„I just don’t get it when I read action stuff like that.” Halle Berry turned down the chance to star with Keanu Reeves in a 1990s hit
Halle Berry turned down the chance to star with Keanu Reeves in the 1990s action hit because she was not convinced by the script, in which she saw nothing for herself. She later began to regret the decision somewhat.
Halle Berry had a chance to star alongside Keanu Reeves in an action hit in the 1990s, however she turned down the offer. The actress dropped out of Speed, and the role that was to go to her was taken over by Sandra Bullock. The film, meanwhile, was quite successful earning $350 million at the box office on a budget of $30 million (via Box Office Mojo).
Halle Berry confessed that when she received the Speed script, she noticed how little dialogue there was in it. In addition, the film's action took place mainly at Dodger Stadium. Neither this nor the need to ride around on a bus convinced her, so she concluded that it wasn't the film for her, and as she confessed in the April 1995 issue of Movieline, she turned down the role (via Far Out Magazine).
I turned down Speed because I thought, “I don’t want to drive that bus.” There wasn’t a whole lot of dialogue. 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, the actress appreciated that the casting was color-blind, which was not so common in those days. In addition, she confessed that she appreciated the movie more after seeing it than after reading the script itself, and even awoke a small regret that she didn't act in it.
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.” 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.”
Halle Berry let the chance to star in Speed pass her by, as on paper this production did not appeal to her at all. Only the finished work showed her what potential the idea had.