Did Sandra Bullock ever expect to shoot a sequel to Practical Magic ? “Oh God, no!” she gasps when asked about a follow-up to her 1998 movie with Nicole Kidman.
The original release, she says, “was such a horrific experience for us, because it was a movie that we were just so proud to make, and then the reception was so brutal. You know: How many women do you need in a film?
And all that kind of stuff.” Witchcraft. Sisterly love.
Female power. Domestic violence.
Motherhood: “It was subject matter that was really looked down upon.” Even though movies aimed at women were steady moneymakers, they were still seen as lightweight and unserious.
“There was a level of shame attached,” Bullock continues, “even though we had the sweetest experience making it.”
So when Warner Bros. broached the idea of reprising the movie, she was flabbergasted: “Why would you remake that ?” At the time, Bullock had no idea that in the decades since its release, Practical Magic had conjured up a fervent following.
Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock in Practical Magic 2
We’re still in the throes of an ongoing reassessment of how the culture treated women in the 1990s and early 2000s (see: Monica Lewinsky , Britney Spears , Lilith Fair , America’s Next Top Model ), and it makes perfect sense that Bullock should be part of that. She’s spent her 39-year career navigating Hollywood misogyny, sneaking through the side entrance as the ultimate girl next door before transforming herself into a high-powered producer.
Taking on that role has allowed her to carve out space for different kinds of female characters, whose common denominator is they’re usually the smartest person in the room.