Sandra Bullock knows how to put a smile on our faces

Sandra Bullock. She’s America’s sweetheart. She wins everyone over with her smile. She’s the girl next door, if you will, who just happens to be the highest paid actress of 2012 with $56 million, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Not your average girl-next-door salary, but she seems to deserve it because she’s so humble.

This week Bullock tackles a tough role as a mother from New York whose husband (Tom Hanks) was killed on 9/11 in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” — adapted from the best-selling novel. After her 10-year-old son discovers a key left behind by his father, he decides to go on a coming-of-age journey across New York to find the lockbox to which the key belongs.

With such a serious role in hand, let’s look back at some of Sandra’s funniest and most-endearing roles of the last 20 years.

“Speed” (1994) — “There's a bomb on a bus,” reveals Dennis Hopper, the villain of the film and, in doing so, sets the premise for the entire movie. Alongside Keanu Reeves, the cop who is involved in Hopper’s mind game, Bullock is able to hold her own as overwhelmed, frazzled Annie who must take charge and keep the bus from going under 50 mph. Bullock provides a bit of comedy to the fast-paced action flick and it helped earn her a spot as a leading lady in Hollywood.

“Miss Congeniality” (2000) — I’ve seen this movie a thousand times and it, or Bullock for that matter, always makes me laugh. As an undercover FBI agent who must parade around at a beauty pageant in order to stop a group from bombing the event, Bullock’s character learns to make nice among beauty consultants, pageant coordinators and the contestants themselves. Bullock is so awkward and dorky and out of her element that it’s hard not to laugh at her. She does a great job at mocking the world of beauty pageants, all while playing a tough FBI agent ready to kick butt when necessary.

“While You Were Sleeping” (1995) — A classic romantic comedy that Bullock makes so easy to watch, “While You Were Sleeping” tells the story of Lucy, a token collector at a train station who has a crush on a particular commuter (Peter Gallagher). One day he is mugged and pushed onto the train tracks. Bullock’s character rescues him, only to find that he has fallen into a coma. She brings him to the hospital where the nurse mistakes her for his fiance and she doesn’t have the heart to tell his family the truth. She ends up spending a lot of time with the family, including the brother (Bill Pullman), with whom she soon falls in love. With a great supporting cast, Bullock couldn’t go wrong.

“The Blind Side” (2009) — The film that earned Bullock an Academy Award, Golden Globe and SAG award, Bullock really transformed herself for the role of Leigh Anne Tuohy, the mother who adopted Baltimore Ravens lineman Michael Oher. It is said that Bullock turned down the role several times because she didn’t want to portray a devout Christian. Well, it was well worth the wait, and the film turned out to be an underdog movie that opened up everyone’s hearts, and Bullock had a big part in doing that.

“The Proposal” (2009) — Released around the same time as “The Blind Side,” Bullock broke records for having two top-grossing releases at the same time. While “The Blind Side” captured our hearts, “The Proposal” tickled our funny bones. Alongside Ryan Reynolds and the one-and-only Betty White, Bullock had no trouble standing out as a publisher who pretends to be engaged to her assistant in order to not be deported to Canada. Temporary at first, the two quickly fall in love when they go to meet family in his home state of Alaska.

It sounds like a silly premise that could easily go wrong, as Bullock’s other comedy released that year, “All About Steve,” did. But what works is the chemistry between Reynolds and Bullock. They work hand-in-glove with each other and over the years Bullock has shown that she’s a well-rounded actress who has multiple sides to her craft. She always has something new up her sleeve and it seems to always put a smile on her face and ours.