As we’ve heard, Sandra Bullock has been named People’s Most Beautiful of 2014, which is a great choice. You may not have noticed, but ever since last summer, when Sandra was the victim of a break-in to her home by a crazed fame, she’s laid low. As far as I can find, she hasn’t attended an event since that harrowing incident, and she’s rarely caught out by the paparazzi. She’s also beefed up security at her home and has a new, majestic German Shepherd dog for protection. So this People cover represents a return to the public of sorts for Sandra and she really delivers. I had the chance to read the full print article and she gives a lot of great quotes. My favorite part was where they revealed that she has two dogs who are each missing legs. (It’s not stated if they’re rescue pups, but I’m assuming they are.) Here’s more, and this is just a small segment of the interview that’s in the print edition of People:

You have a two and three-legged dog. What’s beautiful about them?
That they have no idea anything is missing! Ruby is missing her two front legs, but she walks upright like we do, and that’s exactly how she goes to the bathroom as well. It’s like watching a drunk sailor. Poppy, the three-legger, thinks she’s a pit bull. If a man gets within five feet of me, she goes after him. She has no idea she’s only 9 lbs.

What do you worry about now?
Am I the mother my son deserves? And am I living my authentic life, and I good enough, working hard enough, am I able to keep my son safe? Did I pick up all the dog poop in the yard before the playdate? Worrying used to be very paralyzing for me, and now I can talk myself off the ledge. Louis is the one who snapped me out of it… everything I’ve learned about love I’ve learned from Louis, and that is there is no such thing as being done loving. We have a lot of it.

What have you embraced over the years when it comes to your appearance?
I’ve never been a great beauty. I’ve never been the bombshell that was coveted. In an odd way, that made growing older a lot easier in this business. I guess I’m doing it on my own terms, and that is my wish for everyone.

You once said there’s something sexy about a belly. Do you still feel that way?
Oh yes, on both men and women. Do you really want to date someone that has a more ripped body than you, who has a smaller waist? I’m like, I don’t want someone with a 12-pack, I mean if it comes, okay. But I like a little bit of beef.

Last time I cried [note: this is from a sidebar]
Last night. Every night I cry. Literally at the end of the day, there are some tears. It’s mostly joy. It’s just a release.

[From People, print edition, May 4, 2015]

Where are the pictures of these dogs?! She needs to bring them out and carry them around, like Jessica Chastain does with her pup with the missing leg.

There’s so much more in the interview and People even has more online. She cracks jokes about the rumors that she’s going to adopt another child, saying “I’d appreciate a heads-up on the details so I can pick up some supplies” and she says that she doesn’t usually wear makeup unless she’s going out at night. Sandra also reveals that she kept the spacesuit from Gravity and pledges “one of these days it’s going to get worn in the carpool lane at school.”

As for when she feels most beautiful, Sandra says it’s in “the role of mother” because she doesn’t “feel beautiful in anything I’ve acted in” and prefers not to see herself on screen. It’s kind of nice to hear that even gorgeous celebrity women are insecure, but it’s also somewhat sad. This isn’t a Blake Lively type of humble brag, I buy that she really does feel this way.

Update: Here’s a photo with Sandra and one of her dogs in 2005.

Photo credit: WENN.com, People Magazine and Getty Images