Sandra Bullock Recalls 'Nerve-Wracking' Audition forSpeedwith Keanu Reeves and a 'Paper Plate'

Mar. 15, 2025

Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock in Speed.Photo:Richard Foreman/20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock

Richard Foreman/20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock

Sandra Bullock’s Hollywood career began, as she says, with “a folding chair and a paper plate.”

Before she became an Oscar-winning superstar, Bullock, 60, starred withKeanu Reevesin her 1994 breakoutSpeed. At the action thriller’s30th anniversary screening, she recalled her audition for the role of bus passenger Annie Porter with perfect clarity.

“I was the new kid on the block and it was nerve-wracking,” Bullock said onstage atBeyond Festat American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre on Oct. 8. “I remember arriving there, I remember the car I drove, I remember what I was thinking.”

Turning to Reeves, 60, andSpeeddirectorJan de Bont, she added, “I walked in, I remember the room was kind of dark. You guys had it dark!”

Sandra Bullock, Keanu Reeves and director Jan de Bont.Jared Cowan for Beyond Fest at American Cinematheque at Egyptian

Jared Cowan for Beyond Fest at American Cinematheque at Egyptian

But what made the audition especially memorable was the way de Bont, 80, and Reeves had improvised a makeshift bus. “There was a folding chair, there was a paper plate,” said Bullock with a laugh. The plate, of course, “was the steering wheel I was handed.”

So pretending to drive a bus with only “Keanu, Jan, the carpeted floor, a folding chair and a paper plate,” she added, meant harnessing the power of her actorly imagination. “All my acting classes all came together and went out the window,” quipped Bullock.

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“The moment I saw you, I knew that you would be the driver,” de Bont said to Bullock, whose character takes over driving a Los Angeles bus rigged to explode if its speed drops below 50 mph.

Bullock acknowledged that that may have been the Dutch filmmaker’s takeaway from the audition, but added that she’s met actresses who were up for the role before her. “You saw me after one, two and three couldn’t do it,” she teased. “Then you saw me in the dark room.”

Reeves, who in the film plays SWAT team officer Jack Traven, admitted that he remembered Bullock’s audition albeit without much detail. Of his own casting, he said, “I met this mad genius [de Bont] and I was like, Oh, f—, man. This is a director, this is a person with a vision. This is someone who has a passion for the story.”

TheMatrixstar added with a smile, “Then I got Sandra.”

“No,” Bullock corrected playfully. “There were three others.” When Reeves claimed he didn’t remember other actresses, she said, “That is why I love him.”

Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves in Speed.Snap/Shutterstock

Snap/Shutterstock

“I have never been so proud of those two actors, what they did for me," reflected de Bont. “What they had to do is just unbelievable. But the relationship that those two created together is absolutely amazing.”

Of the possibility of a third film — which the Beyond Fest audience greeted with an enthusiastic round of applause — de Bont said, “I think it would be a different movie.” Nodding to Bullock and Reeves, he continued, “It would be great to work with them [again].”

Bullock quipped that aSpeed 3would be “the geriatric version. It won’t be fast.”

Up next, Reeves will reprise his role as John Wick in 2025’sAna de ArmasspinoffBallerinaand star inAziz Ansari’sGood Fortune. Bullock’s upcoming projects include asequel toPractical MagiccostarringNicole Kidman.

source: people.com