Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter‘s lives changed overnight when their 1989 comedy Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure became a bigger hit than anyone expected. As they prepare to release the third iteration of the franchise, they sat down with People to discuss what has—and hasn’t—changed.
The 55-year-old Winter said: “I've been chased down the street by an entire frat house. But the Bill and Ted notoriety comes coupled with so much joy from people when they recognize you. They're always happy.”
This time around, instead of playing high school slackers, they play middle-aged dads struggling with their marriages and careers. The 56-year-old Reeves said: “It was really fun doing Bill and Ted in couples therapy.”
Winter, who hasn’t acted in 20 years, told EW that he relied on his friendship with Reeves to make up for his professional gaps: “I told them, in advance, I’m going to be really terrible. If I was going right back into doing frickin’ King Lear or something, then I would have been wetting my nappies. But I wasn’t worried about that so much, because of the chemistry we have, our friendship has grown more. We’ve known each other for so long now, Keanu and I.”
The film drops in theaters and on VOD today (Friday). Winter told Variety that ultimately, during this dark time, he hopes the light-hearted film will make people happy: “No, not even 20. And for a lot of the last 10 years, it didn’t look like this movie was going to happen. We’re really grateful that we got to make it. It took a lot of people, a lot of hands on deck, to get it done. It’s been a very challenging time to release a film…Hopefully it will put a smile on people’s faces.”