Sandra Bullock is one of the last true American movie stars. Hopping between rom-com queen, action heroine, and dramatic lead, audiences have never lost trust that she can pull off anything. In Practical Magic 2, she returns as Sally Owens, a role once savaged by critics but exalted by a generation of mothers and daughters that made the original into a cult classic anyway. For our September cover story, Bullock sat down with her longtime friend Jennifer Aniston to talk about what pulled her back after four years away, the exhausting mechanics of maintaining a public image, empty-nesting, and maintaining longevity against shifting industry winds. What comes through strongest is two women who have known each other for years, doing what old friends do best: getting each other to say the true thing instead of the practiced one.