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Hollywood is a place where actors have turned down movie roles on many occasions, only for the film to later become a box office success or cult favorite. The actors then realize that they have missed the golden opportunity to be a part of a successful film. Here regret begins to set in. One of the films that helped Keanu Reeves establish himself as an action star was a 1994 action film, Speed.
It also helped Sandra Bullock become a movie star. However, Speed, a Jan de Bont film, might have been somewhat different, if they had chosen a different star. Yes, X-Men star, Halle Berry was offered the chance to read the script but she reportedly declined the film.
If Berry had been cast as Bullock’s character, Annie Porter, things might have turned out very differently.
Keanu Reeves in a still from Speed
In the movie, Annie (Bullock) has to take over the bus’s steering after the driver was unintentionally shot by a passenger. Bullock and Reeves had excellent chemistry while sharing the driving seat, but Berry was unable to recognize it in the script.
Halle Berry Could Have Been In Keanu Reeves’ 1994 Film
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum marked the first time Halle Berry and Keanu Reeves collaborated, but they could have starred together in another movie years earlier. When the two actors were speaking with ET about John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, The Call actress revealed that she almost starred alongside Reeves in the 1994 movie, Speed.
“I don’t know if you know this, but I was offered Speed before Sandra Bullock.”
Halle Berry
Berry went on to later star in action films like Die Another Day and the four installments of the X-Men film series. The Oscar winner admitted she found it difficult to read Speed’s scripts at the time.
“I stupidly said no. But in my defense, when I read the script the bus didn’t leave the parking lot.”
She continued by saying that she still regrets her choice whenever she watches the movie.
“I was like no, no, no, no. Then I see the movie and I’m like, arrrrghh.”
Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock in Speed
When she made an appearance in an April 1995 issue of Movieline, she discussed the reasons behind her decision to pass on the project and stated that one of the key elements that affected her choice was the script’s dearth of dialogue.
“I turned down Speed because I thought, ‘I don’t want to drive that bus.’ There wasn’t a whole lot of dialogue.”
Halle Berry ‘Loved’ the Movie When She Watched It
Halle Berry, who is renowned for both her exceptional talent and breathtaking beauty, regretted her decision when she turned down the chance to co-star with Keanu Reeves in the 1994 blockbuster that could have given her another hit in her career.
She acknowledged in an interview that after watching Speed, she had some second thoughts about her choice.
“What did feel good when I read it, though, was thinking, ‘Okay, this is not my Academy Award-winning role, but here I’m being offered something that wasn’t written for a Black woman’.”
Halle Berry
The actress, now 57, later said:
“When I watched the finished movie, I loved it and I thought to myself, ‘The movie gods sure didn’t talk to me that day.’”
However, the actress made an interesting claim, suggesting that because of her race, she might not have experienced the same rapid rise as Sandra Bullock did after Speed.
“Had it been me driving that bus, that wouldn’t be my reality, and that’s a fact. It’s not my reality after being in The Flintstones, one of the biggest movies of the year, so why would I think it should be my reality after Speed? As a Black woman, I know better. My reality is very different. My struggle is very different.”
Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock in Speed
With a $30–37 million budget, Speed was both critically and financially successful, grossing $350.4 million. It earned two Academy Awards for Best Sound and Best Sound Editing. The movie also cemented Reeves’ reputation as an action movie leading man.
Speed is available to rent on Apple TV.
