London weather having decided that our summer ration is over, there’s a chill in the air at Leicester Square’s Vue cinema this evening. Maybe like the breeze you get by…a lake? Tenuous link aside, The Lake House sees Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves reunited once again after 1994's Speed, and this time there’s not a bomb in sight.
“You know, most actors have to go ‘Oh it was fantastic, I loved it, I’d work with him again’, but I did work with him again, and I’d work with him again sooner rather than later,” said Bullock of her co-star. “I loved him, I loved being around him, I loved irritating him. I love how we address things which are totally opposite, but always end up in the same place. I mean, we might argue, but we realise that we’re arguing about the same thing.”
The film follows two people who live in the same house but in different periods in time. After Bullock’s character leaves a note for the tenant taking over the house after her (Reeves), they discover they’re living two years apart, and start a correspondence that leads to love: a mite impractical maybe, but hey-ho. As it turns out, it’s almost exactly how the two actors keep in touch in between films.
“It’s weird, everyone keeps acting like letter writing is a shock, but that’s how we communicate,” says Bullock. “He has no computer so I’ll write notes and send him letters, and that’s how we talk with each other. It’s nice because I can revisit it whenever I want to. He’s smart. He likes to connect with people.”
Reeves wasn’t so keen on connecting with the press, half-smiling as he gave short answers about the “beautiful movie on a beautiful night in a beautiful city” before handing the floor to his co-star. He did say that the change was refreshing after the action-packed qualities of the Speed films: “The characters are very different. The Lake House has a lot more about who they are individually before they come together.”
Reeves’s quietness did at least let Bullock’s droll side kick in. Having waxed lyrical about the full body tattoo she’s planning to get for her first wedding anniversary (tabloids please note, this was Tongue In Cheek), she highlights her favourite moment on set as Reeves getting his kit off for no reason. “He used to show up completely naked, and at first it was a little shocking, but then we really came to appreciate it as you can understand. We’d applaud him sometimes. Even early morning.”
Wonder if they'll still be mates when the papers are out...