In 2010, Sandra Bullock received a phone call that changed her life forever. “Your placement is here,” said the voice on the other end.
A few weeks later, she was on a stage, accepting her first Oscar for her appearance in The Blind Side, but she didn’t care she was there. “All I wanted was to go was just go home and feed Lou” she said of her newborn, whom she had been waiting for years to arrive.
Keep reading to learn more about this incredible actor and what inspired her to adopt two children!
In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana by flooding its grounds, Sandra Bullock had a feeling that inspired her decision to adopt a child.
“Katrina happened in New Orleans, and something told me, ‘My child is there.’ It was weird,” Bullock said in an interview with Today’s Hoda Kotb.
Credit: Shutterstock
Years later, in January 2010, Bullock received the call she had been waiting years to receive.
“He was unexpected, he was not planned. I got a call one day, ‘Your placement is here,’ and that’s after years after having filed it, years,” the 59-year-old star of Speed tells CBS News.
Little Lou
Gushing over Louis Bardo Bullock, the three-month-old boy from New Orleans she secretly adopted in 2010, Bullock said, “I looked at him likе, ‘Oh, there you are.’ It was likе he had always been there,” she recalled. “He fit in the crook of my arm. He looked me in the eyes. He was wise. My child was wise.”
The Miss Congeniality star adds, “The beautiful thing that I was constantly told was, ‘The perfect child will find you. You will find your child.’ But you don’t believe that when it’s not happening. When you’re going, ‘Where is my family?’ When it does happen, you know exactly what they’re talking about.”
Weeks after Lou arrived, Bullock was on stage at the Kodiak Theatre, accepting her first Oscar for her starring role in the film, The Blind Side.
But Lou owned her center stage and she wanted to be at home, with him.
“All I kept thinking about was, ‘He’s at home.’ Like, I didn’t care. I didn’t care that I was there, I just wanted to go home. And then I was sewn in the dress. I was sewn in the dress, and I had to get myself out of the dress, but all I wanted to do was just go home and feed Lou.”
Only days after, her marriage to reality star Jesse James came crashing down and Bullock became a single mother to an infant.
Bullock said, “I mean, so much had happened. How do you process grief and not hurt your child in the process? It’s a newborn, they take on everything that you’re feeling. So, my obligation was to [Lou] and not tainting the first year of his life with my grief.”
‘Louis’ got the stage’
“No one understands the shift in priorities about having a child in your life … until you have a child in your life,” Bullock said of shifting her focus from career to mom. “It naturally shifts…he showed up and now, Louis’ got the stage.”
Growing up in a healthy, happy environment, little Lou one day looked up at mom and predicted “I’m going to have a baby soon.”
Though Bullock admits she wasn’t planning on growing her family, she listened to her son, who planted the seed.
“I realized at that time, maybe he knew something. And when I think about it, it would have been around the time that Laila was born,” Bullock said. “It’s Louis’ way. Louis has a very strong way. He’s a fine leader, and he led me to Lai.”
Laila, who was living in foster care in Louisiana, is her daughter who joined the family in 2015 when she was three.
Recalling Laila’s trаumа from being in childcare, the Ocean’s 8 star said, “She’d be in the closet with all her clothes on, she’d be on a bookshelf, she’d be hiding, she’d always be ready to leave,” the actress recalled of her daughter, adding that she always made sure Laila knew that she wasn’t “going anywhere.”
She then shаrеd a conversation she had about Laila with Bryan Randall, the father figure to her children, and her partner from 2015 until ALS claimed his life in 2023. She said, “My partner said to me, ‘When she’s been with us longer than she hasn’t been, I have a feeling we’re going to see a change.’”
He was right. Recently, Bullock described Laila as “unafraid.”
“She’s a fighter, and that’s the reason she’s here today. She fought to keep her spirit intact. Oh my God, what she is going to accomplish. She’s going to bring some real change.”
Lou, now 13, “is super sensitive…He’s wise and kind,” the Bird Box star tells People. “I saw that when they handed him to me. There was a spiritual bigness to him.”
Though fans will be disappointed, the versatile actor is scaling back her work schedule to again be a single mother.
Bullock last appeared in 2022’s The Lost City with Channing Tatum and Bullet Train with Brad Pitt.
“I can be creative, I can be part of a community, but right now, work in front of the camera needs to take a pause,” she said.
What do you think of Sandra Bullock and her little family? Please shаrе your thoughts with us and then shаrе this story so we can hear what others have to say!
Man Finds Out about His Bride’s Betrayal – He Goes to the Altar with a Remote Control in His Hands
Man Finds Out about His Bride’s Betrayal – He Goes to the Altar with a Remote Control in His Hands
Daphne is in the middle of her brother’s wedding. As a bridesmaid, she has an obligation to Denise. But when Liam surprises them all with a video revealing Denise’s ultimate secrets, Daphne has no choice but to choose her brother—even if what he did was humiliating for Denise.
As my brother’s wedding approached, excitement buzzed through the air, filling everyone with anticipation. My brother, the groom, was a notorious prankster, and his hints at a major surprise had us all on edge.
I thought he was just creating the drama for effect—Liam was that person.
A smiling man looking at the camera | Source: Pexels
Liam and his fiancée, Denise, had been dating for so long that it didn’t come as a surprise when she asked me to be one of her bridesmaids.
“Please, Daphne,” she asked, gifting me a box full of goodies. “I need you to be there with me on our big day—you’re not just Liam’s little sister, but mine, too.”
Two gift wrapped boxes | Source: Unsplash
Of course, I accepted. Denise did feel like a sister to me—in fact, she was the one who planned my 21st birthday party instead of the friends that I thought would do it.
So, when it came to wedding planning, I think Denise spent more time talking about their wedding to me than Liam.
Gold 21st foil balloons | Source: Unsplash
“I’m just wasting my time with Liam,” she said. “You can make notes for us. And we can do the wedding cake tasting.”
Liam, on the other hand, seemed like he was doing the bare minimum with the wedding—but the reality is that he was busy putting together a beautiful video for the wedding.
A wedding planner and notebooks | Source: Pexels
“I’m going to have it played just before we do our vows,” he said when I went to visit him.
He showed me a folder on his laptop where he was saving all his and Denise’s videos and photos, ready to create the video.
A man using a laptop | Source: Unsplash
“Do you think Liam has cold feet?” Denise asked me when we went wedding shopping.
“No,” I replied honestly. “He’s planning something for you, that’s taking all his time at the moment.”
“What?” she asked enthusiastically.
“I’m sworn to secrecy,” I said. “Now, go and try on dresses!”
A row of wedding dresses | Source: Unsplash
On the morning of the wedding, I got to the hotel suite early. I wanted to see Liam before getting ready with Denise and the other bridesmaids.
“You have no idea what’s coming,” he teased, sipping on a glass of champagne as he got ready.
“Oh boy,” I said. “I can’t wait to see what you’ve got planned.”
Two glasses of champagne | Source: Unsplash
The ceremony was perfect—and everything had gone exactly to plan as Denise wanted.
From the flowers to the music to the scented candles that perfumed the venue. It was all perfect.
When the time came for the vows, my brother told the priest to wait.
A couple kneeling before a priest | Source: Unsplash
“I have something to show you all,” he said. “This is Denise and my love story from the beginning to right now.”
He pulled a remote from his pocket with a flourish, while two of his groomsmen wheeled a TV screen to the middle of the altar, just in front of where Liam and Denise were standing.
“Watch this,” he said, stepping back to join his groomsmen. And then he pressed play.
A person holding a remote control | Source: Unsplash
The screen came alive with their love story—their first kiss, snippets from trips together, cozy nights in, dinners cooked together, and so on.
The montage tugged at heartstrings, and all the guests were enthralled.
A close-up of a couple | Source: Unsplash
But the real shock was still to come.
As the video ended, the priest went back to his position, ready to continue the ceremony from where he left off. He called for Denise and Liam to resume their positions, too.
He solemnly asked if anyone objected.
A couple at the altar | Source: Pexels
Before anyone knew what was happening, Liam dropped Denise’s hand and stepped away, back down the aisle.
“I do,” he declared.
“What?” Denise hissed. “Liam, this isn’t the time for one of your pranks.”
“This isn’t a prank,” he said.
Bride and groom at the altar | Source: Pexels
He held up the remote control again and pressed another button—the air was thick with tension as music began to fill the room.
This new video was a stark contrast—it showed his bride in their shared home, but Denise wasn’t alone.
Instead, she was wearing lingerie and depicted in a compromising situation with another man.
An intimate photo of a couple | Source: Pexels
The room fell deathly quiet, every eye glued to the screen, then slowly turning to gauge her reaction at my brother’s reveal.
Denise turned around slowly to face her guests, her face ghostly pale, her eyes wide with horror.
“This can’t be happening,” she murmured, more to herself than anyone else.
Then, the same man from the video swore loudly—he was seated at the back of the venue, dressed in a suit.
A man in a suit | Source: Pexels
“This is why I won’t be marrying Denise today,” Liam said, his loud voice breaking the silence, his tone even but heavy with emotion.
“I couldn’t let us all be here, witnessing what was supposed to be love, without the truth being known.”
The ceremony was ground to a halt, and the festive atmosphere evaporated into a thick, awkward tension.
Denise staggered slightly, looking around as if seeking an escape or an ally. She kicked off her shoes and picked them up.
A bride holding her shoes | Source: Pexels
“It’s not what it looks like,” she said. “Liam, please, not here. Let’s talk about it outside.”
I wanted to be able to look at Denise and feel sorry for her—we had been so close for so many years. But the evidence had been in the video. As close as we were, she was just another cheater.
A woman who had hurt my brother.
She pleaded with Liam again, louder this time. Tears fell down her face.
But the damage was done. My brother’s gaze never wavered from the woman he was supposed to marry.
A crying bride | Source: Pexels
“How long?” he asked, his voice a low growl.
“Not long,” she managed to say, her composure breaking. “I’m so sorry, you were never supposed to know about it.”
“In our own home, though? Seriously, Denise?” my brother retorted sharply, his hurt palpable to all watching.
“You brought him into our home,” he said.
The crowd murmured, some guests shaking their heads, others unable to look away from the unfolding drama.
A couple lying in bed | Source: Pexels
The priest stepped back. I wondered if he was thinking about taking Liam and Denise in for couples’ counseling—something that they had refused when they booked the priest in the first place.
Liam walked out first, abandoning his wedding and all the guests he and Denise had chosen.
Denise ran out behind him, calling out to Liam, but he refused to acknowledge her presence. Her mother ran out behind her.
A bride running | Source: Unsplash
Later, I walked around the hotel to find my brother. I found him sitting at the bar, drinking his feelings away while eating a bowl of olives.
“Did you know?” he asked me.
“No, of course not,” I said quickly.
It turned out that when Liam was going through the videos and photos on his laptop, he ended up looking through Denise’s, too.
A hotel bar | Source: Pexels
“I just wanted to see if there was anything else that I could add to the video,” he said sadly.
I ordered myself a drink and got comfortable next to my brother—from the looks of it, we were going to be there for a long time.
“I went through the first folder,” he admitted. “And it was incredible because she had all these photos that I hadn’t seen before. But in the next folder, there was the video of Denise with that man. It wasn’t even a locked folder, Daphne,” he said.
A cocktail on a tray | Source: Unsplash
We were both silent for a while, and Liam gulped away his drink.
“Do you think I was wrong to expose her?” he asked.
“No,” I said honestly. “But maybe you should have spoken to her privately. There’s no knowing how this could wreck her. Or what she’ll do next.”
I sat back in my seat and helped myself to the bowl of pretzels that the bartender had left out for us.
“I have no intention of checking on her,” Liam said. “I don’t care.”
A bowl of pretzel sticks and nuts | Source: Unsplash
I didn’t have any intention of getting Liam to forgive Denise. There was no point in trying to get him to forgive her after what she had done—Liam had always been sure of one thing. Cheating was the absolute deal breaker in a relationship.
“Come,” he said. “Let’s go eat some wedding cake. That can’t go to waste, too.”
I followed my brother out to the dining room that had been set up for the wedding reception.
I knew that as much as I wanted to check on Denise—Liam needed me in his corner.
A white wedding cake with fruit | Source: Unsplash
What would you have done?
Leave a Reply