Sandra Bullock has a lot of history with Nicole Kidman, but her favorite memory from the original Practical Magic is not what anyone would expect. It starts with getting hit.
Sandra Bullock Recalls Nicole Kidman “Hitting” Her While Filming Practical Magic
Kidman and Bullock sat down with Entertainment Weekly ahead of Practical Magic 2, joined by newcomers Maisie Williams, Joey King, Xolo Maridueña, and Lee Pace. When asked what scene or memory from the first film immediately came to mind, Bullock didn’t hesitate.
“I just wasn’t expecting her to hit me. That should tell you that’s my memory, is Nicole Kidman hitting me,” she said.
The room broke into laughter, but Bullock kept going, revealing the story behind the moment actually meant something far sweeter than it sounds.
Bullock explained that the slap led directly into one of her most treasured memories with Kidman, a late night on set that had nothing to do with filming at all.
“I don’t know why this is a memory that sticks with me, but we were sitting outside on the island because the house was a facade except for the kitchen. It was freezing. We were in our little puffer coats under a little tent, and it was the first time we’d ever had a conversation about life.”
Bullock described watching moonlight catch Kidman’s hair during that conversation, calling her costar “sort of magical” and saying being in her orbit felt like being a sponge, soaking in everything she said. The moment, born out of an accidental hit between takes, became the foundation of a friendship that has lasted nearly three decades.
That history is a big part of why Practical Magic 2 exists at all. Kidman has said the years of requests from moviegoers for a sequel became impossible to brush aside, telling EW you can’t ignore this when describing the sustained call for Sally and Gillian Owens to return.
With Williams, King, and Maridueña stepping into a new generation of the Owens family, and Pace joining the cast, the sequel leans on exactly the kind of lived-in chemistry Bullock described from that freezing night on the island. Nearly 30 years after the original film, that bond is still what the franchise is selling.
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