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Sandra Bullock on 'Gravity' role: 'Lonely and bizarre... I loved it'

By KAREN BUTLER, United Press International
Sandra Bullock arrives on the red carpet at the New York Premiere of Gravity at AMC Lincoln Square in New York City on October 1, 2013. UPI/John Angelillo
1 of 2 | Sandra Bullock arrives on the red carpet at the New York Premiere of Gravity at AMC Lincoln Square in New York City on October 1, 2013. UPI/John Angelillo | License Photo

Oscar-winning Hollywood actress Sandra Bullock says she loved starring in writer-director Alfonso Cuaron's space adventure "Gravity" because it literally launched her out of her comfort zone.

"It was just something completely new. It was more like being part of Cirque du Soleil than it was what we had been used to as actors," the 49-year-old Virginia native recently told reporters at the Toronto International Film Festival.

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"There was the light box, a sort of 9-by-14 LED, elevated box in a sea of blackness with the arm that made the cars for Detroit that had a camera on it, which was on a track and would rush toward you and create the weightlessness while you were clamped from the waist down," she explained about what went into making it look as though she and co-star George Clooney were astronauts who survived after their shuttle was destroyed by space debris.

"Then there was the 12-wire system where you're basically floating and being manipulated by other puppeteers or your own body weight and the [special] effects people who simulated flying around space. We had a pole with a bicycle seat where you're balanced on it and one leg is strapped down, so your body can be free to simulate weightlessness. It was the most bizarre series of contraptions. It was genius what they were able to come up with."

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Best known for her work in the films "The Heat," "The Blind Side," "Miss Congeniality," "A Time to Kill" and "Speed," Bullock said she was thrilled by the challenges "Gravity" posed, even if it meant spending a lot of time alone in uncomfortable positions.

"It was great," Bullock said. "It was frustrating and lonely and bizarre and you had to dig deep into your imagination and pray something came up and I loved it. And I loved that I got to do it and no one else had done it before. So, I was really grateful for that."

"Gravity" was No. 1 at the U.S. box office, grossing an estimate $55.8 million in its debut last weekend.

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