Keanu Reeves became the leading man he is today thanks in large part to movies like Speed. But when he was first brought on board to lead the Sandra Bullock feature, he was less than impressed.
Keanu Reeves felt the original ‘Speed’ was a screwball ‘Die Hard’
Speed was one of the films that established Reeves as a leading man. In the popular 1994 hit, Reeves played police officer Jack Traven who tried to save passengers on a bus that was rigged to explode. When Reeves first read the film’s script, however, he was less than thrilled by what he’d seen on the page. Although the actor saw the film’s potential, the movie reminded him of another action thriller.
“The character [of Jack Traven] was very flippant. There were situations set up for one-liners and I felt it was forced — Die Hard mixed with some kind of screwball comedy,” Reeves once told Entertainment Weekly. “I said, ‘I’m not really interested in that. I think we can do better.’”
The film’s director, Jan de Bont, shared Reeves’ thoughts, and brought in future Avengers filmmaker Joss Whedon to improve the film. The changes made Reeves’ character much more honest, which he felt was appropriate after his own experiences with real-life police officers.
“I dealt with the LAPD before on Point Break, and the thing that came off is their concern for human life: ‘We get the bad guys, and we get to save the good guys,’” Reeves said. “And with that basic tenet I began with Jack.”
Keanu Reeves was cast in ‘Speed’ because he wasn’t a threat to men
Speed director Jan de Bont eyed Reeves for the role after seeing the actor in the similar film Point Break.
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“I always felt Keanu would be perfect after seeing Point Break [in which he played a surfing fed]…. What is nice about him as an action hero is that he’s vulnerable on the screen. He’s not threatening to men because he’s not that bulky, and he looks great to women,” de Bont said. “To me he represented something too young, too cool — hippie. He’s represented too much the grunge look for too long. I felt like he had to grow up. In this movie he is really coming of age.”
De Bont also felt Reeves differed from other action stars at the time because of his age. Many action stars at the time like Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone were either at their 40s at the time or near it. Meanwhile, Reeves wasn’t even 30 yet.
“I’ve worked with Mel [Gibson], Bruce, et cetera, et cetera, but people are ready for a new, younger action hero, especially one young people can relate to,” de Bont said.
Keanu Reeves was screamed at when he changed his look for ‘Speed’
Decades later, when Reeves made himself one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, he’s continued to hold Speed in high regard. Looking back, The Matrix star reflected on what he enjoyed the most about Speed. He’d also touched on the changes he made to himself that worried the cast and crew.
“I’d just done a movie about bank robbing surfers and now I’m doing a movie about a bus that can’t go over 50mph? It was fun to get into and I liked that Jack Traven wanted to do good, like growing up he wanted to save people,” Reeves told Collider. “When I was thinking about Speed, I thought about SWAT guys and cut all my hair off and the people at the film were screaming at me ‘What have you done?!’”
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