George Lopez on Why He Credits His Success to Sandra Bullock: “She Changed the Direction of My Life”
George Lopez has built a massive career in Hollywood over the years, however, there’s one person he owes all his success to.
The actor-producer-comedian admitted on a recent episode of the Politickin’ with Gavin Newsom, Marshawn Lynch, and Doug Hendrickson podcast that he “wouldn’t be anybody without [Sandra Bullock].”
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Lopez recalled being in a dark place in the 1990s, “drinking a lot, terrible act,” when he almost had his first run-in with Bullock.
“I was in Austin [Texas] and Sandra Bullock lived in Austin and [Dave] Chappelle had been there the week before. And the manager of the club comes to me and says, ‘I think Sandra Bullock’s gonna come in. She called, she going to come in,'” the Lopez vs. Lopez star remembered. “I was like, man, I don’t want her to see me like this. You know, I didn’t even know her. I got on my knees in that fucking green room, and I said. ‘Please, please don’t let her.’”
The comedian said he “wished for her not to come,” which ultimately got granted, as Bullock ended up not being able to make it to his show that night.
But a year and a half later, their paths crossed again when Bullock was working on developing a Latino television show and had requested to see Lopez. “I’d already kind of cleaned up a little bit, and then she saw me, and she’s like, ‘Come to my office,’” he recalled.
The pair talked for three hours about the show that eventually became Lopez’s hit ABC sitcom George Lopez, which Bullock executive produced.
“I told her, ‘Hey, you know, what you’re gonna try to do has never been done successfully, and if I don’t ever see you again or whatever happens, I just want to say thank you,’” the Blue Beetle actor recounted of their conversation. “I’d never had anybody believe in me, and she was like, ‘Why don’t you worry about being funny, and why don’t you let me worry about everything else?’”
After the meeting, Lopez said he got in his car to leave and “was in tears.”
“She changed the direction of my life and everybody that’s in my family,” Lopez added. “And for no other purpose other than she just thought I was funny.”
George Lopez ran for six seasons from 2002 to 2007. In addition to executive producing, Bullock would also make occasional guest appearances on the sitcom.
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