Known as a no-nonsense, tough-love type, Nicole Kidman has taken Sandra Bullock under her wing in recent months as her fellow Oscar winner continues to recover and rebuild her life following the tragic death of her co-star, Bryan Randall.
As the pair prepare to reunite on screen next year in Practical Magic 2, a source who has worked closely with both stars exclusively reveals to Closer how badly Sandra needs her old friend’s comfort.
“Sandy is slowly moving back toward making her own films, and The Lost City two years ago was a big step toward that, but Practical Magic 2 was led by Nicole, because Nicole really wanted to get back to working with Sandy.” Source Spills.
The show star, 60, lost her long-time partner, Brian, in August 2023 after a three-year battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
A second source previously opened up to Closer about the difficulties Sandra faced following the death of her photographer lover. A close friend of the actress said: “Sandra has learned that love, commitment and family are the most important things in the world.” “What she had with Brian was so precious. She’s grateful to have had it this long, but she misses it so much.”
As Brian became increasingly weakened by the ordeal, Sandra was focusing less on her Hollywood career and more on her home life, especially her two children: Louis, 15, and Lila, 11.
Photos by Jackson Lee/JC
“She wants to be there when they wake up, when they come home from school. She wants to help them with their homework, cook for them, watch movies together, do typical family things,” the friend added.
While the actress has processed her grief and begun to “have more good days than bad,” the first source says she’s now looking forward to reconnecting with her friends in the industry, making the Practical Magic sequel the perfect project.
“This opportunity came at a time when Sandy really needed a friend to step up and be in her corner,” the source says. The first Practical Magic film, released in 1998, starred Sandra and Nicole, 57, as two witch sisters fighting a curse.
“I love this movie,” Nicole said of her collaboration with the Gravity actress at the 2018 Academy Awards. “I’ve shown this movie to my kids. It’s a little over the top for them [level of understanding] …But we’re really good sisters.
“The nice thing about these two is that there’s no competition between them at all, just a lot of mutual respect,” the source adds.
“It helps when you’re developing a big-budget sequel together, and it extends into the hiatus as well. Nicole is very focused on delivering a Beetlejuice-style experience with Practical Magic 2 and she and Sandy were united in the decision to include a lot of younger characters in the cast .
“This speaks volumes about how safe they both are, and how much of a positive influence Nicole has had on Sandy during this sensitive time.”
