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This interview originally ran in 2019.
We are republishing it in honor ofthe late Carl Reiner, who died on June 29, 2020.
Nearly 25 years later, with our Dominos Pizza Trackers and semi-regular data breaches, reality isnt much different.
Another thing that hasnt changed?
Comedy legend Carl Reiners fervent love of the film and its leading lady.
On Netflix saw THE NET starring Sandra Bullock & enjoyed it as much as I did 20 yrs ago.
It’s so well written and performed, You’ll thank me.
Recommend u see it!
just watched and enjoyed for the umpteenth time one of the best Comeuppance films of all time.
On a whim, I reached out to see if Carl Reiner would like to chat aboutThe Net.
And reader, he did.
Thank you so much for doing this interview.Its my pleasure.
I really adore that girl [Sandra Bullock].
I put it in a class withThe Count of Monte Cristo.
Im always amazed at her talent and beauty.
And of course, she did other things too.Miss Congeniality.
But there was another movie she made that was very good.
I cant remember the name now.
The one where she and Keanu Reeves are on a bus?Yeah.
Shes a force of nature.
Oh,The Proposal!
Thats the other one.
Im curious, were you yourself around online in 1995?I dont think so.
Do you remember when you first went online?
Did a friend or a grandchild show you?Well, I have a guy here, Lawrence OFlahavan.
And hes responsible for anything I put on the internet.
Lawrence OFlahavan: What we did was, he wanted to write a book,I Remember Me.
And Carl said, Whats tweet?
What are you talking about?
And I said, Carl, its like having an audience.
You walk onto a stage and talk into a microphone.
And thats how we began his whole online presence.
He had his email, he had his basic things, but his social-media presence was not active.
DidThe Netin some way scare you off from using the internet?
It made me a big fan of Sandra Bullock!
No, every time she puts her face on screen, you know youre gonna see something good.
I know that you filmed a scene with Sandra Bullock forOceans Eightthat was unfortunately cut.
Carl was excited to meet Sandra.
The attitude she did and the way she touched her boyfriend was so funny!
Tried to look lovey-dovey.
It was one of the really funny moments.
Action, comedy, romance, thrillers likeThe Net.
She can do it all.Oh yeah.
She can do it all.
Theres no question about it.
What was her other one?Two Weeks Notice?
That was a goodie.
Shes never done anything that didnt work.
Even the bus thing she did.
OFlahavan: What was it like meeting her for the first time on the set [ofOceans Eight]?
OFlahavan: And what did she do when she saw you?
Reiner: I dont remember.
OFlahavan: She knelt down, remember?
Reiner: Oh yes!
And I knelt down to her!
Oh, I couldnt believe that.
I didnt even know she knew me.
OFlahavan: We wish we could see what that scene looked like.
Weve never been able to get a copy of it, of Carl and Sandra.
We would love to be able to see that.
Put that in the article, by the way!
By the way, is she married?
She was in a high-profile relationship some years back, but they got divorced.
Dennis Miller has a brief but memorable role inThe Net.
These days hes arguably more famous as a conservative commentator than as a comedian.
If you haven’t seen it, see it and you’ll be glad you did!
Mel Brooks when he tweets.
Rob Reiner, of course.
Trump because anything that guy says makes me laugh because its just so nuts.
Hes not a comedian but its just nuts.
InThe Net, Sandra Bullocks life is destroyed when her identity is erased off the internet.
But these days, people can have their lives destroyed if something they said is amplified on the internet.
Once onstage, I had to recite a speech as Claudius and was told to memorize it overnight.
I got halfway through and couldnt remember the other half of it.
So I just started making up Elizabethan double-talk, which I used later onYour Show of Shows.
So in terms of mistakes, its okay to make mistakes.
And its okay to let the audience in on it.
When you make a mistake, let them participate.
Its important for a comedian to make mistakes because its not real.
Hey, I gotta go!
Shes beloved by practically everyone whos ever seen her.
Theres nothing negative about her.
