Sandra Bullock: Oscar nominee?

Venice, Sept. 3 (Reuters): Infamous is fast becoming famous for being one of the unluckiest films in years.

By coincidence the biopic about US writer Truman Capote and his crime classic In Cold Blood covers identical ground to the 2005 critical hit Capote, which won Philip Seymour Hoffman an Oscar for playing the title lead.

But Hollywood star Sandra Bullock, who portrays To Kill A Mockingbird author Nelle Harper Lee in the new movie, said she believed there was room for both films.

“If the film is good, what difference does it make?” she told Reuters in an interview in Venice to promote the film.

“Consider us the remake of Capote. I think there’s room and the reception that we’ve got shows that there’s room.”

The 42-year-old star praised Infamous studio Warner Independent Pictures for sticking with the project.

“The beauty of it ... is the fact that here we have two films that were so well written, from two different perspectives, of the same subject matter and studios chose to make them both.

“A studio could have pulled out and said: ‘No, one’s already being made.’ I think we need to applaud that.”

Bullock, best known for her comic roles like in Miss Congeniality and action hit Speed, said she was pleased to be playing another serious role in Infamous, which comes hard on the heels of Los Angeles race drama and Oscar triumph Crash.

“Comedy is really hard and you have to take a break from it because things cease to be funny,” she said. “I’ll always do comedy. I love it. But the roles, when they are there, you have to go after them.”

Critics have praised her performance as Lee, who accompanies Capote on a trip to Kansas to research his book on a grisly murder, and some say she should get her first Oscar nomination.

Catherine Keener was also nominated for an Academy Award for her part as Lee in Capote.

Bullock said she had something in common with Lee, who shuns the limelight despite her success as an author. Although Bullock is a major star, she says she protects her privacy fiercely.

“When I go away there’s speculation, but they’ll never get the photo, they’ll never know where I am,” she said.

“There’s a great effort ... you need to make in order to have that life. I will not sell pictures of my wedding, I will not sell pictures of my child. I will not sell pictures when I’ve gained 400 pounds, nor when I have lost them.

“I’m a known figure, but when I go home and I’m private I protect that with a vengeance.”