Q 13

PLAYBOY: Describe the ingredients in a love potion that would work on you.

Sandra Bullock: The ability to make me laugh a lot. Just be very interested in me. Sometimes I'm all over the place. But I'm incredibly loyal, and I don't like it when somebody puts me in a box. Don't say, "Oh, she's great, but if I just calm her down a little bit...." I once met an old cowboy. His wife was a free spirit and he was very steady. They'd been married for 40 years. I asked him how it worked. He said, "Well, my dad always told me, 'You have a wild pony, don't put up a fence. Just leave a light on at home. If she's happy, she'll always come home.'" Same with me: Don't corral me and I'll always come home. Always. Just let me go out and play during the day. When I'm exhausted, I'll come back.

Q 14

PLAYBOY: What one thing do you know you're really good at?

Sandra Bullock: Dancing. I love going to salsa clubs. On Wrestling Ernest Hemingway, Robert Duvall taught me how to tango. I've also salsaed, rumbaed and merengued with him. We would tango during breaks in shooting, get only to beat 12 and then have to go back on the set. He's a beautiful dancer. That's where I got the bug. Now, every chance I get, I go out and salsa. The tango is so sensual. You have to be really comfortable with yourself--and in sync with your partner. There's this 70-year-old guy I know at one of the salsa clubs--he seems like a Spanish king. We dance and it clicks. It's seductive. It's not a sexual thing, it's sensual. And it takes getting used to. When I first tangoed, I thought, Oh my God, I'm pressing his body! But now, it's the only time I will completely relinquish control, because I have to--and I like it. The woman is totally reactive. The man has the moves. He's guiding with just the fingers and the touch of his right palm, to let you know if you're going into a spin or if you're going to break. It's amazing.

Q 15

PLAYBOY: What can you repair around the house without having to use the Yellow Pages?

Sandra Bullock: I can install toilets. I know all about the wax ring. I can screw in a lightbulb. I can tile floors. I'm learning how to do basic wiring. I'm not afraid of electricity so much as I used to be. I just want to do it to say I can. But if a handyman should come into my house who knows how to do it, believe me, I would much rather sit out on a lawn chair and hand him the screwdriver.

Q 16

PLAYBOY: Why do women leave their diaries lying around for their boyfriends to stumble on?

Sandra Bullock: I never leave my diary out for anybody to stumble on. Ever. It's in a place where nobody will find it. I don't even write down what I really think because I'm so afraid of what somebody might find. Half my diary is in code, just in case I die and somebody finds it. They'll have no idea what I'm talking about. But I need to get these things out because I don't talk to people a lot. This is my way of venting--once I write it down I feel so much better. One time somebody did some serious snooping. They must have been looking for a long time, because they found my hiding place. That was the end of everything.

Q 17

PLAYBOY: You're kidnapped by aliens, and you have 20 minutes to pack. What three things do you take? And what do you bring back when they release you?

Sandra Bullock: A toothbrush. A change of underwear. My throwaway camera, with flash. I want to bring back a group photo in the throwaway camera and that long prod everyone seems to talk about.

Q 18

PLAYBOY: You've called Jerry Lewis an inspiration, if not a hero. Imagine for us the movie that you and he would make together, and your part in it.

Sandra Bullock: I want to be Jerry Lewis' sister, with the buckteeth and the glasses, saying, "Lady!" When I saw Dumb and Dumber, I thought, They need a sister! I want to be the sister. I want to be in Dumb, Dumber and Really Stupid. And in there somewhere, Jerry would just be Jerry.

Q 19

PLAYBOY: When do you think phone sex was invented, and how do you think the first couple felt afterward?

Sandra Bullock: Was Alexander Graham Bell married? "Watson, come here; I want you." [Laughs] Phone sex was a natural transition. It had to happen. You have a phone. Boy and girl on the line. There's safety in the facelessness of it, so I think it happened almost immediately--probably between Bell and Watson. But that's something the history books will never tell us.

Q 20

PLAYBOY: What are the best perks of the acting life? With which overindulgences have you lost patience?

Sandra Bullock: The best perk is going to incredible places--and you don't have to pay for it. Overindulgences occur when assistant directors feel they have to wait on me hand and foot. That makes me so neurotic. I can get my own water, bagel, cream cheese, whatever. I may be an actor, but I can go to the bathroom by myself. On the other hand, having a masseuse on the set is not a bad thing. When I made Demolition Man I remember standing at the craft service table one day, making an offhand remark that I love Fluff, which is this marshmallow stuff. Apparently, it's sold only in certain parts of the country. Two days later there was a case of it in my trailer. Joel Silver, the producer, had overheard and had somebody send me a case. That's extravagant, but not over the top.