In the new Netflix movie Bird Box, Sandra Bullock's character must navigate a dystopian landscape with her children while blindfolded. That sounds...rather difficult, and it turns out filming the movie was no walk in the park either. Sandra Bullock and co-star Trevante Rhodes were actually blindfolded for half of filming, and that resulted in the Oscar-winning actress repeatedly running in to the Steadicam operator, as she explained:
For some reason [Rhodes] never ran into the camera like I did. Why is that, we wonder? I don't know. Maybe because I'm more committed. ... I clipped the camera a couple times. It was no one's fault but my own.
The Steadicam operator had to be on his toes with a blindfolded Sandra Bullock stumbling around and clipping what was surely an expensive camera multiple times. Clearly Sandra Bullock was going for a method approach to this role, in that she didn't have to act like she couldn't see. She actually couldn't see.
In her comments to Yahoo Entertainment, the actress makes a fun jab at her co-star Trevante Rhodes, implying that the fact that he didn't run into the camera is a sign of his lack of commitment at really not being able to see. She mused about why this might have been, perhaps speculating that there was some tomfoolery going on and Trevante Rhodes' blindfold wasn't quite as opaque as hers.
Still, Sandra Bullock blames herself, perhaps for not being better at walking around blindfolded and perhaps for not having the ability to see through the blindfold. Bird Box's director Susanne Bier also told Yahoo that the actors received some training from an expert who teaches blind people on how to navigate without being able to see. So Sandra Bullock must feel that she should have learned how to do it better.
It is kind of fascinating, just from a safety and insurance standpoint, that the actors actually did wear real blindfolds for some of the scenes in the film. In theory that should really add some authenticity to it as the actors experienced a small fraction of what their characters go through.
Bird Box is based on a novel by Josh Malerman, and tells the story of a world in disarray, with a population decimated by an unknown force that causes you to kill yourself if you see it. To find safety, Sandra Bullock's character and her children have to travel a river on a two-day journey, all without being able to see.
It's a conceit not entirely dissimilar to A Quiet Place where death would come if you make noise; here just like when you were a kid, if you keep your eyes closed, the monsters can't get you.
Bird Box is now streaming on Netflix. Keep an eye on our premiere guide for everything coming to Netflix in the coming year and if going to the theater is more your thing, check out our 2019 Release Schedule. For all the latest in movie news and stumbling around in the dark, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.
