Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock reunited Tuesday night to attend Beyond Fest’s sold-out 30th anniversary screening of their blockbuster Speed at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood.
The John Wick 4 producer-star and the Oscar winner – both 60 – played LAPD detective Jack Traven and hostage Annie Porter in Jan de Bont’s critically-acclaimed action thriller, which impressively amassed $350.4M from a $30M at the global box office in 1994.
Sandy recalled ‘the only reason I got this job’ was because ‘other people turned it down’ while Keanu passed at first but changed his mind since the 80-year-old ‘mad genius’ was the cinematographer on Die Hard: ‘That he shot that, I was like, f*** yeah.’
Bullock – who got a bus driver’s license despite never actually driving the bus – praised Reeves for shielding her modesty during a crucial, climactic scene where they both successfully exit the bomb-rigged vehicle.
‘I had this dress that was very light, and I had a body suit underneath. When we started rehearsing, I noticed that the velocity of air would shoot the skirt over my head, the bottom part,’ the Virginia-born beauty remembered.
Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock reunited Tuesday night to attend Beyond Fest’s sold-out 30th anniversary screening of their blockbuster Speed at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood
The John Wick 4 producer-star and the Oscar winner – both 60 – played LAPD detective Jack Traven and hostage Annie Porter in Jan de Bont’s critically-acclaimed action thriller, which impressively amassed $350.4M from a $30M at the global box office in 1994
‘Keanu’s job was, for me the most important thing, which was to put (his) hands in a way that the skirt doesn’t fly over my head. Not only did you have to do the stunt to keep me safe, he had to keep my integrity intact by keeping things that didn’t need to be seen on a 17-foot screen hidden. That’s what I remember of that day.’
The Beirut-born Canadian called their late, great co-star Dennis Hopper – who played the villain Howard Payne – ‘a little nuts’ but a ‘total f***ing pro,’ saying: ‘We had some ridiculous dialogue and it was just awesome.’
Sandy was surprised by ‘how normal’ the two-time Oscar nominee – who passed away, at age 74, in 2010 – was behind the scenes: ‘He was very sweet to me. He loved his art. He loved talking about art, collecting art, local artists.’
Jan recalled how disastrous one of the biggest stunts went on the first take when the bus jumps in the air and makes a safe landing on a freeway after a 50ft gap.
‘This is real action. There’s no CGI,’ de Bont said.
I was trying to be really nice to the driver, to the stuntman. I said, “It’s really important that you get a good speed, otherwise you won’t make it.” He said, “Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I can do it.” The first time we filmed it…
‘He got scared at the last moment on the ramp and he started slowing down and unfortunately, he didn’t make it to the other side and he landed on seven cameras right below all placed to film it coming over. That bus was destroyed. I said, “Don’t tell the studio, don’t tell the studio!”‘
The Dutch filmmaker remarked of his leads’ chemistry: ‘I knew we had something very early on, and at the moment I saw Keanu and Sandra working as a team and doing most of the stunts themselves, which was so great.’
Sandy recalled ‘the only reason I got this job’ was because ‘other people turned it down’ while Keanu passed at first but changed his mind since the 80-year-old ‘mad genius’ (M) was the cinematographer on Die Hard: ‘That he shot that, I was like, f*** yeah’
Bullock – who got a bus driver’s license despite never actually driving the bus – praised Reeves for shielding her modesty during a crucial, climactic scene where they both successfully exit the bomb-rigged vehicle
The Virginia-born beauty remembered: ‘I noticed that the velocity of air would shoot the skirt over my head, the bottom part. Keanu’s job was, for me the most important thing, which was to put (his) hands in a way that the skirt doesn’t fly over my head’
She continued: ‘Not only did you have to do the stunt to keep me safe, he had to keep my integrity intact by keeping things that didn’t need to be seen on a 17-foot screen hidden. That’s what I remember of that day’
The Beirut-born Canadian called their late, great co-star Dennis Hopper – who played the villain Howard Payne – ‘a little nuts’ but a ‘total f***ing pro,’ saying: ‘We had some ridiculous dialogue and it was just awesome’
Sandy was surprised by ‘how normal’ the two-time Oscar nominee (L) – who passed away, at age 74, in 2010 – was behind the scenes: ‘He was very sweet to me. He loved his art. He loved talking about art, collecting art, local artists’
Jan recalled how disastrous one of the biggest stunts went on the first take when the bus jumps in the air and makes a safe landing on a freeway after a 50ft gap: ‘This is real action. There’s no CGI’
De Bont said: ‘The first time we filmed it…(the stunt driver) got scared at the last moment on the ramp and he started slowing down and unfortunately, he didn’t make it to the other side and he landed on seven cameras right below all placed to film it coming over. That bus was destroyed. I said, “Don’t tell the studio, don’t tell the studio!”‘
Three years later, Bullock reprised her role in Jan’s sequel Speed 2: Cruise Control co-starring Jason Patric, which earned $164.5M at the global box office despite the dismal 4% critic approval rating (out of 76 reviews) on Rotten Tomatoes.
When the idea of a potential third film was raised, the Bullet Train actress scoffed: ‘The geriatric version. It won’t be fast!’
‘All these things happened because the crazy man in the greenish jacket over there. He’s so soft and gentle today and I’m like, that’s not the man I remember. But he’s the man who put the energy and the idea together, knew what the audience wanted and demanded it from everyone and everyone stepped up to play it,’ Sandy explained.
‘So what would that movie be that would make Jan’s brain and brilliance happy? It would require a lot from everybody. I don’t know if we’re in an industry anymore that’s willing to tolerate it and be brave enough to do it. Maybe I could be wrong. … If he can’t make (what’s in his brain) for the audience, then he’s failed it felt like. I don’t know what we could do that would be good enough for the audience.’
The Dutch filmmaker remarked of his leads’ chemistry: ‘I knew we had something very early on, and at the moment I saw Keanu and Sandra working as a team and doing most of the stunts themselves, which was so great’
Three years later, Bullock reprised her role in Jan’s sequel Speed 2: Cruise Control co-starring Jason Patric, which earned $164.5M at the global box office despite the dismal 4% critic approval rating (out of 76 reviews) on Rotten Tomatoes
When the idea of a potential third film was raised, the Bullet Train actress scoffed: ‘The geriatric version. It won’t be fast…I don’t know if we’re in an industry anymore that’s willing to tolerate it and be brave enough to do it. Maybe I could be wrong’
Keanu and Bullock reunited to star as Alex Wyler and Dr. Kate Forster in Alejandro Agresti’s dismally-reviewed 2006 fantasy romance The Lake House, which earned $114.8M from a $40M budget at the box office
Next year, the Miss Congeniality alum and Nicole Kidman (R) will reprise their 1998 roles of witch siblings Sally and Gillian Owens for Practical Magic 2, which will be a big-screen adaptation of Alice Hoffman’s 2021 follow-up novel The Book of Magic
Keanu and Bullock reunited to star as Alex Wyler and Dr. Kate Forster in Alejandro Agresti’s dismally-reviewed 2006 fantasy romance The Lake House, which earned $114.8M from a $40M budget at the box office.
Audiences can next catch Reeves voicing Shadow the Hedgehog in Katsuyuki Shigihara’s Sega video game Sonic X Shadow Generations, which hits shelves October 25.
The Dogstar vocalist-bass player will also voice Shadow in Jeff Fowler’s live-action/CGI three-quel Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which hits US theaters December 20 and UK theaters December 27.
Next year, the Miss Congeniality alum and Nicole Kidman will reprise their 1998 roles of witch siblings Sally and Gillian Owens for Practical Magic 2, which will be a big-screen adaptation of Alice Hoffman’s 2021 follow-up novel The Book of Magic.
