Sandra Bullock’s latest role was originally written for George Clooney — until she convinced filmmakers that it could be played by a woman

At the 2014 Golden Globes, hosts Amy Poehler and Tina Fey pointed out that sexism was alive and well in Hollywood with one memorable barb directed at George Clooney, following his appearance in the space thriller, Gravity, alongside actress Sandra Bullock.

“Gravity is nominated for best film,” said Fey. “It’s the story of how George Clooney would rather float away into space and die than spend one more minute with a woman his own age.”

The joke got a lot of laughs, and deservedly so, but at a recent reunion appearance for Clooney and Bullock ahead of the release of their new movie, Our Brand Is Crisis, the two actors were faced with the fact that not much has changed in the nearly two years since Gravity was released.

According to Vulture, this weekend, Bullock was faced with a pretty idiotic question at the Toronto International Film Festival Q&A for her new film:

“I love talking about hair,” Bullock retorted. “It’s called root grow-out? And all the women in this room know what that means. [It] wasn’t white, it was more of an ashy blonde.”

Luckily, Clooney, who produced Our Brand, shifted the focus to reveal something much more interesting: The film’s lead role, which sees Bullock playing a high-powered political strategist working in Bolivia, was originally created for him. But through persistence and determination, Bullock was able to convince the filmmakers that the same role could be played by a woman.

“Sandy called and said she wanted to do the role that was originally developed for a man to do,” Clooney said, “and once we realized that you could change it really easily, it made you realize that there are an awful lot of women’s roles that could be out there if people just started thinking in this way.”

“I stepped into a role that George could have played,” Bullock added, “or maybe I could have played better.”

Check out the whole story, including a great butt joke at George Clooney’s expense, here.