Since their time together in 1994’s Speed, Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves have maintained a close bond with each other. Even though the two later confirmed that they never officially dated in the past, on separate occasions, the two actors confessed to having a crush on each other during their time filming Speed.
Although Reeves was adamant about working with Bullock again after Speed, it wasn’t until 2006’s The Lake House that the two would reunite again on the big screen. However, there was once an instance when the John Wick star was offered to star alongside Sandra Bullock but refused because of creative reasons.
Both Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock have been pretty vocal about their experience with each other during filming 1994’s Speed, which was an enormous success at the box office. However, when the duo was asked to return for their respective roles in the sequel, the John Wick star decided to let the opportunity slide. The actor later opened up about his decision, as Reeves explained that he wasn’t fond of the script and the premise they were going for the sequel. He said,
“At the time I didn’t respond to the script. I really wanted to work with Sandra Bullock… It was just a situation in life where I got the script and I read the script and I was like, ‘Ugh.’ It was about a cruise ship and I was thinking, ‘A bus, a cruise ship… Speed, bus, but then a cruise ship is even slower than a bus and I was like, ‘I love you guys, but I just can’t do it.’ “
But it wasn’t only Keanu Reeves, who wasn’t the biggest fan of the premise of the second movie, as Sandra Bullock, who did return for the role went on to share her regrets regarding her decision.
Sandra Bullock regrets returning to Speed 2
It isn’t new when studios try to capitalize on a movie’s success by crafting lazy follow-ups to the original story with no reason to justify their existence and the same was the case for Speed’s sequel. Although the film witnessed the return of the same director alongside Sandra Bullock, who agreed to star in the movie, the sequel became a huge disaster and was panned by the critics. Bullock later opened up about her regrets regarding her decision to return in the sequel and stated,
“I’m still embarrassed I was in. I’ve been very vocal about it. Makes no sense. Slow boat. Slowly going towards an island.”
Although Keanu Reeves’ decision to not return for Speed 2 did lead to the actor’s fallout with Fox for ten years, it didn’t impact the actor’s rise to fame, as he went on to star as Neo in The Matrix.