Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock are ready for rush hour.
Speed, the iconic thriller led by the superstars back in 1994, celebrated its 30th anniversary by reuniting Reeves, 60, and Bullock, 60 on Tuesday, Oct. 8. The special Los Angeles screening was part of Beyond Fest at American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre.
Joined by Speed director Jan de Bont, 80, in a talkback onstage, Reeves and Bullock were all smiles as they remembered filming the Oscar-winning action hit.
“We knew we were doing something wacky,” said Reeves of playing SWAT officer Jack Traven, who boards a bus rigged to detonate a bomb if its speed drops below 50 mph.
“I was behind the wheel of a projectile, so I was just happy to be alive at the end of the day,” joked Bullock, who played Annie Porter, a passenger on the bus who helps to prevent its explosion.
“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 continued.
Speaking about how the actors were really “smashing into things” during filming, Bullock added, “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.”
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For de Bont, Speed’s stars were integral to its critical and commercial success. “I have never been so proud of those two actors, what they did for me and quite often unnatural to them,” said the filmmaker.
“What they had to do is just unbelievable. But the relationship that those two created together is absolutely amazing,” he continued. “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.
“It was really, really cool. And I had to tell them how great they both were,” he continued. “I mean I realized more now how great you guys were at the time. I have to say busy, but now I really say, ‘Oh s—,’ and it’s so good.”
The award-winning Speed spawned a poorly received sequel in 1997, Speed 2: Cruise Control, starring a returning Bullock, Jason Patric and Willem Dafoe.
Reeves will reprise his role as John Wick in 2025’s Ana de Armas spinoff Ballerina and play an angel in Aziz Ansari’s upcoming Good Fortune. He’s also producing BRZRKR, the comic book series he co-wrote with Matt Kindt, as a big-screen adaptation and anime series. Among Bullock’s upcoming projects is a sequel to Practical Magic costarring Nicole Kidman.
