Sandra Bullock has described, in the most detail she has ever offered publicly, why she spent years caring for her partner Bryan Randall through his illness without telling almost anyone. Speaking on a new episode of the podcast SmartLess, hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett, Bullock said Randall asked her not to share his diagnosis of ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease that progressively affects the nerves controlling muscle movement — and that she honored that request even as it left her isolated. Entertainment outlets began publishing quote-driven coverage on August 19, 2026. Bullock’s separate August 18 Instagram post about her children was also covered that week.
“He asked me not to share. I know why he asked me not to,” Bullock said of Randall’s wishes, according to the podcast.
Key facts
- Relationship: partners for about eight years, beginning in 2015.
- Died: August 5, 2023, at age 57, after a private battle with ALS that outlets reported lasted roughly three years.
- Diagnosis kept private: at Randall’s request; sister Gesine Bullock-Prado was the only person who knew at first, before Bullock later confided in Jennifer Aniston and Amanda Anka.
- Children: Louis, 16, and Laila, 12, both adopted before Bullock met Randall.
- First detailed account: Bullock gave her first detailed public account of the period on the podcast SmartLess.
A private battle with ALS
Randall was a photographer who met Bullock in 2015 and became her partner for about eight years. He died on August 5, 2023, at age 57, after what Global News and other outlets reported at the time as a roughly three-year private battle with ALS. Bullock’s SmartLess appearance is her first detailed public account of that period.
Bullock said her sister, Gesine Bullock-Prado, was the only person who knew about Randall’s condition at first. She later confided in two more people — her friend Jennifer Aniston and Amanda Anka, who is married to SmartLess host Jason Bateman — to, as she put it, unburden herself.
Caregiving amid the pandemic
Bullock said keeping the diagnosis private left her feeling isolated while she cared for Randall. Bullock said she was raising her two young children through the COVID-19 pandemic at the same time she was caring for Randall, calling the combination “a trifecta that was pretty dark.” Bullock also said she began grieving Randall before he died: “I started grieving Bryan four years before he passed.” Reflecting on that stretch, she said, “My person left a lot earlier than the body left. I don’t think I ever dealt with that until after he passed, because you’re just on this treadmill.”
A rare window into family life
Bullock has two children, Louis, 16, and Laila, 12, both adopted before she met Randall. On August 18, 2026, Bullock posted a rare Instagram update showing the two kids, her dog, a white-water rafting outing and a birthday tribute to her sister Gesine.
Returning to film
Alongside that small return to public view, Bullock is also stepping back into film work for the first time in several years, reprising her role as Sally Owens opposite Nicole Kidman in “Practical Magic 2,” which is scheduled for a mid-September 2026 theatrical release. Reports have listed Sept. 11, 2026, in the U.S., and Sept. 18, 2026, in the U.K.; the exact U.S. date remains disputed.