Jan de Bont’s action thriller Speed is considered to be one of the best in the genre. Moreover, the chemistry between Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves was the equivalent of a cherry on top. The romance is a slow burn as the characters keep the audience waiting for something to happen between the two but it isn’t until the very end that Annie and Jack share a passionate kiss.
However, this didn’t mean that there wasn’t a spark between the two as they held on to their dear lives in the speeding bus. They do share a few moments of eye contact here and there and as per Sandra Bullock, this really helped the two to build a connection before their big kiss; something which she hilariously dubbed as “foreplay.”
Sandra Bullock Talks about the “Foreplay” Trick in Speed
Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock play the roles of Officer Jack Traven and Annie Porter in Speed (1994). The film revolves around the story of a bus that is set to explode if the speed ever drops below 50 miles an hour. The unique plot certainly deserves the critical acclaim it received!
Apart from the film’s adrenaline-pumping action, viewers loved it for the chemistry between the two main characters. Now, since Speed is an action thriller, there wasn’t much room for romance in the movie and the actors decided to take advantage of this.
Instead of having starry-eyed moments on the bus of death, they decided to stick to three or four instances of quick eye contact which said a lot without saying anything.
During her appearance on the 50 MPH: The Making Of A Movie Megahit podcast along with Reeves, Bullock explained the reasoning behind the move and how it actually helped them connect with each other. Calling it a “clever set up,” Bullock termed the whole thing as, “foreplay.”
“We didn’t really look at each other in this movie except for maybe three times, three or four times where there was just – because we were constantly battling the elements. And I think that’s what made it so electric, too, is that, watching it, I guess you want them to connect. So, that was really clever, a really clever setup to sort of, you know, keep people apart. Foreplay, I guess.”
In the end, Reeves’ Jack manages to save Bullock’s Annie, and the two share an adorable kiss which makes the slow burn absolutely worth it.
Sandra Bullock Had to Make Sure She Had Chemistry with Keanu Reeves
Before Bullock, the role of Annie was offered to Halle Berry who declined the offer, and even Ellen DeGeneres was considered for the part at one point (via Entertainment Weekly). Later, the Bird Box actress came in to read for the part and she just had to make sure that her chemistry with Reeves was sitting right or not.
She once told EW,
“I had to read for Speed. Just to make sure the chemistry was okay between me and Keanu. We had to do all these really physical scenes together, rolling around on the floor and stuff.”
She also recalled the hilarious incident from when Reeves accidentally grabbed her in the wrong place while filming. Luckily, Bullock was forgiving enough
“At one point Keanu stumbled into me and sort of grabbed my butt. I asked him, ‘Are you copping a feel?’ He got all panicky and was like, ‘Nooooo! I wasn’t!’ I was like, ‘Relax, Keanu. Just kidding.”’
After Speed’s success, the film went ahead and got a sequel for itself titled Speed 2: Cruise Control. While Bullock reprised her role from the original, Reeves did not return for the sequel. Unfortunately, the film received lots of negative feedback from critics and is considered one of the worst sequels ever made.
Despite the sequel’s failure, Reeves and Bullock would love to reunite for another film in the series as the John Wick actor stated on the 50 MPH podcast, “I mean, you know–we’d freakin’ knock [Speed 3] out of the park.” He added, “It does feel like there is a siren call to it, like there’s something that wasn’t done. I would love to work with you again before our eyes close.”
It looks like they’ve got the Need for Speed. No? Okay.
Well, if Reeves and Bullock do end up returning for another Speed, we already know the film will be absolutely epic. We are hoping for a little more romance, though!
Speed and Speed 2 are available to stream on Starz via Hulu.
