Summary
- The film Speed became an instant hit due to the chemistry between Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves, solidifying their careers as leading actors.
- Halle Berry was initially offered the female lead in Speed but turned it down due to minimal dialogue and a lack of interest in the script.
- Berry later regretted her decision to pass on Speed after seeing the success of the film, but was able to redeem herself by starring opposite Reeves in John Wick 3.
On paper, the film Speed appears to be nothing more than an action film with little substance. However, once the story was brought to the big screen and the chemistry between Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves was palpable, given the crushes that were happening at the time, the film became an instant hit, especially with the fun, interrupting interviews the two would give together. Not only did it solidify Reeves as an action star, but it was the film that helped Bullock to cement her name as a leading lady.
Bullock was never supposed to play the female lead in Speed, however. Studio executives had their eyes set on a different actor completely, a star who had been in the industry for years at that point and was a marquee name. But, the script did not speak to her, and the role was passed on.
This move worked in Bullock's favor, who jumped at the opportunity to star in the film. But for those who passed, they were left kicking themselves when the film premiered in theaters.
Halle Berry Was Offered The Leading Role In 'Speed'
When Speed was being cast, Halley Berry was the actor being sought after for the female lead. After all, she was well-known in Hollywood at that point, had proven she could carry a film, and had the on-screen presence to be an action star.
"I don't know if you know this, but I was offered Speed before Sandra Bullock," Berry explained in an interview. "I stupidly said no."
While Berry turned it down, she realized that there were some positive things that she was reading in the script, the biggest of which was that the role was colorblind.
"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,'" Berry said.
In hindsight, Berry wishes she would have taken the role. But there was a very simple reason that the version of the film she read from the script became something else completely when the time to shoot came around.
Halle Berry Turned Down The Role Because There Was "Little Dialogue"
When Berry read for the lead in Speed, the dialogue that was in the script was minimal and Berry did not see how the film would boost her career, so she turned it down.
"I turned down Speed because I thought, ‘I don’t want to drive that bus,'" Berry explained to Movieline. "There wasn’t a whole lot of dialogue."
Berry went on to say, "I admit, I just don’t get it when I read action stuff like, 'The bus flies 100 miles per hour over an overpass'. One of the script versions they sent me, the bus never got out of Dodger Stadium, it just kept driving around and around the parking lot!"
However, when Berry saw the final version of the film, she could not believe that she passed on what would become a huge action blockbuster with Reeves.
"I was like no, no, no, no. Then I see the movie and I'm like, arrrrghh," Berry said to Entertainment Tonight.
There are not any regrets about passing on the film when it is all said and done, as Berry could never have known the final product of the film would turn out to be what it was.
"I was in it well before these fine people," Berry stated, specifically of Reeves. "They were offering me the parking lot version."
This would not be the only opportunity that Berry would have to star with Reeves though; another one came knocking several years later with the advent of the John Wick franchise.
Halle Berry Would Go On To Star In 'John Wick' With Keanu Reeves
Years after Speed, the opportunity arose for Berry to star opposite Reeves on John Wick 3. Given the amount of respect that Berry had for Reeves as a person and for his work ethic, she signed on without hesitation and got to work immediately to get into shape to make Reeves proud in the film.
"The training that went into this was like nothing I've ever experienced before," Berry explained.
"I knew what I was in store for, because I had seen Keanu in both 1 and 2 — I'd seen behind-the-scenes clips of him. I saw his training and I heard about it, so I knew what I was signing up for, and that's largely why I wanted to do it."
Berry worked hard to hold her own next to Reeves using his work ethic as motivation to keep training on days when she did not always want to do so.
"It was pretty amazing. It was a little terrifying at first because he's so d*** good, and I wanted to be on the same level as him," Berry stated. "I didn't want to disappoint him."
The fear of disappointing Reeves led Berry to push herself too far when shooting began, and she fractured her ribs, an injury that would revisit Berry in the future on the set of Bruised. Instead of quitting, Berry "worked for a little while with broken ribs until [she] could no longer do it." The exact way that the ribs got broken was never discovered.
While Berry might have been disappointed to have missed out on the opportunity to be an action star beside Reeves decades before, that opportunity came full circle when John Wick was born.
Though she did not come back in the fourth installment of the franchise, Berry was able to redeem herself and work with one of her favorite actors in the process, none other than Reeves.
