Ladies, if you ever get stuck with Keanu Reeves in an elevator, be sure to pop this question and you will surely have his attention – that’s a guarantee. Well, sort of.
During the 30-minute press conference for Warner Bros.’ latest romantic offering, The Lake House, Reeves found himself tongue-tied at this question from an obstinate journalist who wanted the reserved actor to break his normal silence and get him talking.
Well, she was almost successful. She did get Reeves talking, but he just kept on repeating and mumbling the words "romantic destiny" for a good three minutes.
Only when co-star Sandra Bullock broke the monotonous nonchalance did the press conference take on more hearty subjects, from the two stars’ uncharacteristically enduring friendship to their respective first loves, crushes and yes, that eight-letter word that starts with the letter M – marriage.
The two superstars met with journalists last week to talk about their movie, which opens in theaters today.
It’s a time-altering love story between two people at the crossroads of their respective lives and who find themselves mysteriously linked by a magical house.
Bullock is Kate Forster, a doctor who must leave her beautiful house on the lake to take up residency at a city hospital. She leaves a note for the next tenant to forward all her mails to her new address and to explain that the mysterious paw prints on the bridge leading to the front door were already there when she moved in, as well as the mysterious box in the attic.
Reeves is architect Alex Wyler. He is the new tenant who finds the note but wonders about the paw prints and the mysterious box. They aren’t there. He thinks she might have had the wrong house.
They will later realize that they are both referring to the same house on the lake, the same set of paw prints and the same mysterious box. The dilemma is their time reference. Wyler is in 2004 while Forster is in 2006.
"I think there are different levels of romance. I can have an incredible romance with him (Reeves) when we work together," Bullock says.
Although the friendship borne out of their Speed experience did not blossom into a real-life romance, Reeves and Bullock were able to nurture it and turned it into one of the most extraordinary platonic relationships in Hollywood.
This was evident during the junket. When Reeves couldn’t get past the "romantic destiny" question, Bullock came to his rescue and offered her own take on the subject.
"That’s a hard one," she said. "I think they chose to be together, chose to accept the situation and allowed themselves to let go and be a part of it. They allowed themselves to enjoy what can’t be explained by society."
In an interesting interaction, the two stars found themselves discussing the notion of romance, choice, and the course of everyone’s own, ahem, romantic destiny.
"I do believe in choice and carving out your own happiness," Bullock shares.
"And how do you think of us (someone) as the astrological charts?" Reeves comments.
"I think they are incredible," Bullock responds.
When the actors were asked if they can still remember their first crushes or first loves, Sandra was quick to offer:
"Oh yes! Germany. First grade," she announced.
Did he break her heart?
"Not really. I moved back to the States and when I came back my cousin was dating him. We were like in the second or third grade," she laughs.
"I will go today with Allison Maskeed," Reeves said of his first love. This elicited a surprised reaction from Bullock.
"Did you just say her last name?" she asked. "You know what they’re gonna do, they’re gonna print it and this poor girl is gonna be hounded."
"Oh, but I was taken away into memory," Reeves explained.
He revealed that his first love went "unrequited."
From their first loves, talk veered towards marriage.
"I never wanted to get married. It was a death sentence," Bullock said. "I never waited. I seized the opportunities in love. I have had a few incredible relationships which, to me, seemed like a lot because you have four years with someone and that’s just the same as having been married to them. I never waited for anything."
She continued: "Oh my God, how many marriages do you see that you really admire? I want to enjoy everything I do and be the best of myself. Being married wasn’t like a thing. I wasn’t raised with having a white dress and a wedding. I was raised to have a good life, and push yourself, and achieve what you want to achieve in happiness. I was blessed enough to be loved the way I was loved in my lifetime."
Bullock is married to stuntman Jesse James.
"Life gives you what you need to learn. It was just a first time that I was presented with something new. It just happened," Bullock explained why she took the leap of faith and embraced matrimony.
How about Reeves? Is he going to take the same leap of faith?
"Of course," he exclaimed.
"Do I get invited to your wedding?" Bullock asked.
"Absolutely!" Reeves answered.
The Lake House also stars Christopher Plummer and Iranian actress Shohreh Aghdashloo.