Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock’s iconic thriller Speed has turned 30, and the duo reunited to mark the milestone.
In Speed, Reeves played SWAT officer Jack Traven, who takes it upon himself to save a bus which is rigged to detonate if its speed drops below 50 mph, while Bullock played a passenger on the bus who helps Jack handle the speeding bus.
The duo reunited on Tuesday, October 8 for a screening of the movie as part of Beyond Fest at American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles.
Speed director Jan de Bont, 80, joined the duo in a talkback onstage, where they reminisced about filming the thriller.
“We knew we were doing something wacky,” the John Wick star remarked.
“I was behind the wheel of a projectile, so I was just happy to be alive at the end of the day,” quipped the Bird Box actress.
“I mean I was new to the whole game so I wasn’t aware of what was happening or what felt right or what was not supposed to feel a certain way, but I was just, you’re just in it,” Bullock shared.
She revealed that the actors on the bus were really “smashing into things” during filming. “So I think as an actor and, as I was a newbie, I was behind the wheel wanting everyone to be safe. It was special,” she said.
Director de Bont went on to emphasize how integral Reeves and Bullock were for Speed’s success. “I have never been so proud of those two actors, what they did for me and quite often unnatural to them.”
“What they had to do is just unbelievable. But the relationship that those two created together is absolutely amazing,” he gushed. “And seeing it back on the screen tonight, it was so real. They were absolutely perfect.”
“All the emotions were right, all the laughter was right, all the smiling, the little smoothing,” the director added.
de Pont added: “It was really, really cool. And I had to tell them how great they both were. I mean I realized more now how great you guys were at the time. I have to say, but now I really say, ‘Oh s—,’ and it’s so good.”
1994’s award-winning Speed was followed by a sequel, Speed 2: Cruise Control, which was critically panned and has a 4% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Bullock reprised her role for the movie but Reeves declined as he didn’t like the script. He opted instead to star in The Devil’s Advocate alongside Al Pacino.
