Sandra Bullock: Never Google Yourself

Learn English with Sandra Bullock’s Speech. She accepts an award from the Palm Springs International Film Festival and thanks her friend Gena Rowlands for her continued support. Sandra shares that she recently Googled herself and read the comments section, leading her to reflect on her career and the reasons why she’s in the acting business. She mentions the impact that other women in the industry have had on her, and fond memories and experiences from her career. Despite acknowledging that next year may not be as successful, Sandra expresses her gratitude for the award and the recognition.

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Sandra Bullock | Quote

“Failing is what we do, or stumbling is what we do on a daily basis.” Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock | FULL TRANSCRIPT:

Gena Rowlands: The award for actress to my friend Sandra Bullock for her continuing outstanding work.

Sandra Bullock: Thank you so much. Well, I was watching everyone else’s speech. No one looked down, everyone looked up, didn’t look at a teleprompter. I’m following Bono. It’s not a good night for me, Gena. We’re just… we’re just not going to have a good night. When you are told that you are to receive an honor like this from the Palm Springs International Film Festival, you spend the next couple of weeks crapping yourself over what you’re going to say.

And those who know me know I don’t take compliments well and I don’t feel very comfortable in these situations. Low self-esteem, maybe, maybe. Maybe time to go back into therapy, maybe. So I thought maybe it would be a nice fun approach to this evening to maybe do something different. So I Googled myself and I read the comments section thinking I would get some tidbits of what people really think of me you know, share them with you for humorous purposes.

Side note, no human being should ever, ever read the comments section or Google oneself at any time.

But I did learn a lot about myself. I did. Some things I already was very well aware of. But… let’s see, some… oh, Sandra Bullock is over 40, came up a lot. I know that. Sandra Bullock is way past 40. Yeah, I know that too. Oh, and apparently, Julia, I don’t know where you are, Julia, you and I are in a dispute over George Clooney.

We talked about this, right? It’s just shared custody and we’re both fine with it. I don’t know why people keep drumming it up. Lots and lots of comment about who I’ve dated. Some are true, some I’ll never admit too. And there was a run of comments on people who didn’t understand why I was in this business.

You know, funny things like, you know, I quote anonymous, I mean, there’s absolutely nothing special about her acting. She’s not particularly attractive. I can’t stand her. She’s mediocre. She’s over 40. Yeah. And normally this would take me down for about 30 minutes, but at the same time I was in the blogosphere, I was also watching movies.

Lots and lots and lots of movies. I was watching fabulous women who may also or may not be over 40, giving groundbreaking performances and breaking my heart. I was watching beautiful stories about people struggling in everyday life in a world that they don’t think they belong in. I was watching old friends create characters and blow my mind and leave me absolutely speechless.

And I was also watching heartbreaking stories about our past in this country that made me so proud to be in this business because they will one day help me show my son how far we have come and how people have suffered so that there can be a better life for everyone.

And they reminded me of why I was in this business, so I got off that other blog that wasn’t very funny and I started looking for others and I saw some nice things. Good memories such as my first job as a producer allowed me to witness one of the most magical and beautiful women I’d ever watched and met in my entire life.

Her stillness, her strength, her beauty, her talent, her power. I learned from her and that’s this gorgeous woman to my right, Missus Rowlands.

I got to do things like play chopsticks on the floor piano with Tom Hanks. Some commenters thought I had good hair and good teeth. I was reminded that I made out with Meryl Streep. Off screen, not necessarily her choice. I kind of took her by surprise. And I made some young girls and some over 40 girls laugh with some chick flicks.

I sparred with Betty White and I’ve flown into space. I’ve had a pretty good life and a pretty good career. So before getting off the information superhighway, I was still looking to find something that helped me explain how I feel about this year that I have and I came across a quote by Bob Hope. And I thought, who better exemplifies this wonderful town than Bob Hope.

And the golf… it’s the quote about golf. And he said, golf is a hard game to figure. One day you’ll go out, slice it and shank it, hit it into all the traps, miss every green. The next day you go out and for no reason at all, you really stink. And I had to read it over a couple of times because for some reason I thought shanking meant something sexual.

But… not in this case, I guess. But it’s true. I’ve had a very fortunate year because Alfonso Cuarón gave me the opportunity of a lifetime. Warner Brothers keeps hiring me. But next year could be a real stinker. So from this not particularly talented or attractive mediocre over 40 woman, I am so grateful. I am so thankful.

And I so appreciate this time that you’ve given me tonight.

Thank you so much.

Sandra Bullock