, is some amazing technological achievement. It’s also a sharply written story about a female astronaut’s learning curve as she fights for her life in outer space. Clooney provides comic relief, Cary Grant-style. He also plays into a story twist that leaves a lump in every audience member’s throat.

The movie is so good, and the studio knows it, that Warner Bros. threw a swelegant soiree at the Museum of Natural History’s outdoor patio behind the planetarium. The weather cooperated, too– just warm enough to enjoy the last vestiges of summer turning to fall. To make up for a small cast, Peggy Siegal made sure a lot of famous folks were there to applaud Bullock and Clooney, including rocker and writer Patti Smith, directors Steven Soderbergh and Joel Coen, Tony nominee Richard Kind, Bob and Lynn Balaban, Patricia Clarkson, Dan Rather and wife Jean, Regis and Joy Philbin, Michael and Laurie Gelman, plus producer David Heyman and his dad, famed producer John Heyman with glamorous wife Nizzia.

If you don’t know, David Heyman produced all the “Harry Potter” movies. Alfonso Cuaron directed the best one, “The Prisoner of Azkaban.” So Heyman hooked up with him again for the stunning 3D “Gravity.” Cuaron made sure the audience felt for the characters, not were just consumed by the special effects.

Warners studio chief Kevin Tsujihara , marketing genius Sue Kroll and Time Warner chief Jeff Bewkes all seemed very happy with the results.

The party was the most relaxed and fun affair I can remember in Warners history. Bullock and Clooney had a ball, talking to everyone. Today (Wednesday) the press is having lunch with them.

“Don’t ask me how I made the movie, okay?” Bullock laughed. She’s one of the best people in Hollywood, you know. She’s been answering that question for weeks. Bullock’s hair is long, by the way, and cascaded down a gorgeous white gown.

“Okay,” I said. “How was craft services?”
“I wouldn’t know,” she cried. “I couldn’t eat anything. I was always tied up or in a space suit. I couldn’t go to the bathroom! I never had solid food. Liquids. A lot of milk shakes.”

“You were tied up?”

“In wires, for flying,” she said.

“You mean you don’t actually fly. All that weightlessness. There were wires?”

Bullock looked at me with a frown of sympathy. Is there no Santa Claus?  “Did I ruin it for you? I don’t actually fly.”

I am crestfallen. Who knew? More tomorrow…

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
spot_img

Read more

In Other News