Jeff Daniels (Speed) Speed
Jeff Daniels almost turned down the role of Harry Temple because the character died too early. His career was in trouble, but not in enough trouble to die on page 22. A rewrite moved the death to page 80, and Daniels flew to Los Angeles at his own expense to audition.
Daniels's career was at its lowest point when Speed arrived
By 1994, the goodwill from Terms of Endearment (1983) and The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) had faded. Daniels described his situation without sentiment:
"My career was at a point where I had to get on a plane at my own expense and fly to L.A. and audition." -- Jeff Daniels, SlashFilm (interview)
The original script killed Harry in the elevator shaft
Daniels's first reaction to the script was a calculation about screen time versus career desperation:
"We've got this script 'Speed,' we'll send it to you, but you're dead on page 22. You and Keanu go into this 50-story building and you get in the elevator shaft and fall and die." -- Jeff Daniels, SlashFilm (interview)
His response was immediate:
"The career's in trouble but it's not in that much trouble, so I'm going to pass." -- Jeff Daniels, SlashFilm (interview)
A rewrite moved Harry's death to the house explosion at the film's midpoint. Daniels reconsidered.
Harry was originally the secret villain
In Yost's first draft, Harry Temple was the hidden antagonist, with Howard Payne as his accomplice. The twist was abandoned when Dennis Hopper's casting made an elaborate villain reveal unnecessary. The change freed Daniels to play Harry as something more valuable to the film's emotional structure: a genuinely good partner whose death transforms the bus crisis from a professional challenge into a personal vendetta. (collider)
Daniels borrowed Roy Scheider's technique for the death scene
The house explosion required Daniels to discover that a thermostat was actually a bomb timer -- and to convey the realization without dialogue. He struggled with the mechanics of the performance:
"I've got full S.W.A.T. gear on. It's like 80 pounds of whatever and I've got to crawl in through a little window." -- Jeff Daniels, Screen Rant (2024)
"How am I gonna do that? Do I make faces? Do I cry?" -- Jeff Daniels, Screen Rant (2024)
The solution came from a Roy Scheider interview about Jaws:
"Roy said, 'Well, I looked down and when I looked over at the shark I made sure my cheek muscles were a little up and then I just dropped them.'" -- Jeff Daniels, paraphrasing Roy Scheider, Screen Rant (2024)
Daniels applied the technique -- holding his face slightly composed, then letting it fall as the realization hits. The result is one of the film's most economical emotional moments: Harry understands he is dead, and we see the understanding arrive.
Harry's warning in the bar becomes the film's structural prophecy
Harry's post-ceremony line -- "Guts'll get you so far, and then they'll get you killed" -- functions as the film's planted cause. The warning is resolved when Payne reveals Harry's death at the midpoint. Harry was not offering advice; he was describing his own fate. The line works because Daniels plays it as genuine concern rather than dramatic foreshadowing -- a friend worrying, not a script signaling.