4 days ago
Sandra Bullock claims she was advised not to 'like' Jennifer Aniston
Sandra Bullock and Jennifer Aniston probably should've been friends during the height of their nineties hey-day, but they were urged to remain competitive for A-list roles.
'We were from that time in the business where no one wanted the ladies to be friends — it was about pitting everyone against each other,' the 61-year-old Miss Congeniality alum explained to Vanity Fair on Monday.
'We were told we weren't supposed to do that — meaning like and respect and honor each other.'
Another reason Sandra and the 56-year-old Friends alum might have kept their distance was they both dated the same man, Tate Donovan.
Bullock dated the 61-year-old Damages alum from 1990-1995 and memorably played awkward scientists who fell for each other in Dale Launer's 1992 rom-com Love Potion No. 9.
Tate quickly moved on with Jennifer and they dated between 1995-1998 until his five-episode guest gig aired on Friends, in which he played her character Rachel Green's newly-divorced leading man.
It wasn't until 2010 when the Oscar winner and Aniston became friends while attending a wedding where they both knew the groom, which led to 'trading shots and notes.'
'We were just like, "Oh my God, we need to meet and cut loose!" And we did,' Sandra recalled.
The Emmy winner - who affectionately calls her 'Sand-a-La' - replied: 'I don't know what I was sending her, but it was definitely stronger than what she was sending me.'
Jennifer and Bullock bonded over their shared love of interior design, practical jokes, lavish trips, and numerology readings.
'I think her superpower is that she could very easily be hard, but she's incredibly open,' the Virginia-born beauty said.
'Nothing is for her alone ever. Everything she does is for everyone else included.'
Aniston added of their friendship: 'There's a motivation of going, "Okay, we need to go somewhere. Where are we going?" I'm desperately trying not to Howard Hughes myself.'
The LA-born, NY-raised blonde and Sandra commiserate over their shared fear of flying.
'The two of us on a plane — it's the most pathetic thing to look at,' Bullock laughed.
'Usually it's us grabbing each other's arms from across the table with our heads down.'
Two spring breaks ago during a flight, Jennifer summoned the strength to comfort the single mother-of-two when she was 'not in a great place.'
Another reason Sandra and the 56-year-old Friends alum might have kept their distance was they both dated the same man, Tate Donovan
Tate quickly moved on with Jennifer and they dated between 1995-1998 until his five-episode guest gig aired on Friends, in which he played her character Rachel Green's newly-divorced leading man
It wasn't until 2010 when the Oscar winner and Aniston became friends while attending a wedding where they both knew the groom, which led to 'trading shots and notes' (pictured in 2023)
'She just held onto my hand and goes, "This is just a bump,"' Sandra recalled. 'I was like, "Who the f*** are you right now?!"
Bullock and Aniston have both dealt with scary, home-invading stalkers too.
On May 7, Jimmy Wayne Carwyle pled not guilty to one count of felony stalking and felony vandalism after crashing his car through the gate of the Out of My Mind actress' $22M Bel-Air estate while she was home.
In 2018, Joshua Corbett died during a standoff with the LAPD four years after being sentenced to five years probation for stalking The Lost City producer-star and breaking into her house while she was home.
'It makes me think, "Do I really have to go outside and navigate the world?"' Sandra said.
'There's the cases where they got into the house, the cases where they're outside the house, the cases where you're on a film set and they figured out where you are, and the cases that no one hears about.
'It's ongoing. It's not a one-off. And it does create a mindset where your home also unfortunately becomes your fortress.'
The Virginia-born beauty has been hard at work producing and reprising her role as witch Sally Owens in Susanne Bier's sequel Practical Magic 2 - hitting US theaters September 18, 2026 - alongside Nicole Kidman (L, pictured July 18)
Jennifer reportedly earned $2M per episode executive producing and reprising her role as UBA co-host Alex Levy in Charlotte Stoudt's 10-episode fourth season of The Morning Show, which premieres September 17 on Apple TV+.
Aniston based her character off the trailblazing broadcast journalist, Diane Sawyer.
The hit newsroom drama is a loose adaptation of Brian Stelter's 2013 book Top of the Morning, and season four is set two years after the UBA-NBN merger.
The two-time SAG Award winner will next produce and star in the Apple TV+ adaptation of former child star Jennette McCurdy's 2022 memoir I'm Glad My Mom Died, and she'll produce the Gen Z reboot of 9 to 5 penned by Diablo Cody.
Jennifer also keeps busy running her haircare company LolaVie, which she founded in 2021.
Bullock has been hard at work producing and reprising her role as witch Sally Owens in Susanne Bier's sequel Practical Magic 2 - hitting US theaters September 18, 2026 - alongside Nicole Kidman, Dianne Wiest, and Stockard Channing.
The Bullet Train actress will also reunite with her Speed and Lake House leading man Keanu Reeves for an untitled romantic thriller penned by Noah Oppenheim for Amazon MGM Studios.
