Bill & Ted Is About Finding Your Voice. Keanu Reeves’ On-Screen Daughter Brigette Lundy-Paine Took That Quite Literally.

Brigette Lundy-Paine wasn’t yet born when Bill (Alex Winters) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) first embarked on their excellent adventure back in 1989. But then again, neither was the character they play in Bill & Ted Face The Music, the third installment of the franchise, which brings back Winters and Reeves as the eponymous pair, this time with their respective daughters — Thea (Samara Weaving) and Billie (Lundy-Paine, previously seen on Netflix’s Atypical) —  in tow. 

Bill & Ted Face The Music picks up nearly three decades after the events of 1991’s Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, the second installment in the franchise, which followed the two friends to the depths of hell and back. After a mega-hit propelled their band, Wyld Stallions, to fame and fortune, they’ve since fallen on harder times. This is mostly due to their unerring pursuit of a song that will unite the world, part of a prophecy made in the very first film. As it turns out though, they no longer have the luxury of time. When a visitor from the future arrives to warn them that the world is about to end, Bill & Ted have exactly 78 minutes to compose the melody that could save humanity. 

Without the cultural baggage of two previous movies to lean on, Lundy-Paine says they were attracted to the role first and foremost because of the voice. By that, they mean the low-pitched dude drawl coined by their movie-dad Reeves in the first film, which Lundy Paine took great pains to perfect for their audition. 

“I hadn’t seen the [first] movie, but I watched some clips and was like, Hell yes, I want to do this voice,” they said. “I auditioned and went way over the top.”

Another highlight was getting to meet Reeves himself, whom Lundy-Paine described as “extremely shy.” 

“He took a little poking and prodding, but we had some laughs. We all went upstairs and we started playing musical instruments,” they said. 

But beyond the trappings of California bro-dom, Bill & Ted Face The Music also offered an exciting opportunity for the 25-year-old, who came out as non-binary in November 2019. 

“I find myself attracted to these very male-dominated franchises because I get to play a role that is dirty or tough, not sexy in an uber-feminized way,” they said. “If you watch this movie, it’s about music and friendship, and that’s what I look for in parts. It’s not about gender.. The point is we’re going on an adventure, so everybody get your stuff.”

And what an adventure! While Bill and Ted reunite with their beloved time-traveling phone booth in an attempt to get the song from their future selves, Thea and Billie travel back in time to assemble the greatest band of all time, which in this case includes the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Louis Armstrong, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Kid Cudi. 

It’s a refreshing twist on an old standard, and not just in the way you’d expect. Whereas Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure positioned two charmingly idiotic white men as the future saviors of humanity, Bill & Ted Face The Music sees them taking a step back, surrendering their platform in order to make room for those who can do it better. 

“I know a lot of Bill and Ted fans, when the casting came out, were pissed that it was about daughters,” Lundy-Paine said. “I wonder if this movie will remind us that it can’t be done alone. That it can’t be done by two dudes who think they have all the answers. The only way we can save the world is through unity, and through asking for help from each other and forming a community where we didn’t think we could. It’s about giving over.”

It’s a message that Lundy-Paine believes represents the franchise’s savvy understanding of the way the world has changed since the initial film. The Bill & Ted franchise arrived at a more hopeful time in our history. Back in 1989, the idea of humanity working together towards a common future of betterment for all still seemed like a possibility, however remote. But in 2020? Not so much. 
“Bill and Ted were young in the first one, so even though the world was just as messed up, it wasn’t as obvious,” Lundy-Paine said. “In this film, they believe that they can save the world now. And the question is, can they really do that?”