Sandra Bullock Opens Up About How She Spoke to Her Kids About Partner Bryan Randall’s ALS Diagnosis

Kayla GrantMon, August 24, 2026 at 8:40 PM UTC

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Sandra BullockCredit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty -

Sandra Bullock shared how her children navigated Bryan Randall’s private three-year journey with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

Bullock explained her kids, Louis and Laila, were aware of Randall’s illness and handled it in different ways

Following Randall’s death, Bullock focused on healing and ensuring her family was in a good place to move forward

Sandra Bullock is opening up about how she spoke to her kids about partner Bryan Randall’s private three-year journey with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Appearing on a new episode of Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes’ podcast SmartLess, the Practical Magic 2 actress, 62, shared that her two children, Louis, 16, and Laila, 12, were “completely aware” that Randall was navigating the disease. She also explained that her children were “very astute” at the time.

“Oh, completely aware. Absolutely aware, because eventually, once there is a situation where you’re bedridden, we all have to go there,” she said. “It was in my house, and I did my best to set up whatever I could, and I am lucky in that I had the means to pay for it.”

“They could see. They have eyes. And, they are very, very astute kids,” Bullock added. “Very astute because they not only see the physical change, [but] there’s a behavior that changes in all of us.”

Sandra BullockCredit: Emma McIntyre/WireImage

Bullock later shared how each of her children emotionally handled witnessing her longtime partner’s disease in real time. The actress said she’d bring things up if her kids asked or saw something, and she would ask them how they wanted to deal with it.

“Louis handled it very differently than Laila. About two years before Bryan passed, he saw it was a dynamic that wasn’t healthy for him to be around,” she said. “So, he’s very evolved. He’s like, ‘You know what? I’m here for you.’ I didn’t want him to become the man of the family at that age. My job [was] to be both at that time.”

“I want him to be a kid during a pandemic when everything is already f--ked anyway and people are suffering everywhere,” Bullock added. “So me asking for help, I felt the guilt because everyone else was already suffering. But, he chose to just be there, and support and help me on the things that were easy for me. But, he smartly disengaged himself and said, this is a safer space for me to sit. And I said, absolutely you go.”

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Bullock shared that her daughter’s reaction was different than her son’s, noting that she was able to be around Randall for longer.“Laila, on the other hand, was more bonded until about six months out,” she explained. “And then she says, ‘Can you please say no when they call me over to go visit?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely.’ And I said, ‘But, if you do wanna go visit, I will come with you, and I will be right there. And if you tap out, I am right there.’”

Asked how she was able to keep her kids away, Bullock said she used a different side of the house to honor her kids’ wishes.

Sandra BullockCredit: Justin Goff Photos/Getty

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Randall, who was a model-turned-photographer, met Bullock in 2015. They made their first public appearance at Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux‘s wedding that August.

Following Randall’s death, Bullock took “time to care for herself,” an insider previously told PEOPLE.

“She spent a lot of time healing, being with her kids and being at home,” they added. “She needed to ensure that she and her kids were in the best possible place for her to go back to work.”

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”