Although the 1994 blockbuster Speed was filled with meticulously planned stunts, one scene felt a little too real for its stars.
Marking the Jan de Bont action flick’s 30th anniversary, Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock reunited with the director on Tuesday at Beyond Fest, where the actors recalled being “a little under-informed” about where the bus was steering.
“Don’t you remember that day on the bus, though?” Reeves asked, according to IndieWire. “When we were crashing through all the cars on the street? I remember we were a little under-informed. We were all on the bus and then we were driving down by San Diego or something. We were set by the ocean, and all of a sudden, we’re actually hitting cars. Boom! Boom! Everyone on their bus lost their mind. People were screaming.”
Although she noted that she “did get my Santa Monica bus driver’s license,” Bullock noted that she “never, never” actually drove in the movie. “It’s not an easy vehicle to maneuver,” she added.
The actress said, “The fun part was that I was at the helm of the bus, but in the back, there was someone driving along the roof. Someone was driving, and I was being careened into whatever [director] Jan [de Bont] felt I needed to smash into.”
In Speed, Reeves plays LAPD officer Jack Traven, who has to prevent a city bus from exploding with the help of passenger Annie Porter (Bullock), as a bomb on board will detonate if the vehicle drops below 50 mph. The movie also stars Dennis Hopper, Jeff Daniels, Alan Ruck, Joe Morton and Beth Grant.
Although Bullock returned for the 1997 sequel Speed 2: Cruise Control, Reeves did not reprise his role. Jason Patric played Annie’s new cop boyfriend Alex Shaw, who has to gain control of a cruise ship hijacked by crazed passenger John Geiger (Willem Dafoe).
On the possibility of another sequel, Bullock said, “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 [Jan de Bont] can’t make [what’s in his brain] for the audience, then he’s failed… I don’t know what we could do that would be good enough for the audience.”
