ONTD

MSNBC

Everybody should be believe in something, and Katherine Heigl believes in the church of Sandra Bullock.

"Whenever I'm about to do or say something," the actress told me recently, "I first think W.W.S.B.D., which stands for What Would Sandra Bullock Do?

"I don't know her personally," she added, "but from what I've seen of her and what I've read about her, she seems to be one of the most well-spoken, gracious, charming and funny women in Hollywood. If I could get there, I would like to be just like her."

The 31-year-old Heigl, star of the current film "Killers" and an Emmy winner from her time on the TV series "Grey's Anatomy," said she has always admired the 45-year-old Bullock, but became a serious believer after the latter's ordeal following her Oscar win as best actress.

In case you've been climbing a very high mountain, submerged on a nuclear sub under the polar ice cap or orbiting the Earth on the space station, Bullock had no sooner returned home with her trophy than her home broke up after she learned of her husband's infidelities. In the meantime, she revealed that she had adopted a baby boy, and planned to raise him as a single mom

Not surprisingly, Bullock's woes became fodder for the tabloid media, and the so-called mainstream media was not far behind in covering this story.

Heigl said she was particularly impressed with how Bullock handled herself during this media firestorm, and what the Oscar-winning actress had to say about the paparazzi in a People magazine interview in its May 10 edition.

"I feel such guilt and sadness about how they (her three step-children with husband Jesse James) have been hunted by the photographers," Bullock said. "I just wanted to ask the photographers if they have children. Would this be fair to do to them? I wish there were laws here in the U.S. that were the same as in the U.K., where children are not allowed to be hunted down or mowed over to get a photo..

"I was profoundly amazed at how much money was being made from other people's pain."

Heigl is no stranger to being hounded by the paparazzi and tabloid reporters. She was embroiled in several controversies during her stint on "Grey's Anatomy," and she knows full well what it's like to be hounded.

"There becomes a focus on you that sometimes can feel overwhelming," Heigl explained. "For example, you're eating in a restaurant and they're shooting pictures of you through the window. You feel so self-conscious. You feel like you have to pose all the time.

"And it's not like they're (the paparazzi) respectful. They're not nice. It's not like they say: 'Could we have a couple of photos?' and then walk away. They try to instigate trouble or start an argument with you. They want drama, and they'll do or say anything to get it.

"I was going crazy; I wasn't being myself. Then I read what Sandra said. She's so grounded. She isn't aggressive in any way. She doesn't take it all so personally. She really gets it. I swear that reading what she said changed my life."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37625808/ns/local_news-orange_county_ca