Halle Berry said that she rejected a chance to play the role Sandra Bullock broke out with in the 1994 Keanu Reeves thriller Speed, due to an earlier storyline she thought would be a bust.
The Oscar-winning actress, 52, opened up about the professional blunder as she promoted the upcoming movie John Wick: Chapter 3, which puts her alongside Keanu onscreen for the first time.
‘I don’t know if you know this, but I was offered Speed before Sandra Bullock,’ Berry said in a joint interview with Reeves with Entertainment Tonight. ‘I stupidly said no. But in my defense, when I read the script, the bus didn’t leave the parking lot. I was like, “No, no, no, no” … they were offering me the parking lot version.’
Oops! Halle Berry, 52, said that she rejected a chance to play the role Sandra Bullock broke out with in the 1994 Keanu Reeves thriller Speed, due to an earlier storyline she thought would be a bust. She was snapped in NYC Tuesday
She added that Reeves, the leading man in the motion picture, was not yet linked to the project either: ‘I was in it well before these fine people.
In the film, Reeves played a police officer named Jack Traven who boarded a Los Angeles bus booby-trapped with bombs by terrorist Howard Payne (played by the late Dennis Hopper).
Bullock played Annie, a passenger who was key in the perilous journey, eventually sparking a romance with Reeves’ heroic character.
The role launched Bullock’s career as a headliner, as she went on to headline films such as 1995’s The Net and While You Were Sleeping; 1996’s A Time to Kill and 1997’s Speed 2: Cruise Control (which Reeves was not in).
Looking forward: Berry and Keanu Reeves have been promoting their upcoming movie
High-octane: In the film, Reeves played a police officer named Jack Traven who boarded a Los Angeles bus booby-trapped with bombs, while Bullock played Annie, a passenger who was key in the perilous journey
Twist: Berry said in the script she received, the bus the action takes place on was stationary
Intimate: Bullock’s Annie character eventually sparked a romance with Reeves’ hero
Berry said she second-guessed her decision to pass on the role after she watched the film.
‘I see the movie and I’m like, “Arrrrghh!”‘ said the mother-of-two – to daughter Nahla, 11, and son Maceo, five.
John Wick: Chapter 3 hits theaters May 17.