Joss Whedon explains how Keanu Reeves helped save the script for Speed with one simple observation of SWAT officers.
It’s been a while since we last heard from Joss Whedon, but he’s back in the picture to discuss the best express bus movie of the 90s. Of course, I’m talking about it Speed, the iconic action film starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. Joss Whedon did an uncredited rewrite of Speedwith some saying he ended up writing about 90% of the film’s dialogue, but it was an idea from Reeves that helped Whedon realize the film.
Joss Whedon participated in the 50 MPH podcast, which details the creation Speed from the point of view of the team and the team.
“[Reeves] have spoken [doing research for the role by hanging out] with the SWAT guys and how they were obviously polite,” Whedon said. “[He said that] they are only about softening the situation, they give ‘Sir’ or ‘ma’am.’ It was like click – that’s all. I understand this character now. My take on him was: He wasn’t a hot shot, he was a lateral thinker. He was going to do what felt right and have a weird approach to it, but generally, it would work out. That ‘sir or ma’am’ gave me so much, because of a blister [in action movie heroes] was the order of the day and this was the opposite. He also said, ‘I don’t want to draw my gun.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t want you to be more, but you have to. … [The studio is] not letting you draw your gun.’“
With Joss Whedon’s take on it Speed, he thought he deserved credit, but the Writers Guild would rule against it and only Graham Yost was credited on the film. The couple met for the first time at the Speed premiere and Yost recalled that he felt that Whedon was blaming him. “Where things got bad between us is when he didn’t get any credit, and he wasn’t happy when we ran into each other at first sight,” said Yost. “And it was as if he was blaming me. He was like, ‘Dude, that’s the WGA. In fact I am going to write a letter saying that I deserve credit only. I sat with that thing for years. That’s my baby.’”
Joss Whedon had things in mind a little differently. “Graham Yost came to me the night it opened,” Whedon said. “Sionnach had a little party on the lot because they were so excited, and we hadn’t met, and he got up, and we were all polite, and he said, ‘Yes you know, man, you would have done it. the same thing.’ And I was like, ‘Well, we can’t know that, can we?’ That got me. That really bothered me, because it’s not true.“
