Sandra Bullock revealed she was honoring the wishes of her late partner, Bryan Randall, by not disclosing his health struggles to the world leading up to his death.
“He asked me not to share,” Bullock, 62, said about Randall’s battle with ALS during a Monday, August 17, appearance on the “SmartLess” podcast. “I know why he asked me not to.”
Randall was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive nervous system disease that attacks the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, in 2020.
In hindsight, Bullock admitted that respecting his request “isolated me in the process.”
“My sister [Gesine Bullock-Prado] was the only one who knew for a while,” she explained. “At first I go, ‘Oh, I can handle that. I can be quiet.’”
The actress said she found some solace in that time, noting, “I don’t wanna harm others because of what I do. So I think not talking for a while was good.”
Bullock later shared the news with Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman‘s wife, Amanda Anka, though she still grappled with the inevitable future loss of a man she dearly loved.
“I think where he was in his journey, both physically and mentally, I started grieving Brian four years before he passed,” she explained. “There was something that had shifted.”
Bullock confessed that “it is a traumatic diagnosis.”
She and Randall started dating in 2015, shortly after he was booked to photograph her son Louis’ birthday party.
When her longtime partner died at the age of 57 in August 2023, Bullock said it was still a crushing blow despite trying to mentally prepare herself for the day.
“My person left a lot earlier than the body left,” she continued. “I don’t think I ever dealt with that until after he passed, because you’re just on this treadmill.”
One day after her interview, Bullock, who is the mom of son Louis, 16, and daughter Laila, 12, shared a rare photo of her kids while showing off her summer adventures.
She previously opened up about prioritizing her family after taking a hiatus in her acting career.
“I made this film at this time because I knew my kids were out of school,” Bullock shared in April while speaking about reprising her role in Practical Magic 2. “I’m not going to sacrifice my children’s — my time — with my kids.”
She continued, “I’m raising my children, not anybody else. But I have the luxury of doing that in this business. So many people don’t.”
