Sandra Bullock is an A-list Oscar-winner who's headlined more than her fair share of successful
movies and has a face almost anyone could recognize.
But when it comes to her two kids, Louis and Laila, mum's the word.
Bullock adopted both of her children in secret and has steadfastly worked to maintain her
children's privacy.
Unless she wants you to, you never really hear about Sandra Bullock's little ones.
Here's why.
Hollywood sidestep
Despite being a household name and a bona fide movie star, Sandra Bullock has never
been a true Hollywood diva.
She isn't often seen frequenting Hollywood hotspots for exposure and seems to consciously
sidestep the gossip rag sideshow that comes with fame for so many others.
When she first adopted Louis, in fact, Bullock maintained a home in Austin, a cool, hip city
far away from Tinsel Town.
She commuted between Austin and L.A. for years when duty called.
That distance helped keep her kids away from the glare of the paparazzi's flashbulbs, so
they could grow up with a bit of normalcy, and she was able to keep her work and personal
lives completely separate.
In fact, her kids don't even really know what she does for a living yet, even when she's
starring in movies they're bound to watch, like when she provided a voice for Minions.
"Louis has no idea what an Oscar is—has not seen it.
Doesn't know what it is.
And Louis has no idea that I'm in this film."
Even before she became a mother, Bullock's persona and profile were relatively low-key.
She always showed up for work and red carpets, of course, but Sandy became America's Sweetheart
by being real and relatable.
"Y'all better sit down, it's gonna be a long night.
Sit down.
Nothing to laugh at."
Time of tumult
When Bullock first welcomed Louis into her family, it was a terrible time in the actress'
life.
In 2010, she, along the rest of world, learned of her then-husband Jesse James' infidelity
shortly after she won her Academy Award for Best Actress in The Blind Side.
The messy news became public smack dab in the middle of the couple's adoption process.
Even though her marriage was crumbling, Bullock proceeded with the adoption anyway and decided
to raise Louis as a single parent.
And while one aspect of her personal life was receiving so much unwanted attention,
her newfound status as a mother was kept completely under wraps until she revealed it herself.
Ultimately, Bullock's divorce drama may have taught her how to protect her kids at all
costs.
That was a trend that continued when she adopted Laila, which nobody knew about until months
after the fact.
Snap shutout
Sandra Bullock can't be found on any social media platforms, and part of the reason you
won't see her kiddos' birthday parties in your Instagram feed is that she's committed
to keeping their private lives, well, private.
In fact, the only reason she revealed pictures of little Laila on the cover of People in
2015 was that the paparazzi threatened to expose her second adoption by snapping them
in an unexpected moment.
She told the magazine:
"You feel it's very much like witness protection … Unbeknownst to me, a photographer had
followed us and took a photo of us in line.
The next day, I learned that a photo of her was being shopped around for sale to every
outlet around the world.
I had promised and legally agreed to protect her from something like this, and here I was
chasing down lawyers — having them begging to keep her safe."
More legos, more problems
Right now, Louis and Laila are both still just a pair of tiny tykes, which means they've
got bigger problems of their own to worry about than taking the perfect selfie for their
fans — things like dealing with first loves and who gets the biggest stack of Legos between
them.
"One was older and she moved on and he had to deal with that heartache.
And now he's got a really sweet girl that he loves very much.
He's not gonna marry her, but she's still his gal."
Just a taste
Another way Bullock manages to keep unwanted attention away from her children is by sharing
a few key details here and there about their development so as to satisfy the curiosity
of outsiders.
"She's got a voice that carries.
She's gonna be a singer or a judge.
I don't know what she's gonna be.
Someone who's gonna command a room with their voice.
You know what?
It's like she's always been there.
It's like he's been waiting for her.
Nothing has changed.
And everything has changed.
But it's not different.
I don't know how to explain that."
Just as an apple a day keeps the doctor away, a nugget of news every now and again keeps
the paparazzi at bay.
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