Sandra Bullock may have taken home the Best Actress Oscar for 2009’s “The Blind Side,” but she actually won co-star Lily Collins‘ heart.
The “Emily in Paris” star told Sky News that Bullock made a lasting impression on set for the sports story based on NFL player Michael Oher’s life story growing up with the Tuohy family. Collins made her feature debut with the film.
“My first film, I was mothered by Sandra Bullock,” Collins said, “and she really took me under her wing during that experience and showed me the ropes.”
Collins called Bullock the “kindest, most kickass, badass female” ever.
“Even when she didn’t know she was teaching me, she was teaching me because I would watch her on set…the way that she spoke to everyone, treated everyone, the questions she asked, and how she just valued her character in ways that I didn’t know going into it that you can value, or things that you can ask or the right that you have to, you know, bring your own ideas,” Collins continued. “I really appreciated and respected the way that she handled a set and herself and we stayed in touch.”
The “Polly Pocket” actress added, “It made such an impact on me as my first experience to have this amazing, strong, kind female lead the way.”
While “The Blind Side” was thrown into controversy amid Oher’s 2023 legal claims against the Tuohys, Bullock has stayed in touch with Oher for years after the film’s release. The actress told The New York Times during her Oscar campaign that the first week of filming was “the worst I ever had” on set due to the weighty material.
“I regretted having taken the film. Like, I shouldn’t have done this,” Bullock said. “This is one of those moments that can sit in one hand with a couple of fingers that I left going, I have no idea what I did. I don’t know if it’s right. I don’t know if I gave what I needed to give, but I was spent by the time I left. And I did everything I could that I was able to do.”
