Last week, Sandra Bullock, Keanu Reeves, and director Jan de Bont reunited at Beyond Fest for a 30th anniversary screening of their movie, Speed. I love that movie (and Sandra and Keanu!) so much. As a part of the evening’s events, the trio did a Q&A about the movie. During the Q&A, Sandy spoke about her audition to play bus driver Annie Porter, which included describing a hilarious visual of acting out the scene using a folding chair and a paper plate as the steering wheel. Keanu and Jan also went down memory lane to to talk about her casting process. Of course, they also addressed the question of whether there’d be a third Speed movie.
“I was the new kid on the block and it was nerve-wracking,” Bullock said onstage at Beyond Fest at American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre on Oct. 8. “I remember arriving there, I remember the car I drove, I remember what I was thinking.”
Turning to Reeves, 60, and Speed director Jan de Bont, she added, “I walked in, I remember the room was kind of dark. You guys had it dark!”
But what made the audition especially memorable was the way de Bont, 80, and Reeves had improvised a makeshift bus. “There was a folding chair, there was a paper plate,” said Bullock with a laugh. The plate, of course, “was the steering wheel I was handed.”
So pretending to drive a bus with only “Keanu, Jan, the carpeted floor, a folding chair and a paper plate,” she added, meant harnessing the power of her actorly imagination. “All my acting classes all came together and went out the window,” quipped Bullock.
“The moment I saw you, I knew that you would be the driver,” de Bont said to Bullock, whose character takes over driving a Los Angeles bus rigged to explode if its speed drops below 50 mph.
Bullock acknowledged that that may have been the Dutch filmmaker’s takeaway from the audition, but added that she’s met actresses who were up for the role before her. “You saw me after one, two and three couldn’t do it,” she teased. “Then you saw me in the dark room.”
Reeves, who in the film plays SWAT team officer Jack Traven, admitted that he remembered Bullock’s audition albeit without much detail. Of his own casting, he said, “I met this mad genius [de Bont] and I was like, Oh, f—, man. This is a director, this is a person with a vision. This is someone who has a passion for the story.”
The Matrix star added with a smile, “Then I got Sandra.”
“No,” Bullock corrected playfully. “There were three others.” When Reeves claimed he didn’t remember other actresses, she said, “That is why I love him.”
“I have never been so proud of those two actors, what they did for me,” reflected de Bont. “What they had to do is just unbelievable. But the relationship that those two created together is absolutely amazing.”
Of the possibility of a third film — which the Beyond Fest audience greeted with an enthusiastic round of applause — de Bont said, “I think it would be a different movie.” Nodding to Bullock and Reeves, he continued, “It would be great to work with them [again].”
Bullock quipped that a Speed 3 would be “the geriatric version. It won’t be fast.”
Up next, Reeves will reprise his role as John Wick in 2025’s Ana de Armas spinoff Ballerina and star in Aziz Ansari’s Good Fortune. Bullock’s upcoming projects include a sequel to Practical Magic costarring Nicole Kidman.
I did some Googling, and it looks like the other two actresses who were considered to play Annie were Halle Berry and Ellen DeGeneres. Halle was offered the role when the character was written as a paramedic (she declined and later regretted it) and Ellen was considered when it evolved into a comedic sidekick. I cannot see the Ellen casting at all and am super glad that they didn’t keep Annie as a comic relief. I think Halle could have done a good job with the role, but it would have been a different movie. Sandra’s casting as the bus driver was perfect, though, and I’m happy it introduced her to the rest of us.
Keanu and Sandra have both joked before about a third Speed movie being a “geriatric version.” In a joint interview on the Speed-themed podcast “50 MPH,” Keanu expressed interest in doing a third movie, while Sandy joked, “Are we, you know, in wheelchairs or with walkers? Maybe. Maybe.” I don’t need them to work together on another Speed movie, but if it’s going to happen, then I say embrace the action and make it the perfect opportunity to prove that 60 is the new 40!
One week since one of the best nights EVER A legendary night at the Egyptian Theatre celebrating the 30th anniversary of SPEED (1994) with filmmaker Jan de Bont + actors Sandra Bullock & Keanu Reeves for @beyondfest 2024!
: @JaredCowan1 pic.twitter.com/mE4ynAEH2Q
— American Cinematheque (@am_cinematheque) October 16, 2024
Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves at the Los Angeles premiere of “Speed” in 1994 The duo at last night’s 30th anniversary screening at Beyond Fest pic.twitter.com/Hhi2GY6Iac
— IndieWire (@IndieWire) October 9, 2024
photos credit: James Warren/Bang Showbiz/Avalon, Jacqui Wong/Avalon and via Twitter. Photo of Keanu and Sandra is from the 2006 Academy Awards.