The 2013 film Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney shows what would happen when everything could go wrong, goes wrong. It is a film that keeps you hooked throughout the 1 hour 31 minutes mark as you are constantly worrying about what’s going to happen next and if the protagonist is going to make it or not. Gravity has a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and rightly so!
Sometimes, actors have to go through A LOT while shooting difficult scenes. The physical and mental strain can be a lot during these scenes and actress Sandra Bullock can certainly back this statement. While filming Gravity, one of the most intense space films ever, Sandra Bullock was truly concerned for her safety at one point in time.
Sandra Bullock Recalls a Tough Day of Filming
Gravity was the talk of the town when it was released. Critics had nothing but positive feedback for the film. The film managed even managed to impress filmmakers, James Cameron and Quentin Tarantino. Cameron stated that it was “the best space photography ever done…it’s the movie I have been hungry to see for an awful long time.” Similarly, Tarantino called Gravity one of the top ten movies of 2013.
Making a film that receives such praise is not an easy task, neither for the crew nor for the cast members. Sandra Bullock, while talking to Rolling Stone, recalled the time when she felt trapped underwater. Since the scene involved a wide shot, rescue drivers were a bit further away from Bullock as she grew more and more concerned for her safety with each passing moment.
“I had to get out of the space suit underwater, and I started to panic because I couldn’t get out fast enough. The rescue divers were far away because of how wide the shot was, and it felt like minutes before they got to me.”
Bullock’s dedication to the film paid off as Gravity was nominated for ten categories at the 86th Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actress. Out of the ten categories, Gravity took home seven trophies. Even though Bullock didn’t win an award for her acting, the film wouldn’t be possible without the actress giving her best!
How Alfonso Cuarón Calmed Sandra Bullock Down
The team of Gravity managed to create the “Light Box” which was also called as “Sandy’s Box” on set. The Light Box had a 360-degree rig of Jumbotron screens and it helped in giving the illusion that Bullock was actually traveling through space. Bullock had to stay isolated in the box for long periods of time and it eventually got exhausting for her to leave and re-enter the box again and again as it took up to 25 minutes to open and close it.
Taking a brave decision, she chose to stay inside it, all alone, for a much longer duration which made filming a whole lot easier. However, it is not an easy task to be able to stay in a cramped space for too long. Alfonso Cuarón told Rolling Stone, “Poor Sandra, she was alone there in that box,” Cuarón told Rolling Stone back in 2013. “I was literally 15 minutes away, with banks of computers and stuff, communicating with her through radio, like I was Houston and she was an astronaut.”
In order to ease the tension by a bit, Cuarón would play calming music in Bullock’s headphones and sometimes would even display the picture of her children on the LED screens. Even though it would’ve been super exhausting to film scenes in the Light Box, we are pretty sure the above-mentioned incident takes the cake for the worst moment on set!
Gravity is available to stream on HBO Max.
Source: Rolling Stone
