Octavia Spencer has extended her condolences to Sandra Bullock, after the star’s longterm partner Bryan Randall died at the age of 57 due to ALS [amyotrophic lateral sclerosis].
The Hidden Figures star, who has been friends with Bullock since 1996, shared a photograph of Bullock and Randall on her Instagram page to mourn the loss.
She wrote that her “heart is broken for Sandy and Bryan”, adding: “Sandy lost her soulmate and the world lost a talented, handsome, all around good guy!”
On Monday (7 August), Randall’s family announced in a statement that he had “passed away peacefully” two days earlier after a private three-year battle with ALS.
Spencer continued in her post: “My prayers and condolences to their families. RIP Bryan Randall. In heaven, there’s a tiny little lady up there who looks an awful lot like me bossing the Angels around. Especially Gabriel. She’ll get him to play any song you want to hear. Give her a kiss from me.”
Bullock and Spencer first met on the set of A Time to Kill in 1996, and later also co-starred in the 2005 film Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous.
On Tuesday (8 August), Bullock’s sister Gesine Bullock-Prado shared a touching tribute to Randall and praised her sister for how she cared for her partner.
“ALS is a cruel disease but there is some comfort in knowing he had the best of caretakers in my amazing sister and the band of nurses she assembled who helped her look after him in their home,” she wrote.
The Lost City star and Randall, a model-turned photographer, first met in 2015 when he was hired to take photographs at her son Louis’ 5th birthday party.
They kept their relationship largely private. In 2018, Bullock made a rare comment about their romance in an interview with InStyle and said: “He’s super kind. For the kids, he’s sort of number one and I’m number two. But I get it because he’s more fun and has better treats.”
The couple shared three children, including Bullock’s two adopted children and Randall’s daughter from a previous relationship.
In an appearance of Red Table Talk in December 2021, Bullock opened up about marriage and divorce, and referred to her divorce from Jesse James in 2010.
She said: “I am someone who went through the divorce process. I found the love of my life. We share two beautiful children, three children – his older daughter. Best thing ever. So, I don’t want to say do it like I do it, but I don’t need a paper to be a devoted partner, a devoted mother.
“I don’t need to be told to be ever-present in the hardest of times. I don’t need to be told to weather a storm with a good man.”
Randall died of ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. There is no cure for the condition, but there are drugs available to treat it and ease the discomfort of sufferers.
