It's hard to believe that Miss Congeniality came out 20 years ago.
It's still one of the best Sandra Bullock films to date and one of the best romantic comedies, period.
No matter what she does, Sandra Bullock will be iconic for this role.
If you're still obsessed with the film like it was just yesterday, you'll love these 10+ behind-the-scenes secrets that fans didn't know.
"Through the years I'd always looked for something that had a lot of physical comedy and sort of the great fish-out-of-water story and having to do something that they would never normally do. . ." she told ET in a 2000 interview.
"It was always sort of like we're supposed to keep it together and look relatively attractive," she added.
"And it just shows a side to women and men — it shows the men what women really go through and it shows women what they really don't have to go through."
You know the scene: Victor Melling has agreed to take on Gracie as his new client and he's working on teaching her how to walk like a lady.
But during their lesson, a taxi almost hits Gracie.
It's believed that this line is actually a parody of the original line, "I'm walking here!" from the famous 1969 film Midnight Cowboys.
This is all thanks to the character Cheryl's adorable answer about her perfect date.
"I'd have to say April 25, because it's not too hot, not too cold. All you need is a light jacket."
You're lying.
As it turns out, the film chose April 25 as the perfect date since it's the birthday of the wife of Miss Congeniality's director.
Aww! This makes this date even sweeter.
Gilmore Girls fans will recognize the actor as Richard from the popular show.
His line: "Honey, are you a lesbian?" is at the 0:30 mark.
What a shame!
Like most sequels, it's not as popular — or as well-reviewed — as the first.
Sandra starred in the second one, which is called Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous and came out in 2005.
Real Housewives fans know LeeAnne as one of the former stars on The Real Housewives of Dallas. She was fired from the show in 2019.
LeeAnne appeared with blonde hair in the film as Miss Nebraska.
In an interview with ET, she called it a huge "bone of contention" for her.
While everyone on set agreed that the song was perfect for Sandra's makeover unveiling, it was also agreed that it needed to be peppier.
This is why Sandra stepped in to play the tambourine on the final track that was in the movie and on the soundtrack.
"I have her being so serious in there cutting it," he said. "You know, she really got into it."
Remember that wrestling scene between the two actors? That was done entirely by them instead of stunt doubles.
Bullock even revealed that the combat scenes were easier than the pageant scenes.
"That's my action, like the leaping and jumping, that's no problem. It's the walking and talking with the breasts that's going to be my difficult part."
This is in comparison to the 30 minutes it took to transform the actress into her FBI attire.
This included baggy clothes, no makeup, and her hair pulled back messily.
That final explosion at the end took a lot of work.
As you know, the bomb inside the crown goes off when Gracie throws it towards the statue's head.
"And we'll have to probably clean it up after each explosion," he said in a behind-the-scenes clip.
You'll never listen to the song the same way again. Executive producer Marc Lawrence enlisted his six-year-old son, Clyde, to create a version of the song.
In the end, he ended up winning against adult music professionals!
It's hard to believe considering that the lavender Herve Leger bandage dress was seemingly made for Sandra.
The film's costume designer, Susie DeSanto, told People she chose that dress since she wanted to make jaws drop.
Pageant contestants have mastered walking down the stairs (in heels) without looking down even once. Sounds dangerous!
You know the one, where she drives through the city with her sirens on just to get to Starbucks and uses her FBI status to get to the front of the line?
And it was so hot out that day that somebody had the job of holding an umbrella over Sandra so she wouldn't get too hot or sweaty.
And it worked!
If you feel like visiting, it's located at One American Center at 6th Street and Congress Avenue.
They did use a stunt driver, but Sandra also did some of her own stunt driving in some of the takes, thanks to the skills she learned while making Speed.
