She’s one of the most respected actresses in Hollywood, yet remains so approachable that she feels like a girlfriend you could have coffee with.
One of the highest-paid movie stars has a very healthy attitude about fame, saying, “I've learned that success comes in a very prickly package. Whether you choose to accept it or not is up to you. It's what you choose to do with it, the people you choose to surround yourself with. Always choose people that are better than you. Always choose people that challenge you and are smarter than you. Always be the student. Once you find yourself to be the teacher, you've lost it.”
The down-to-earth star—voted “Most Likely to Brighten Up Your Day” in secondary school—seems very comfortable in her own skin and although loves practicing her craft, it’s clear what her priority is: "That [the kids] grow up happy and healthy and know how much I love them. I don’t want to miss a moment of my time with them and if I keep worrying about things that haven’t happened yet, then I’ve lost precious time with them.”
16 Her Breakthrough Role
After 7 years of forgettable roles (including the TV version of Working Girl), Speed, which had the newcomer playing a bus passenger who helps bring everyone to safety after it's revealed there is a bomb on the bus, put the young actress on the map and also made her a lifelong friend of Keanu Reeves.
15 She’s A Producer
Like many actresses looking to be offered better roles, The Net star realized she’d have to find scripts and produce them herself, and proved she was just as good at that job as she was acting by bringing us Miss Congeniality (1 & 2), Two Weeks Notice, the George Lopez TV show, The Proposal, and Bird Box, just to name a few.
14 She Was Named “World’s Most Beautiful Woman”
The Heat actress showed everyone what 50 looks like on the cover of People in 2015, but reacted with: “Real beauty is quiet…be a good person, be a good mom, do a good job with the lunch, let someone cut in front of you who looks like they’re in a bigger hurry. The people I find most beautiful are the ones who aren’t trying.”
13 She Was A Cheerleader
The Gravity star was born in Virginia but grew up in Germany as her mother was a German opera singer who performed throughout Europe. The family moved back to the U.S. in time for high school where the 28 Days actress joined the squad as well as theater, then 4 years later moved to NYC to act--three credits shy of her college degree.
12 She Has Celebrity Friends
Is it a shock so many want to call the A Time to Kill actress part of their inner circle? Here are some more of the famous ones she’s let into hers: Chelsea Handler, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Hanks, Ryan Gosling (who she also once dated), Ryan Reynolds, and Melissa McCarthy.
11 But Her BFF Is Her Sister
Gesine Bullock-Prado is the younger sister of the Crash actress who went to school to become a lawyer but ended up a chef hosting the Food Network show Baked in Vermont, as well as her sister’s producing partner. The star says: “I have friends and we’re close, but family…are the only ones that you want to share certain things with.”
10 She’s A Regular Ms. Fix-It
The Two If by Sea star boasts knowing her way around a toolbox and also loves redecorating and renovating, which she learned about from her father. "He'd buy old buildings, and he'd restore them himself from the ground up, and I tagged along. I was like, 'Oh, I'll learn how to do a drywall or install a toilet.'"
9 She Speaks German
Because of like on road with her family, the Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood actress became a German citizen, thus giving her dual citizenship with America. She actually made first stage appearance at the age of five in a small role for an opera in Nuremberg, Germany, and began appearing regularly in the Nuremberg children's choir.
8 She Survived A Stalking Incident
In 2014, a 39-year-old man armed with love letters managed to gain access to her home, and the Ocean’s 8 star immediately locked herself (her then-only child Louis was not in residence at the time) in a closet and called LAPD, who apprehended the intruder, who eventually committed suicide.
7 She Got Married At 40
The Lake House star married Jesse James on the TV show Monster Garage in 2005 and the couple separated in 2010 amid reports he was cheating, which he referred to as "poor judgment." This changed the Hope Floats star, who admitted, “I used to be an optimist, but now I know that nothing is going to turn out as I expect.”
6 She’s A Single Mom
The movie star adopted Louis from New Orleans in 2010, keeping all details private. In 2015, she announced the adoption of a second child, a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Laila. "I can tell you absolutely, the exact right children came to me at the exact right time. I cry at everything now... I've become more open to surprises and feelings."
5 She's Not On Social Media
“I don't post or do any of that stuff. People have these worlds they post and it's about projecting an image and getting likes. We're not representing our lives truthfully. Like when you're yelling at your child, you're not taking a selfie of you being a horrible parent. It's this false projection of one's life. Hollywood has now gone global. Everyone's Hollywood now.”
4 She's Not Into Fashion
She always stuns on the red carpet and other public appearances, but the While You Were Sleeping leading lady considers it just another thing one has to do for the job. But when off the clock, she claims: “I have no desire to maintain a lifestyle. I am a horrible celebrity. If I am out in public, I dress like a pig.”
3 She’s Starred In Over 50 Films
Once the ball got rolling, the Demolition Man actress just kept working, playing the action girl, romantic comedy love interest, and serious roles as well. Although the part of “girl-next-door” suited her well, the Our Brand Is Crisis star/producer never shied away from playing down her looks for character parts, such as Harper Lee in Infamous.
2 She's A Regular Person
To the outside world, the Murder by Numbers actress is every inch a movie star, however, she insists that at home, she’s just another, everyday working mother. “I'm simply the mom who makes the lunch, drives to school, finds where the toys are, washes the clothes, and I'm here to play. And that's all I should be.”
1 Who Has An Oscar
Even so, The Blind Side award-winner says: “I don't think it ever stops being an absolute thrill, but I do have an immediate leveler. I still have to get up and make lunch for a little person, and pray - please, dear God - that he eats something I put in his lunchbox today.”
Sources Instyle, ABC News, Insider, Biography, Goalcast, Independent