Sandra Bullock received advice on being an astronaut from… an astronaut

When making movies, actors often try to emulate their characters by living in their shoes. Robert De Niro actually worked as a New York City cabbie for a time to prepare for his role in Taxi Driver. When you’re going to be playing an astronaut in space, sometimes you have to take on 2nd-hand knowledge (especially with NASA in the state that it’s in). That’s exactly what Sandra Bullock did for her role in Gravity and it all started through a chance encounter.

In the new film “Gravity,” directed by Alfonso Cuarón, Sandra Bullock spends most of her time alone, in zero gravity — 373 miles above the Earth’s surface.

That wasn’t easy to pull off, either for the Oscar-winning actress or for the film’s production crew.